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”
This is the start of an easy drive over sand plains which were once such a barrier. Rising above the landscape about 20 km after you leave No 6 is Yellowdine, an impressive granite outcrop prospectors relied upon for water.
Stop at the nearby servo to get some if you’re short of the precious liquid. The lack of it and the sandy terrain itself made this one of the most dreaded sections for travellers and teamsters on the way to the goldfields.
Do visit Karalee Rocks, the ‘oasis’ in this section to which they all gravitated, which is commemorated in a poem with the refrain ‘The grass grows green by Karalee’. Wildflower season is particularly rewarding. Later a metal aqueduct was built to harvest water from this spectacular rock catchment.
Click on any map section or place below to discover The Golden Pipeline.
Northam to Cunderdin
Explore section two