May 4 ... Merredin

Today we headed north and the road threaded its way through a series of very large salt lakes. These extended almost all the way to Coolgardie but despite the obvious salinity problem, this is also one of the largest areas of natural forest in Australia.

Lake Cowan

A salt lake near Norseman

Much of this forest consists of Salmon Gums and they are a really striking tree, expecially when the sun is on their red bark. They lined the road for most of todays journey.

Salmon Gums

The road north

We stopped at Coolgardie because we both had fond memories of this township from our earler trip. It was as beautiful as ever but VERY quiet. We could not even find a coffee shop or cafe, and like many other towns we have been through, there were many closed shops. Historically, Coolgardie has been very important and grand. During the goldrushes, over 15000 people lived here and this is reflected in its buildings.

The Coolgardie Courthouse

Coolgardie shops

We spent some time in the secondhand bookshop making a few purchases for future idle moments. and then we pushed on towards the west. Not far out of town we encountered the beginning of the WA wheat belt and the wheat fields stretched to the horrizon. They are all just stubble at this time of year but still a lovely gold colour.

Wheat fields

This whole day we have been following a water pipeline. Known as The Golden Pipeline, it was designed and built by C.Y.O'Connor, and it brings water from Perth to Kalgoolie, a distance of 560 kms. To do this it has a number of pump stations along its route and it pretty much runs alongside the road the whole way. From this there is also a second pipeline that now takes water south to Norseman as well. Poor old CY copped a lot of criticism about his grand scheme and he actually shot himself dead one year before it began operating in 1903. These amazing pieces of engineering are not done so much today and this was certainly an incredible accomplishment.

CYO'Connor Pipeline

The Golden Pipeline

In Southern Cross we had a fabulous lunch of homemade meat pie as we sat in the park and admired the town. Only small, but very neat with lovely old buildings and wide streets.

The park at Southern Cross

Southern Cross Hotel

Just on from there we stopped to read about the history of the Rabbit Proof Fence. There is also a remnant of the original fence to look at and its construction and purpose are all explained on the information board. There is still a fence operational today but it is a bit shorter, running from Kalbarri to Ravensthorpe.

The Rabbit Proof Fence

Even though we had stopped at Merredin on our last trip, we were getting a bit tired and, knowing that it had a nice park, decided to call it a day. Merredin is an exceptional town. It is a service centre for a wheat area but it has a proactive and enthusiastic council. Because of their efforts, the town has a unique water collection method, a training centre for pilots from China Airways, a grain collection centre that is massive, and much more. It is one of the few country centres that is thriving. Since we were here 3 years ago they have installed a wind farm of approx 20 turbines.

Unusual "pink" tree

So, this is to be our last night in the van for almost a month. It will seem like a whole new trip when we head off again at the end of May after spending the next few weeks with Morgan in Palmyra.

Garry: Finished reading "Gold" by David Hill. Very interesting and relevant, especially walking around Coolgardie where he found "Russian Jack's" wheelbarrow! Non-Fiction 9/10