A time capsule of water,
gold & Western Australia
A project from the National Trust of WA
A self-guided drive trail between the Perth Hills and Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields. Go with the Flow. Follow the water to discover more about the audacious goldfields water supply scheme and Engineer CY O’Connor.
“Future generations, I am quite certain will think of us and bless us for our far seeing patriotism, and it will be said of us, as Isaiah said of old, ‘They made a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert”
Wheat silos and large railway yards attest to the size and importance of the surrounding agricultural industry as you drive through rich farming land in this section of the Heritage Trail. It was not until first the railway and then the pipeline came that the towns and surrounding areas were able to develop.
Farmers needed the trains to send crops to market, while those in the towns needed a water supply to survive. The pipeline runs closely to the side of Great Eastern Highway – a visible reminder of its importance to the area.
Where the original Goldfields Road crosses the highway you might try to imagine not driving but walking to the goldfields, probably pushing a barrow with your mining equipment, personal belongings and all important waterbag.
Click on any map section or place below to discover The Golden Pipeline.
Northam to Cunderdin
Explore section two