Road Trip part 6
Towards the end of our loop, we were driving around and alongside the Water pipeline from Perth to Kalgoorlie.
Each pipe consists of two plates curved in semi-circles and held together on each side along their complete length by the locking-bar. This was a long double-grooved bar into which the burred edges of the plates were fitted and held tightly in position by clamps, while the locking-bars were closed by a machine which exerted terrific pressure. Before each pipe left the factory it was subjected to pressure test of 400 psi, and so effective was the locking-bar that very few faults were revealed.
Initial consumption at the Goldfields proved to be some 1,260,000 gallons daily. Today, some 9 million gallons daily flow. More on the pipeline HERE
We decided to go through the town of Northam. Northam is a town in Western Australia, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Mortlock Rivers, about 97 kilometres (60 mi) north-east of Perth in the Avon Valley.
We hung out with some of the locals.
We drove up a hill that I thought in the U.S. would likely serve as a ‘make out point’ for every teenager. We had a nice view and the moon.
The area around Northam was first explored in 1830 by a party of colonists led by Ensign Robert Dale, and subsequently founded in 1833. It was named by Governor Stirling, probably after a village of the same name in Devon, England. Almost immediately it became a point of departure for explorers and settlers who were interested in the lands which lay to the east.
Back down the hill…
… and ready to go towards HOME.
