Holland's Track

Child Places

• 11408 Holland's Track, Kondinin
• 17755 Holland's Track, Pingrup
• 06216 Holland Track Memorial
• 07021 Holland's Track, Holt Rock
• 12787 Holland's Track, Newdegate

Statement of Significance

Holland’s Track marks a significant event in the Western Australian Gold Boom of the 1890s as its cutting created a direct route from Broomhill to the Goldfields, which enabled communication and transportation with the south-western portion of the colony in Albany and allowed for travelling prospectors from the eastern states to directly access the Goldfields via their initial docking point in Albany. Holland’s Track is the life’s achievement of Richard John Holland, who never received any formal acknowledgment or compensation for his work, and who is memorialised in the various landmarks along the route that still bear the original names he gave them. Holland’s Track was an important access road for the development of wheat-farming properties in the 1920s. Holland’s Track is a major recreational tourist route for four-wheel drive travellers in Western Australia who specifically travel on the route to experience the original journey John Holland and his companions took.

Values

Holland’s Track marks a significant event in the Western Australian Gold Boom of the 1890s as its cutting created a direct route from Broomhill to the Goldfields, which enabled communication and transportation with the south-western portion of the colony in Albany and allowed for travelling prospectors from the eastern states to directly access the Goldfields via their initial docking point in Albany.

Holland’s Track was fundamental in the development of Coolgardie Townsite enabling supplies to be transported from Albany and the eastern states.

Holland’s Track is the life’s achievement of Richard John Holland, who never received any formal acknowledgment or compensation for his work, and who is memorialised in the various landmarks along the route that still bear the original names he gave them.

Holland’s Track was an important access road for the development of wheat-farming properties in the 1920s.

Holland’s Track is a major recreational tourist route for four-wheel drive travellers in Western Australia who specifically travel on the route to experience the original journey John Holland and his companions took.

Physical Description

John Holland, in his 1906 Report, which was later published in the Coolgardie Miner on 1 October 1936, outlined the distance he travelled as 320 miles from Broomehill to Coolgardie. This equates to roughly 515 kilometres. The current Holland Track which is well-documented and mapped for tourists is roughly 680 kilometres.

The tourist route identified as Holland’s Track extends roughly 680 kilometres north-east from the Broomehill townsite to Coolgardie. It traverses a variety of differing native bush landscapes and runs through farming, pastoral and mining areas. This track runs approximately along the original route that was cut by John Holland in 1893. Overall the tourist route is predominately true to the historical route apart from some exceptions in the southern portion of the track after Nampup and close to the end of the track leading up to Victoria Rock.

The southern and northern sections of the tourist track differ in accessibility for vehicles. The southern section, which is referred to as John Holland Way, is suitable for two-wheel drive travel along both sealed and unsealed roads, while the northern section, which veers off from John Holland Way at Emu Rock, Kondinin, is four-wheel drive only. The northern portion of the track was re-cut in 1992 as part of the celebrations of the Holland Track centenary.
Along the track are a series of prominent landmarks that were named and recorded by John Holland on his initial trek. These landmarks are important markers for those travelling.

History

On the 17th September 1892, the discovery of gold 120 miles east of Southern Cross initiated a rush that attracted prospectors from across the country. Men in Albany and surrounds were keen to join the rush after it was initially announced in September 1892. Several parties attempted to cut a track towards the Goldfields straight away, with the aim to shorten the journey by two to three weeks. However, none were successful and all unanimously described the land as impenetrable. Despite this, and despite the increasing words of warning, John Holland, a sandalwood cutter local to the area, was not deterred and was confident a track could be cut in a small number of months. As a leaseholder in the area and an experienced bushman who had travelled across the land in search of sandalwood, Holland knew how to locate water and survive expeditions into the local landscape. He therefore felt confident he could successfully locate the best route to the goldfields and cut a track in relatively good time.

Holland had been planning his expedition since the initial discovery of gold in September 1892. He was eager to begin straight away, but unlike others who attempted the feat before him he knew the summer months were approaching and it would be the worst time to set off. Holland instead waited until a cooler time of year and gathered a team together in the meantime. Joining John Holland were three local men, John Carmody, David Krakouer and his brother Rudolph Krakouer, who was the financer of the expedition and second in command. The official starting point for the expedition was Broomehill, which was already easily accessible from Albany along the Great Southern Railway. It was from here that the men gathered equipment for their 680 kilometre trek, which included ‘five W.A. ponies, a light dray, a 100 gallon tank [of water], and from five to six months provisions‘.

The party, led by Holland, set off from Broomehill for Bayley’s Rush (Coolgardie) on the 14th April, 1893.
The group had covered around 680 kilometres in two months and four days, cutting the longest cart road in Western Australia at that time and lessening the journey from Albany by a fortnight. Despite this achievement John Holland and his companions received no official acknowledgement and no compensation from the Government. Their only solace was the knowledge that the track enabled thousands of prospectors, both local and from the eastern States, to travel easily from the southern portion of the State.

The track was in regular use up until March 1896 when the railway line from Fremantle was extended to Coolgardie and officially opened on the 23rd of that month. As the new extension connected Fremantle Port, supplies and travellers arriving in Western Australia were easily transported by train and Holland’s Track became a secondary route that was rarely travelled. Furthermore, with the onset of WWI, mining declined significantly and so people were less inclined to travel to the Goldfields.
Today the two portions of Holland’s Track are used regularly by 4WD enthusiasts and holidaymakers.

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.