Meekatharra - the end of the earth

Well I am off again to Meekatharra tomorrow morning. I thought I might take a little time and let everyone know about the Magic that is Meekatharra. It's not all shredded tires, emus, kangaroos, and bullets.... but it's close.

As you can see from the map, Meekatharra is a "Shire" in the Mid West of Western Australia. It's named is derived from an Aboriginal work meaning "place of little water". I can't think of a better location for a town than the place of little water. The average annual rainfall is 237 mm. However, most of the rain is due to infrequent heavy storms. Temperature wise, the mean average maximum temperature for the year is 28.8 C. But during the summer months, it can easily climb into the mid to high 40's.

The population consists of about 950 people, and I'm really not sure why these people choose to live there. The town was settled during a gold rush in the 1890's, but the good times did not last long. The reason it has survived is it became an important location in the Western Australia Government Railway system. Meekatharra is now the major supply centre for pastoral and mining for the surrounding region.

Also of note, Meekatharra is home to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. This is an air ambulance service for those living remote areas of the outback. They provide emergency assitance, primary healthcare, and assist with distance education. The runway in Meekatharra is over 2km long, and is a diversion airport that can support emergency landings for major jumbo jets. This runway was used in a famous emergency landing of the then Prime Minister's plane in the 1980's. After spending a few hours there, his wife described the town as "the end of the earth".

Daylight Savings Update: The curtains have yet to shown significant signs of extra fading. Will continue to keep a watchful eye on them.