ALONG THE CANNING STOCK ROUTE An account of the first motor vehicle journey along the full length of the Canning Stock Route by R. J. Wenholz To Chud and Noel, Henry and Frank and belief in the Australian Legend. Were those days as good as I remember Or am I looking through the rainbows of my mind – again. Do I see the coloured chapters of my life lying there Or just the iridescent shadows of some black and white affair. Kevin Johnson Iridescent Shadows CONTENTS Preface 2016 Preface 1983 PART I Getting There Chapter 1 I Meet the Canning 2 More Pre-amble and Some Preparation 3 South-East to Centre 4 Centre to North-West 5 Yarrie - Enforced Stopover 6 Yarrie to Balfour Downs 7 Balfour Downs to Wiluna PART II The Trip 8 Wiluna to Glen-Ayle 9 Glen-Ayle 10 Glen-Ayle to Durba 11 Durba to Disappoinment 12 Disappoinment to Karara 13 Karara to Separation 14 Separation to Gunowaggi 15 Gunowaggi to Guli 16 Guli to Godfrey Tank 17 Godfrey Tank to Halls Creek and Beyond PART III Epilogue 18 Since Then Bibliography and Acknowledgements Preface (2016) I finished writing this manuscript in 1983. I sent copies to the three men who had helped Chud and myself most in our Canning trip: Frank Welsh, Henry Ward and, of course, Noel Kealley. In a naïve, half-hearted way I contacted a few publishers – none were interested. Back in 1983 it was in hard copy format only. Last year, Phil Bianchi of Hesperian Press, converted the hard copy to digital format for me. He also digitised the maps. This process is not perfect and there were many “typos” that required correction. In September/October this year I finally “got around to doing it.” While I was reading through the manuscript I made some minor corrections – spell check found a few for me. (I am still not sure of the correct usage of the word “myself.”) The change from hard copy to digital version is not perfect: line separation varies and inverted commas are different styles. I now have the equipment to convert colour slides to digital images so I can now include pictures. However, I foolishly took a box of my best slides to Africa in 1970. When our vehicle was broken into in Nairobi my “best slides” were among the items taken. So, I have no pictures of some of the more spectacular features of the trip - like Helena Spring. My long-time, patient computer expert, Kevin Freund, converted my illogical group of computer files and folders into an easy-to-access format. Of course, the big difference in 2016 is that Frank, Henry and Noel have all died in the last twenty years. So has Slim Dusty. Since 1983 three good books on the Canning Stock Route have been published: The Australian Geographic Book of the Canning Stock Route, Canning Stock Route by Eric and Ronelle Gard (three editions) and “Work Completed, Canning” A Comprehensive History of the Canning Stock Route 1908-2010 by Phil Bianchi. (Another book, of special interest to me, Droving With Ben Taylor by Len Hill was published in 2009).These books contain much more information on the Canning Stock Route than is contained in my manuscript. They also indicate that my knowledge in 1983 was incomplete and, on occasions, in error, and that there have been many improvements in outback travel. I also found myself giving points of view that were fashionable before 1983 but are not fashionable today. The only changes I have made is to soften some ill-judged comments on aborigines. The books and maps now available are more comprehensive and more up- to-date than any information I could give to intending stock route travellers. Consequently intending travellers no longer contact me. Navigation along the Canning is no longer a problem. There are dedicated maps of the stock route. There is a well-defined track – complete with detours and some signage. And there is G.P.S. In 1967 – operating on our budget - there was little choice of vehicle beyond Land-Rover with deflated highway tread tyres. Vehicle refrigerators had come on the market but we had found these early models could not withstand the rough ride through sandridge country. The Commonwealth government’s Division of National Mapping and Department of the Interior no longer exist. Communication through the Flying Doctor network is no longer the connection for the people living in remote regions with the outside world. Again, satellite technology has replaced it. Henry Ward’s count of the number of users of the stock route was to the best of Henry’s knowledge, but was incomplete. While we rarely saw wild camels in our travels in 1967 and 1968, they have now reached plague proportions. (Australia now has more wild camels than any other country). Several times I write of the inviolate nature of the desert. Global warming now casts some doubt of that belief. Many of the place names I used from the Canning’s map and the National Mapping 1:250,000 maps have been changed to correct aboriginal names. I am aware that I have given little attention to the aboriginal connection with this country. (I use “aborigine” rather than “indigenous”).I realise this is wrong. However, in 1967 and 1968 there was little evidence of indigenous presence. We saw no indigenous people. The evidence of indigenous occupation of the country was rare and old. I admit I did not do enough research into the indigenous aspects of the country. (I recommend Cleared Out by Sue Davenport, Peter Johnson and Yuwali, published in 2005, which describes the removal of indigenous people from the area). I was “over the top” in my admiration of Ernest Giles. In 1970 I travelled (with Chud) in regions Giles explored. With my copy of Giles’ Australian Twice Traversed we found water holes used by Giles. Reading his descriptions of features while looking at those same features, made me feel “close” to the man himself. I now realise his book may not tell the full story and the poetry Giles quotes was inserted when he was back in the city writing his book. The conversations that are in my manuscript, while obviously not word for word, deal with subjects we did talk about while making the trip. A point I wanted to make in 1983 is that I am not bushman, man of the outback, would-be explorer or a great traveller in remote areas. However, it was possible for a few years for me to be seen by others as this kind of a person. I have always considered myself “a country town boy” – as distinct from a “country boy” or a “city boy.” Hence my interest – even while I was on the Canning - in popular music, movies, football, horse racing and reading the classics. PREFACE (1983) This book is an account of how, in 1968, Chud, Noel and myself made, what we believe to be, the first journey along the full length of the Canning Stock Route by motor vehicle. Why should I now, sixteen years later, want to give an account of this journey? There are several reasons. By reminding myself that I was a member of the first party to drive the Canning Stock Route - regardless of the value of this achievement - I try to assure myself that there is something about me which, if not unique, at least makes me a little different. It's the closest thing I have to a claim to fame. Another reason I have never forgotten this trip is that I have never been allowed to. Rarely a year goes by without an intending Canning Stock Route traveller, usually in some kind of personally modified four-wheel drive vehicle, seeking me out in suburbia for information on the Canning. With each inquiry I re-live my own trip to some extent and with each re-living something new about the trip occurs to me. So now, I reckon I have a better understanding of what really happened in 1968. Embellished a little perhaps, but that can only make an account written now, more interesting than one I could have written immediately after the event. Finally, although I strongly deny any accusations that I live in the past, these days I do find myself listening to the popular music of the 60s and early 70s, rather than to the music of today. My age is of such dimensions that I can no longer mark it on a lotto form. It is in excess of the age at which it is popularly believed "life begins". I have a tendency to speak of my past as "the good old days." I try to resist, but the tendency persists and it frightens me. Many people who I regard as old have annoyed and then bored me when speaking to me of their past. If I delay writing the story of my Canning Stock Route trip any longer, I run the risk of annoying and then boring my readers. So, best I begin now. Units Conversion Table Imperial to Metric ten gallons 45.5 litres forty-four gallons 200 litres eighty gallons 364 litres one inch 0.025 metres/2.5 cm one foot 0.3 metres/30cm ten feet 3.05 metres one hundred feet 30.5 metres one hundred yards 91.5 metres one mile 1.6 kilometres ten miles 16 kilometres one hundred miles 161 kilometres one thousand miles 1609 kilometres PART 1 Getting There Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.