As a teenager I regretted the years of isolation and neglected education but now I treasure those memories and think just how fortunate I was to have lived on the Kalgoorlie – Lakewood Woodline. Memories like the monthly Saturday Dance are as vivid today as they were more than three score and ten years ago!

“Ronald! It's time for your bath son!”
“But its only four o’clock mum, and I’m busy,” I answered.
“Your sister has finished so hurry up and get in the bath while the water is still warm; we can’t keep Old Plonky waiting again like last month.”

For those who have never been to Western Australia it’s time for a short geography lesson. Kalgoorlie is about 600 klms east of Perth and 180 klms North of Norseman. The Eyre Highway terminates at Norseman and The Transcontinental Railway starts, or finishes at Kalgoorlie. Both of these travel networks run almost exactly east/west and for most of the journey are nearly two hundred kilometres apart.

Forward

From the late 1890s until the early 1950s because all heavy machinery was steam driven, vast quantities of wood were required to fuel the boilers, coal was too expensive. Consequently Wood Lines were born. The last surviving company was "The Western Australian Goldfields Firewood Supply Limited" which ceased operations in 1964. From early 1946 until the end of 1948, I lived with my parents on the Kalgoorlie-Lakewood Woodline.

My first trip on the Ghan was a long needed holiday, and as a guest of Great Southern Railways I was invited to travel on the Indian Pacific from Sydney to Perth. In the space of two months, I travelled the length and breadth of Australia but you can easily do it in a week or two should you choose to travel by train.