Jurien Bay to Merredin, Western Australia

Jurien Bay has a delightful landscaped sea-front promenade with many points of interest - historic plaques, art works, children's games, native flora, an underwater interpretive snorkel & dive trail, picnic areas, bathing sheds and all topped off with great sunsets.

Our route from the Indian Ocean coast took us cross country towards the gold mining town of Kalgoorlie. What we expected to be merely a means to an end proved to be full of interesting places and things to see.

After a morning tea break at Moora we went for a wild flower walk in Candy's Reserve. It was a bit early in the season for wildflowers and being small, they were tricky to photograph.

Along the way there were many photo stops.

Then we arrived at New Norcia, a Benedictine Monastery town founded in 1847. It is a fascinating place with amazing buildings, considering its isolated location, and much history.

Another gem of a town in the Avon Valley, Toodyay, was a late lunch stop for us.

At Northam we joined the Great Eastern Highway and started heading east. We were in the wheat belt of Western Australia, easily identified by the huge expanse of wheat crops and the many wheat silos.
At Northam they have two painted silos as part of the Silo Art Trail. Works by Phlegm and Hense were very unapproachable and access was quite dangerous.

There are two interesting features of this area, one being the Golden Pipeline which takes water from Perth to Kalgoorlie, the pipeline being the first of its type in the world. It was commenced in 1898 and opened in 1903. The pipe is 76 cm / 30 inches in size and runs for 530 kilometres. 
120 years later the pipeline is still vital to life in Kalgoorlie.

The second feature will be in the next blog!

At Merredin there is a silo art work by Kyle Hughes-Odgers depicting life in the wheat belt.

Merredin was our first over-night stop on our long trip across Australia, we had travelled about 450 kms.