Golden Pipeline

You may be forgiven for thinking no-one has ever settled for any period of time in this section because, apart from a few buildings not far east of No 6, few reminders can be seen from Great Eastern Highway.

But, John Aspinall, a New Zealand prospector writing in his diary in 1895 details stopping places, each of which was composed of a pub, bakery and store, often run by the same individual.

…. the sign that meets the eye everywhere is ‘Bread and Water’ sold here. At one pub he found the rude comforts ‘quite luxurious’ and had a wash for the first time in three days. At another pub a dance was on and the attractions were ‘four females and a wheezy old piano”.

Rusting remains of condensers and pepper trees are often the only remainders of these once busy wayside stops. A stop at Yellowdine might give you a sense of how settlements mushroomed overnight only to fade away.