Golden Pipeline

Visitors to No 5 in the old days often described No 5 as an oasis in the desert. Such was the power of the availability of water.

The residents grew vegetables and had fruit trees while refugees from WW11, sent to No 5 worked off their passages to Australia, planted ‘exotic’ herbs like dill.  You may get a sense of the arid nature of the countryside as you drive between No 5 and No 6 where too a community blossomed and flourished.

Look out for the chimney of No 6 which stands like a beacon to the east of Southern Cross. On a walk around the site you can read about prize roses. It is fitting then that, between the two, Great Eastern Highway largely follows old roads used by prospectors and later the railway line going from one rock outcrop to another where precious water could be harvested from runoff for thirsty fortune-seekers and trains alike.