Hinterland

Today we headed inland to check out the hinterland behind Perth and Freemantle. The relaxed state of mind from yesterday evaporated suddenly as we had to negotiate city traffic again getting through Bunbury. Once through the countryside changed quickly from coastal to pastoral, wheat and sheep being the main enterprises here.  First stop was Wellington Dam. This was built from stone quarried at the site in 1929, mainly by immigrant workers. Many families accompanied the men and the conditions were harsh.  But they managed to get it built in 2 years which was amazing. It has subsequently been built higher twice, once in the 40's and then in the 60's.  Sadly at the moment it can't be used for drinking water due to the salinity levels caused by wispdespread felling of trees locally. There is work being done at reforestation to remedy this for the future. 

Beautiful warm weather again today. We had some chocolate cake from the freezer and coffee for morning tea. Oh it's a hard life.  We next stopped at Collie. Collie was named after Dr Alexander Collie a ship’s surgeon aboard the HMS Sulphur, who explored the region and in 1829 discovered the river from which Collie took its name. I presume this is the same man who figured large in the history of Albany as well. The area was originally recognised as being ideal as pasturelands and for timber production, however with the discovery of coal in 1883, Collie's direction was set. The town was formally declared a townsite in 1896 and from its humble beginnings Collie grew to become an important West Australian town supplying the State with coal, the all-important resource for power production in railways, shipping and the generation of electricity. Sadly at the moment there seems to be major problems with the two remaining coal mines.  They had some beautifully restored engines there.

Then it was on through nice pastoral countryside, through Williams and onto Narrogin where we decided we had enough and we would stay the night.  Worried about our babies tonight as both Naomi and Zac and Matthew are sick. Naomi has a really high fever and refuses to take any Panadol. Zac is coughing a lot and won't eat. 😞 Praying for them even more than usual tonight.