The Horse Power Highway was a highlight of our trip to Hopetoun, Bremer Bay and the Porongorups. In fact, the holiday was planned with the HPH in mind. The “highway” is actually a back road from The Stirling Ranges to Gnowangerup and on to Broomehill. There is an excellent, interactive map of the highway which we used to navigate and to understand each installation.
We did the highway in reverse (did you expect anything else?) and from the first tractor, we were hooked. Snowy was raised by the Stirling Ranges Ski Club and has his own skis. Someone has a great sense of humour.
Unfortunately the day we were there was overcast, so my pictures aren’t the best but you will get the idea. Many of the tractors were also still adorned with their best Christmas decorations.
A couple of tractors really represented the local community so well, one by some Filipino immigrants and one decorated by the local Aboriginal people.
I think its fair to say that Mr P’s favourite was the Mad Max inspired tractor that is incredibly detailed and quite a work of art. It makes Mad Maz look small!
My favourite was the tractor dedicated to the women of the region. I love that it’s pink. It reminds me of the tractor my cousin and I saw at the Kirriemuir Show in Scotland.
Maz’s favourite was Diesel, also a favourite with kids and families. I think he looks a bit like a famous tractor from The Piper’s most favourite ever movie, Cars.
So it is safe to say that the highway is a must-do if you are in the area. When we go back to The Stirling Ranges some spring in the future, we will definitely go along the highway, just to see if there are new tractors and how they all look with wheat and canola as their backdrop.
I dedicate this page to my dad, Richard “Dick” Brown (1941 – 1996). Dad was a tractor fanatic, having qualified as a motor mechanic in Scotland, working as a farm hand in and around Forfar. He would have taken even longer than us to travel the 90kms of the highway. He was on my mind all day ..
The Solo Avocado 