2008

Far north in the Kimberley region, on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert is Halls Creek (pop. 1180), where the first gold in Western Australia was found in 1885. Within two years 10,000 prospectors came to the diggings, but the numbers fell as the yield of gold declined. Halls Creek is now a cattle-farming center

15km east of the present town is Old Halls Creek, with only ruins as a reminder of past prosperity. In the cemetery are the graves of many prospectors and of James Darcey, whose death was one of the cases that led to the development of the Flying Doctor Service.  Podcast here.