West Australia

This State is the "biggie" it occupies almost one third of this very large continent.
It is home to my three sons and their families, so over the years I have got to
know it quite well.

Like the rest of Australia it is a land of contrasts, from harsh desert to lush
green farmland and pretty much anything in between.

This is Lake Argyle, so large it is more like an inland sea than a lake, there is
a distinctly Australian measurement scale for lakes and other bodies of water,
this is the "SydHarb" and denotes the volume of water to be found in Sydney
Harbor, Lake Argyle is 7 SydHarbs, and that's a LOT of water.

It was built by damming the Ord River and construction of the wall and
spillway was done during the 1960s and 70s.

During the wet season the vast catchment area collects a huge volume of
water, this used to flood out to sea at Wyndham doing very little good and
often some serious harm along the way.

Since the dam has been built a very productive irrigation area has been
developed around the town of Kununurra, I mentioned this in the story
about Art Linkletter.

The Argyle Diamond Mine is also located near here, this mine produces
approximately 34 million carats per year, this is more than one third of
the worlds diamond production and makes Argyle the largest diamond
mine in the world.

Perth is the capital city of West Australia, home to about 1 million people,
(14 of whom I share a direct family link with) who all claim there is no better
place to live.

Perth is a very modern city located on the beautiful Swan River about 20 kms
from the coast, where Fremantle and the mouth of the Swan River are
located, (for an all to brief time in 1986 the home of "The America's Cup".)

This photo was taken from "Kings Park" which is offers a great
high view of the city and river as it is only 1 km from the city,
this park is huge, 1000 acres, with some lovely drives through it,
while there are quite a few "Park like" areas, the majority is native
bushland, pretty much as it was in the days before white
settlement, a shame more cities were not developed with as
much foresight.

The west coast of Australia however is 2,500 miles from the east coast where
all the other main cities are located, the only thing of any real note in all that
distance is the city of Adelaide, (and "Foster's Farm"), this creates a sense of
isolation which can manifest into a fierce rivalry with the rest of Oz,
(The wise men from the East Syndrome.)

Wave Rock, this is a majestic rock formation hidden away in the back blocks
of WA near the small town of Hyden.

Formed by wind and water action over millions of years this feature runs for
a little over 1 km in varying stages of beauty, truly awe inspiring.

Another of mother natures wonderful works, this is known as
"Natures Window" and is perched high over the Murchison River it is
spectacular to say the least.

Located near the coastal town of Kalbarri which is one of the
many areas of extreme beauty along the wa coast line.

Bell Gorge is just off the famed "Gibb River Road" which is fast becoming
one of the must see destinations in Oz.

These beautiful falls are well worth the hike of 2/3 miles for the sheer
beauty and the welcome swim in the pool below the falls,
(no crocodiles.)


This has only scratched the surface of what WA has to offer, the limitation
of only being able to post 5 photos at a time, and my conflict of interest,
because I believe that the rest of Australia is just as beautiful, being
another reason.