Day 99: Tue 25 Jun 24 - Northam (York)

Tue 25 Jun 24 - Northam (York)

A low of 1 Deg to a high of 15 Deg C today, foggy in the morning, mostly clear with a very lazy E wind throughout the day. 

The heater got a run this morning, and we didn't step out of bed until the van reached a respectable temperature. After hanging out some washing, we headed into Dome in town for  breakfast, which was very nice, then drove 43km to York, a historically rich town. 

York, is situated on the Avon River in the Wheatbelt (97km from Perth), and is the oldest inland town in WA. The area was first settled by Europeans in 1831, two years after Perth was settled in 1829. The region was important throughout the 19th century for sheep and grain farming, sandalwood, cattle, goats, pigs and horse breeding. York boomed during the gold rush as it was one of the last rail stops before the walk to the goldfields. Today, the town's attraction is its charm, history and beautifully preserved old buildings. 

We enjoyed walking around the very quiet streets for a couple of hours before we sat down at the bakery for a hot drink and a bite to eat, then we continued walking for a while longer before driving to Mt Brown Lookout for fantastic views across the town and surrounding farmland. Everything is very green at the moment, and I expect farmers will be looking forward to bumper crops next harvest. After driving to a few other sites around York, like the old Flour Mill, we returned to the Caravan for the night. We have one more night booked in Northam, and plan to visit nearby Toodyay tomorrow, but the weather forecast is looking dismal, so we will reassess in the morning.

York - Town Hall (1911)

York - Town Hall (1911)

York - Town Hall (1911)

York - Mosaic

York - Sargents Pharmacy (1901) and Castle Hotel, one of the oldest surviving hotels in WA (the oldest section was built by convict labour (1853, extended in 1905)

York - Main Street

York Court House - (1850's)

York Palace Hotel (1909)

York Palace Hotel (1909)

York - Former Motor Garage (1912), also used as an engineering workshop by the Army in WW2

York - Street Mural

York - Street Mural

York - Street Mural

York - Street Mural

York - Side Street to suspension Bridge over the Avon

York - Side Street to suspension Bridge over the Avon

York - Suspension Bridge over the Avon (replaced the 1899 original) 


York - Holy Trinity Church (1854)

York - Main Street

York - Dinsdale's Emporium (1855) & Union Bank (1900)

York - Architectural features of Edwards Store front (1872). During the 1890's gold rush, York was the last stop shop to buy food and equipment.

York - Post Office (1893)

York - Main Street

York - Sargents Pharmacy (1901)

York - Davies Building (1905-1908)

York - Original St Patrick's Church built 1859-1860

York - St Patrick's Church (1886)

York - War Memorial and St Patrick's Church

York - Town Hall and Masonic Hall

York - View from Mt Brown Lookout 

York - Old Flour Mill (1892)

York - Old Flour Mill (1892)

York - Old Flour Mill (1892)




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 109: Fri 05 Jul 24 - Merghiny Gravel Pit (Ceduna) to Port Augusta

Image
Merghiny Gravel Pit (Ceduna) to Port Augusta (450km)  It was 8 Deg and feeling much less, raining on and off from 4:00am for the first 100km, then cloudy and very windy for the rest of the day. At Port Augusta it reached 18 Deg with strong winds gusting in excess of 60km/h. The past few days have been tiring driving in the wind and rain with lots of heavy transport travelling in both directions, so it was nice to have a quiet start to our 450km drive today. This post is a little light on photographic material, as we have now covered the stretch between Ceduna and Port Augusta three times in the past 18 months, so we kept driving with minimal stops.  Coffee was had at the Minnipa rest area, then lunch at the Kimba roadhouse, before arriving at 3:00pm at the Discovery Parks Caravan Park in Port Augusta for an overnight stay.  We have a drive through site for the night for a quick get away tomorrow. From here we have settled on a couple of nights at Clare for a bit of a brea...
Read more

Day 111: Sun 07 Jul 24 - Clare

Image
Sun 07 Jul 24 - Clare  The overnight temperature dropped to 6 Deg with 54km/h winds which eventually eased by the time we climbed out of bed. No surprise though when we woke, it was raining again, and it continued raining until mid afternoon, so it was a day of forced rest which we both enjoyed. The day comprised coffee in town this morning, then a visit to Hill River Wines to buy a few local wines. I chose this winery out of all others because t hey are a young cellar door and they are family owned. The wines also tasted nice. Back at the van, we had a quiet afternoon resting and watching a documentary series about one of Australia's biggest and strangest art heists on SBS.  It's about an investigation into the art heist from the New Norcia monastery where we recently visited - it's very interesting. Check it out.  The clouds cleared late afternoon, so I mustered the motivation to go out into the cold (6 Deg) for a late walk, before we drove back into town for an Indian ...
Read more

Day 11: Fri 29 Mar 24 (Good Friday) - Madura Pass to Norseman

Image
Fri 29 Mar 24 (Good Friday) Madura Pass to Norseman (530km) It was 14 Deg with a very slight SE breeze and a light dew, reaching 32, clear and sunny with no wind at Norseman. It was a lovely morning, and a nice change waking to early daylight, so we took the opportunity to get on the road earlier than usual. Today was a long haul, 530km along very good road, but with not a lot to see. We were amazed at how green the countryside was, and particularly so around Madura. This is clearly a reflection of all the recent heavy rain had in the region. One other observation from our trek across the Nullarbor, is despite the various Camel, Kangaroo, Wombat, Cattle and Emu warning signs, we did not see any roadkill. Disappointingly, Noeleene went another day without spotting a camel (dead or alive). The traffic today was well spread out, and the majority was Heavy Transport Trucks and caravans - all well behaved, and surprisingly a lot of three-wheeled motorbikes.  We also spotted a couple mor...
Read more