Derelict Gold Mining Town

There’s a good reason why The Gold Rush was a rush. When prospectors found gold in Western Australia in the late 19th Century there was a complete rush to the area where tens of thousands of people swarmed to find their own pot of gold. Many were labourers who abandoned farms and they needed a place to sleep, eat, and drink whiskey in their new home. Up popped towns like Dundas in the Dundas Hills, started by two ambitious blokes called Mawson and Kirkpatrick. But before Dundas ever got going it dwindled after 20 years as bigger better gold deposits were discovered just down the road in Norseman (which is still a town).

Now you can wander around the derelict old remains and spot street signs, ruins and telegraph lines. Not everyone finds it (just like gold), but if you carry along the walking trail to the end of Lake Dundas you’ll stumble across the lone grave of a seven month-old baby who died in 1897.

Life was tough back then.

On a chirpier note, if you’re feeling energetic, you can walk the entire Dundas Coach Road Heritage Trail and find out more about the rush and history of the area. Get all you need from the Norseman Tourist Bureau, who had to diversify!.

There are also gigantic 550 million old boulders in Dundas that are as impressive as the spooky old ruins.