Wyndham, Western Australia

Wyndham is the oldest and northernmost town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, located on the Great Northern Highway, 3,440 kilometres (2,140 mi) northeast of Perth. It was established in 1885 as a result of a gold rush at Halls Creek, and it is now a port and service centre for the east Kimberley with a population of 800. Wyndham is split into two areas. The original town site of Wyndham Port is situated on Cambridge Gulf, while Wyndham Three Mile (also known as Wyndham East) is the residential and shopping area of the town. Wyndham is part of the Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley.

1 History
2 Geography and climate
3 Facilities
4 External links

[edit] History

The first European to visit the area was Phillip Parker King in 1819. He was instructed to find a river 'likely to lead to an interior navigation into the great continent'. He sailed in to Cambridge Gulf, which he named after the Duke of Cambridge, and then sailed down a river which was subsequently named after him. Finding no fresh water on the mudflats, he departed.

The town of Wyndham was established by John Forrest in 1885 as the major port and trading station of the East Kimberley, after finds of gold in Halls Creek a year earlier. By 1886, the town was booming. There were six pubs, one of which was a two-storey building. Ships brought in at least five thousand miners who headed off to the Halls Creek goldfields. It is known that during this boom there were times when up to 16 vessels were moored in Cambridge Gulf.

However, by 1888, the gold rush at Halls Creek had ended and the fortunes of Wyndham declined. Wyndham became a tiny settlement serving the pastoral interests in the East Kimberley. By 1912, money had virtually disappeared from the Wyndham economy, and purchases were paid for using promissory notes known as "shinplasters".

In 1913, the Western Australian government started to construct the Wyndham Meatworks to restart the town's economy. The construction efforts were interrupted by the Nevanas affair and World War I, but the meatworks were completed in 1919.

During World War II, the town was attacked several times by Japanese aircraft.

Wyndham's significance as a service centre was also reduced by the construction of the town of Kununurra in the early 1960's.

The meatworks continued to be the mainstay of the town's economy until their closure in 1985.

[edit] Geography and climate

Wyndham is located at the west arm of Cambridge Gulf, an inlet of Joseph Bonaparte Gulf of the Timor Sea. It is surrounded by the Durack, Pentecost and King rivers to the south, Forrest River to the west and Ord River to the north. Much of the land around Wyndham is inhospitable, and includes the jagged hills of the Bastion Range and the mudflats of the Cambridge Gulf.

The climate of Wyndham is tropical, with the wet season from late November to March and the dry season from April to early November. The hottest month is November with an average maximum temperature of 39.4°C (102.9°F), and the coldest months of June and July have an average maximum of 31.2°C (86.4°F). The annual average maximum temperature is 35.6°C (96.1°F,), one of the highest in Australia. In 1946, Wyndham recorded 333 consecutive days of temperatures over 32°C (90°F). [1]

[edit] Facilities

View from Bastion Lookout, Wyndham

Being a small country town, the facilities are limited. There are two schools, one TAFE campus, and a daycare centre. There is also an outdoor swimming centre for leisure, and a recreation centre is planned. For tourists, there are two hotels and a caravan park. Wyndham is served by Wyndham Airport, which runs shuttle services from Wyndham to Kununurra. The nearby Bastion lookout provides sweeping vistas of the surrounding country including the five rivers named above which emerge into Cambridge Gulf.