X-Nico

97 unusual facts about Western Australia


2008 Rally of WA

It then moved across through Kinky, Ferndale, Ellis, Healthway before returning to Nannup, Western Australia at the end of the First Leg.

A. O. Neville

Neville was a notable resident of Darlington and was a regular user of the Eastern Railway which closed a few months before his death.

Adam Caporn

Born in Baldivis, Western Australia, he had spent six seasons in the National Basketball League, three with the Wollongong Hawks and three for the Perth Wildcats.

Adam Said Galore

Adam Said Galore were formed in 1994, by Michael Lake on guitar, Matt Maguire on drums, Andrew Ryan on guitar and lead vocals, and Simon Struthers on bass guitar, in the Perth suburb of Greenwood.

Albert Edwin Lynch

Lynch was born in Collie, Western Australia to Ernest Lynch and Elizabeth Lynch (née Stewart).

He returned to Western Australia where he was appointed curate of Palmyra in October 1935.

Alexis Bouvard

Bouvard is also a semi-rural residential suburb, while Port Bouvard is a major residential development in the same region.

Alfred Carson

Carson was born at Upper Swan in Western Australia to wheelwright George Carson and Charlotte, née Hadley.

Arthur Baker-Clack

He was a journalist the The Register before moving to the Perth Morning Herald covering the Western Australian goldfields.

Australia Wide

Australia Wide stemmed from ABC Local Radio's Radio Pictures program, in which local radio presenters from rural Western Australia were given video equipment and training to produce local stories.

Bandyup Women's Prison

Bandyup Women's Prison is located in the northeastern rural Perth suburb of West Swan, Western Australia.

Beau Waters

A week after he had recovered from the injury, he was hit by a taxi he was trying to flag down after a night out in Subiaco.

Ben Folds and WASO Live in Perth

Filmed over two nights on March 12 & 13, 2005 at Kings Park and Botanical Gardens in Perth, Australia - a venue Folds jokingly refers to as a "luminous green petri dish" - the DVD offers 14 songs from the three major Ben Folds Five albums and Folds' debut solo album Rockin' the Suburbs.

Black-stripe minnow

The black-stripe minnow is found in the South West region of Western Australia between the towns of Augusta and Albany, and from three separate populations near Bunbury, at Melaleuca Park just north of Perth, and at Lake Chandala north of Muchea.

Boab Prison Tree

Boab Prison Tree can refer to two Boab trees in the Kimberley, Western Australia, that are known as "Prison Trees":-

Bootsie Books

Bootsie Books are the creation of author Mike James who currently lives in Perth, Western Australia.

Brenden Abbott

Brenden James Abbott escaped from jail twice, and he also fled from police in 1986 during questioning at Nollamara Police Station.

Building Revival Campaign

These became two of the first houses built in the new suburb of Floreat Park (now Floreat).

Capo d'Orlando

Capo d'Orlando has a twin city relationship with the City of Fremantle in Western Australia, established due to the cultural and historical links between the cities, and to maintain family associations, trade and tourism.

Carlton Draught

Carlton Draught is a pale lager which is sold on tap in its home state of Victoria as well as in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia, and is one of Australia's most popular selling tap beers.

Chris Mainwaring

Mainwaring's memorial service was held on 8 October 2007 at Christ Church Grammar School, Claremont.

Cripps Pink

PLFOG99 (known as Pink Belle) was discovered in late 1999/early 2000 in Kirup, Western Australia and is a chance limb mutation/sport of Cripps Pink.

Dugite

The last death attributed to a dugite was in 1993 after an elderly woman died in Spearwood, Perth.

Edward William Davies

His obituary mentioned only his business successes, his election to public office, and that he died at his residence in Beaconsfield on 25 January after a long illness.

Emergency airworthiness directive

On October 7 2008, Qantas Flight 72, a scheduled flight from Singapore Changi Airport to Perth Airport, made an emergency landing at Learmonth airport near the town of Exmouth, Western Australia following a pair of sudden uncommanded pitch-down manoeuvres that resulted in serious injuries to many of the occupants.

Ernie Hannigan

He then spent one season with Eastern Hong Kong before emigrating to Perth, Western Australia joining Stirling City.

Extra Virginity

Mueller's overview of the modern olive oil industry includes a visit to a Bertolli plant in Inveruno; family growers in Puglia, Cyprus, and California; and the monastery of New Norcia, Western Australia, founded by Spanish monks, which also produces olive oil.

Fairbridge

Fairbridge, a locality in the Australian state of Western Australia

Fairbridge, Western Australia

Fairbridge, Western Australia is a locality and former farm school near Pinjarra in south west Western Australia.

Frederick Bailey Deeming

By means of forged testimonials Deeming had obtained a position at a mine at Southern Cross.

Gametraders

As of May 2013, there are 17 Gametraders stores across Australia in all states except the Northern Territory, Tasmania, and Western Australia.

George Temple-Poole

His founding and chairing of committees and institutions included; the Western Australian Institute of Architects (later merged to the RAIA), Perth Park (Kings Park Board) and the Wilgie Sketching Society.

Gert Sellheim

Sellheim was born in Estonia to German parents and studied architecture at universities in Germany before migrating to Western Australia in 1926.

Godfrey Blow

More recently the emphasis has been on his art, as his work has increasingly become a featured part of private and public collections in Australia, including Artbank, The Art Gallery of Western Australia, University of Western Australia and the collections of the cities of Bunbury, Albany and Fremantle.

Great Central Road

There are fuel supplies at the following locations along the route (distances east from Laverton): Cosmo Newbery, (85 km), Tjukayirla Roadhouse (300 km), Warburton (560 km), Warakurna Roadhouse (786 km), Docker River (890 km) and finally Yulara (1126 km).

Greenbushes, Western Australia

Greenbushes is a timber and mining town located in the South West region of Western Australia.

Hakea

They are found throughout the country, with the highest species diversity being found in the south west of Western Australia.

Harry Boan

Harry and another brother Benjamin moved to Perth, which was undergoing an economic boom with gold discoveries around Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie.

Headingly Station

In 1953 the property was owned by the Peel River Land and mineral Company which took 200 bulls and transferred them by road train to Auvergne Station in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

His Majesty's Theatre

On its centenary in 2006, the theatre was "twinned" with His Majesty's Theatre in Perth, Western Australia.

HMAS Vigilant

After the war, the ship was returned to the Department of Trade and Customs as PV Vigilant, and served as a whaling patrol ship off Western Australia until 1965.

Innocent Bystanders

In 1983 the band released a cassette entitled Live at the Subi, recorded at the Subiaco Hotel with a mobile recording truck.

Their Monday night residences at the Herdsman Hotel drew crowds of over 250 people, many of them music industry types there to listen to this powerful Australian band heavily influenced by Cold Chisel and Bruce Springsteen.

Jack Kilfoyle

Kilfoyle died of emphysema and bronchitis on 26 May 1962 in Perth and was buried in a cemetery in Karrakatta, Western Australia.

Jammer keyboard

It was coined by Jim Plamondon, founder of Thumtronics, and first used when the "Thummer(tm)-brand jammer" was publicly announced on December 15, 2005, in Perth, Western Australia.

John Adshead

Following his retirement as a player, Adshead instantly got into coaching and upon his arrival in Western Australia in 1970 he coached for six years in the Western Australian State League.

John Siddeley, 1st Baron Kenilworth

To commemorate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937 Lord Kenilworth also made a gift of £100,000 to Fairbridge Farm Schools, a charity to offer opportunities and education abroad to young people from broken homes.

Juror's oath

In Western Australia each jury has a choice to either "swear by Almighty God" or "solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm" to "give a true verdict according to the evidence upon the issue(s) to be tried by me."

Karrakatta Valley

Built in Oslo in 1912, she served as a whale catcher off Western Australia, and was last used at the slipway to provide steam to the adjacent engineering shop, probably until 1959.

Ken Meuleman

Kenneth Douglas Meuleman (5 September 1923, Melbourne, Victoria – 10 September 2004, Nedlands, Western Australia) was an Australian cricketer who played in one Test in 1946.

Lathlain Park

Lathlain Park (currently known as Brownes Stadium under a ground sponsorship arrangement) is an Australian rules football ground, located in Lathlain, an inner-eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia.

Leederville Oval

Leederville Oval (known as Medibank Stadium under a naming rights agreement) is an Australian rules football ground located in Leederville, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.

Leopard whipray

Apparently widespread in the tropical Indo-Pacific region, the leopard whipray has been reported from off KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, eastern India and Sri Lanka, throughout Southeast Asia including the Philippines, southern Japan and Taiwan, New Guinea, and northern Australia from Coral Bay to the Cape York Peninsula.

Lophocorona astiptica

It was described by Common in 1973, and is endemic to Western Australia.

Louis Kahan

After travelling across the United States he moved to Perth, Western Australia to join his family, who had emigrated to Australia before the war.

Marji Armstrong

In 1986, Armstrong opened an equestrian centre dedicated to Classical Equestrian Arts in Forrestfield, Perth which she ran until moving it back to Cranbrook in 1999.

Mark Dixie

In October 2006, Dixie's DNA was sent to Western Australia to be tested against that of the DNA evidence in the Claremont serial killer case between 1996 and 1997, as it is believed he was in the area at the time of the killings, and may have committed them.

Martin Copley

In 1991 he purchased a property containing a large area of natural bushland at Chidlow, Western Australia, now the Karakamia Sanctuary, for conservation purposes, effectively founding what was to become the AWC.

Minimum of Two

Although many of the stories do not contain references to any particular setting, it is most likely that all stories in the anthology are set in Perth, Western Australia, around the late (post-World War II) 20th century.

Mix 94.5

In March 2007 Mix 94.5 and sister station 92.9 moved from premises at 283 Rokeby Road, Subiaco, Western Australia to a new purpose built broadcast centre at 450 Roberts Road, Subiaco.

Moondyne Joe

He then found work on a farm in Kelmscott, but in January 1865 a neighbour's steer was killed and eaten, and Johns was accused of having done the deed.

Mucky Duck Bush Band

The band was founded by Stan Hastings, who ran the folk club The Stables in Northbridge, and his son Greg Hastings.

Municipality of Leichhardt

He later famously vanished without trace on his attempt to cross the continent from the Darling Downs to the Swan River Colony on the Western Australia coast.

Napa Declaration on Place

The list of signatories to the agreement expanded in March 2007 when Sonoma County, Paso Robles, Chianti Classico, Tokay, Victoria, Australia and Western Australia signed the Declaration at a ceremony in Washington, DC.

Nathan Burgers

He trained with the team from 18 January to mid-March in Perth, Western Australia.

Pacific Trim

The CD release contained three tracks with a fourth song, "I Love Perth", included only on the vinyl edition, which references the city of Perth in Western Australia.

Paige Butcher

Born Jacinta Paige Butcher on 10 June 1979 in Perth, Western Australia and grew up in the Perth suburb of Attadale.

Paul Barry

He also wrote the book The Rise and Fall of Alan Bond and a TV report on the Wittenoom industrial disaster, "Blue Death".

Perth Cricket Club

In 1968 the club relocated to its current ground, Fletcher Park in Carlisle.

Piardoba Airfield

On 26 February 1945, the 462d Bombardment Group flew south to Ceylon, then southeast across the Indian Ocean to Perth in Western Australia.

Pinjarra to Narrogin railway

Pinjarra and Narrogin are located on the WAGR South Western and Great Southern main lines respectively, and as such the Pinjarra to Narrogin railway provided an important link between the two, providing a rail transport link to towns and mills along the way, such as Dwellingup and Boddington, both of which continue to be significant settlements in the region.

Point Walter

Point Walter is located in the suburb of Bicton and is on the opposite side of the river to the suburbs of Mosman Park, Peppermint Grove, and Dalkeith.

Preston Point

On the other side of the river is Rocky Bay and the suburbs of North Fremantle and Mosman Park.

Qantas Flight 72

Qantas Flight 72 (QF72) was a scheduled flight from Singapore Changi Airport to Perth Airport on 7 October 2008 that made an emergency landing at Learmonth airport near the town of Exmouth, Western Australia following an inflight accident featuring a pair of sudden uncommanded pitch-down manoeuvres that resulted in serious injuries to many of the occupants.

Ray Parer

His attempt at the first flight to encircle Australia, which he began from Melbourne on 21 October 1921 in an FE2b, ended in disaster when he crashed on take-off at Boulder, Western Australia on 7 February 1922.

Remington Model 7600

The Remington Model 7600 series rifles and carbines, the Model 7600P, and the Model 7615P are legal and available to own in all the states and territories of Australia under a Category A/B Firearms License except for Western Australia, where the Model 7615P has been restricted due to the rifle's ability to take M16/AR-15 magazines.

Ringer Edwards

Edwards later returned to Western Australia and settled at Gingin, where he died in 2000.

Sir Frank Newnes, 2nd Baronet

His second wife was Dorothy (née Darlot), the widow of Stephen Delmar-Morgan, who was originally from Perth, Western Australia.

Southern Scrub Robin

It is endemic to Australia, where it occurs in mallee and heathland in the semi-arid southern parts of the continent, extending from the Little Desert in the east though South Australia to the west coast between Kalbarri and the Pinnacles.

Subiaco-Floreat Cricket Club

The club's main ground is Floreat Oval, on the corner of Oceanic Drive and Ulster Road, Floreat.

Susie Bootja Bootja Napaltjarri

Born south-west of Balgo, Western Australia, in the 1950s Susie Bootja Bootja married artist Mick Gill Tjakamarra, with whom she had a son, Matthew Gill Tjupurrula (also an artist).

Terry Budge

Terry Budge is an Australian banking executive and the current Chancellor of Murdoch University, located in the suburb of Murdoch, Western Australia.

The Manikins

The band had several residencies in Perth, in particular Wednesday nights at the Broadway Tavern in Nedlands and the nightclub Hernando's Hideaway.

The Stems

The Stems played at local venues such as The Wizbah, The Old Melbourne and The Shenton Park Hotel on a regular basis, the group built up a substantial following in Perth, at a time otherwise dominated by cover bands.

Timeline of the 2004–05 Australian region cyclone season

1500 UTC, (2300 WST) – TCWC Perth reports that Tropical Cyclone Raymond (07S), has made landfall near Kalumburu, Western Australia with 10-minute sustained winds of 85 km/h (50 mph).

Timeline of the 2007–08 Australian region cyclone season

:0000 UTC – The Tropical Cyclone Warning Center in Darwin reports that a tropical low has formed to the northeast of Wyndham.

:2100 UTC – The Joint Typhoon Warning Center designates the Tropical Low previously located to the northeast of Wyndham as Tropical Cyclone 10S and issues its first advisory.

Tony Simpson

He started his own bakery in the small town of Byford on the outskirts of the Perth metropolitan area, where he now lives with his wife and family.

Tronado Machine

After Holt's retirement the clinic moved to Claremont where a research institute was established alongside the clinic.

Tropical cyclone basins

According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the most frequently hit portion of Australia is between Exmouth and Broome in Western Australia.

Tully Bevilaqua

Tully Louise Bevilaqua (née Crook on 19 July 1972 in Merredin, Western Australia) is an Australian professional women's basketball player.

Vincent Serventy

Born in Armadale, Western Australia, the youngest of eight children of migrant Croatian parents, he graduated from the University of Western Australia in geology and psychology.

Western Australian Government Railways

A few were isolated from the network, such as the Marble Bar and Hopetoun lines.

Western Rufous Bristlebird

The bristlebird was discovered on 12 October 1901 at Ellensbrook, some 10 km north-west of Margaret River, by Alexander William Milligan.

William Porteous

In December 2009 he sold a property in Mosman Park, Western Australia for A$57.5 million, setting a record for the most expensive house ever sold in Australia.

Yellow-throated Miner

M. f. obscura is native to south-western Western Australia, and M. f. wayensis is native to the rest of Western Australia.

Young Pluto

In retirement he worked as a boxing instructor in public schools, ran a poultry farm in Redcliffe and worked on local racecourse ground staff.


Adenanthos dobagii

Specimens of this species were collected in 1972 and 1973 by Irish botanist Ernest Charles Nelson, from the vicinity of Quoin Head in the Fitzgerald River National Park on the south coast of Western Australia.

Alec Trendall

He is known for his work in mapping the island of South Georgia and for surveying the geology of Western Australia.

Andrew Vlahov

While still on the playing roster with the Wildcats, Vlahov teamed up with ex-NBA player and fellow Western Australian Luc Longley to purchase the Wildcats franchise from owner Kerry Stokes.

Australian Protective Service

Protection of sensitive defence establishments, including Defence Headquarters at Russell Offices in Canberra; the joint Australian/US communications facility at Pine Gap in the Northern Territory; the former atomic testing site at Maralinga in South Australia; the Australian Defence Signals facility at Geraldton and the naval communications station at Exmouth, both in Western Australia

Carinotrachia admirale

The type locality of Carinotrachia admirale is Middle Osborn Island, Bonaparte Archipelago in north-western Kimberley, Western Australia.

Cooperative Wheat Pool of Western Australia

Cooperative Wheat Pool of Western Australia, commonly known as the Wheat Pool of Western Australia, is a cooperative of wheat growers in Western Australia.

David Brand

A member of the Liberal Party, he was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1945 to 1975, and also the 19th and longest-serving Premier of Western Australia, serving four terms from the 1959 to the 1971 elections.

Dilute budgerigar mutation

In 1896, George Keartland of the Calvert Expedition to the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia, observed a yellow budgerigar flying wild in a flock on three occasions.

Eremophila alternifolia

alternifolia occurs in arid areas of Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory and the Barrier Range in New South Wales, in many different habitats with stony or red soil.

Ernest Randell

Having worked in both the Education and Treasury Departments, Randell later worked with Leslie and Co., and was a resident of Gunyidi for a period of time.

Geoglyph

Other areas with geoglyphs include Megaliths in the Urals, South Australia (Marree Man, which is not ancient, rather a modern work of art, with mysterious origins), Western Australia and parts of the Great Basin Desert in the southwestern United States.

Geographe Channel

The Geographe Channel is an arm of the Indian Ocean between Bernier Island and Dorre Island (to the west) and the mainland of Western Australia (to the east).

Golden gudgeon

Hypseleotris aurea, the golden gudgeon, is a species of sleeper goby endemic to Australia where it is found in rocky pools in the Murchison and Gascoyne Rivers in Western Australia.

Hardey River

The river was named in 1861 during an expedition by explorer Francis Gregory, after Swan River colonist John Wall Hardey, who was a family friend.

Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet

Montalivet Street in Paris, a Montalivet Square in Valence, Montalivet Avenue in Caen, Comte de Montalivet Street in Sarreguemines and the Montalivet Islands in Western Australia, are all named after him.

Jirrawun Arts

It was notable as the base for major Indigenous Australian artists of the eastern Kimberley region, including Paddy Bedford and Freddie Timms.

Jon Stratton

Jonathon, or Jonathan, (Jon) Stratton is an Australian academic currently serving as Professor of Cultural Studies at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia.

Joseph Leonard Burley

His collection of early football photographs are housed in the J S Battye Library in Western Australia.

Kutkabubba Community

Kutkabubba is a small Aboriginal community, located 40 km north of Wiluna, Western Australia in the Mid West, within the Shire of Wiluna.

Martu people

A Royal Commission in 1908 exonerated Canning, after an appearance by Kimberley explorer John Forrest who claimed that all explorers had acted in such a fashion.

Maureen Muggeridge

In 1979, Maureen married Towie's son John, she became pregnant and she discovered diamond samples in the flood plains surrounding Smoke Creek, a small stream in East Kimberley that drained into Lake Argyle.

Mertens' water monitor

The monitor is found in coastal and inland waters across much of northern Australia, from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, across the Top End of the Northern Territory and the Gulf Country, to the western side of the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland.

MV True North

MV True North is an expedition yacht operating predominantly in Western Australia's north west.

Ommatoiulus moreleti

Crushed millipedes may have caused a 2013 minor train crash in Clarkson, Western Australia.

Pterostylis barbata

Pterostylis barbata is a perennial herb that grows to 30 cm, it was first described by John Lindley from collections made by James Drummond and Georgiana Molloy of the Swan River Colony in Western Australia.

Robert Zabica

Zabica represented the Australian national football team 28 times in 'A' international matches and also represented Western Australia.

Roland Hyatt

He took his first Sheffield Shield wicket against Western Australia, dismissing Greg Shipperd with a drifting ball.

Ronan's Escape

The film set in the rural wheat belt of Western Australia, provides a candid insight into the life of Ronan, a 14 year old boy who gets bullied at school and decides to make his escape.

Rupert Byron, 11th Baron Byron

Byron was the elder son of Colonel Wilfrid Byron, of Perth, Western Australia, and of Sylvia Mary Byron née Moore, of Winchester, England, the only daughter of the Reverend C. T. Moore.

Sea lion

In a highly unusual attack in 2007 in Western Australia, a sea lion leapt from the water and seriously mauled a 13-year-old girl surfing behind a speedboat.

Stylidium dunlopianum

S. dunlopianums distribution ranges from the Mitchell River area in Western Australia east to the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory.

Synaphea spinulosa

Prior to this, the only known visit by Europeans to an area where S. spinulosa occurs was the voyage of Dutch mariner Willem de Vlamingh, who explored Rottnest Island and the Swan River in December 1696 and January 1697 respectively.

Thomas Road

Thomas Road is a major west-east road in the far southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, connecting Rockingham Road (part of Highway 1) in Kwinana's industrial area with Kwinana's urban area, before bridging Perth's agricultural fringe to meet the South Western Highway in Byford, just south of Armadale.

Transwa AvonLink

On 19 November 2013, two Wheatbelt region MLAs, Mia Davies and Shane Love, presented petitions to the WA State Parliament calling for the retention of the AvonLink.

West Hallam

Sir Francis Newdegate GCMG KStJ (1862–1936), Lord of the Manor until 1914 was Governor of Tasmania (1917–1920) and of Western Australia (1920–1924).

Western Australian state election, 1986

The Labor government, led by Premier Brian Burke, won a second term in office against the Liberal Party, led by Opposition Leader Bill Hassell since 16 February 1984.

Western Australian state election, 1996

The LiberalNational coalition government, led by Premier Richard Court, won a second term in office against the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Dr Geoff Gallop since 15 October 1996.

Western Rufous Bristlebird

The bristlebird had a very restricted range, being found only in a stretch of coastal scrub about 50 km long between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Mentelle in south-western Australia.

White-fronted Chat

It is endemic to Australia, being found across southern Australia (including Tasmania) from Shark Bay in Western Australia around to the Queensland/New South Wales border.

William Nicholas Willis

On the appointment of a Royal Commission under William Owen to investigate the administration of the Lands Department in 1905, Willis fled to Western Australia and South Africa.

Wyndham, Western Australia

The construction efforts were interrupted by the Nevanas affair and World War I, but the meatworks were completed in 1919 to a design by William Hardwick who later became the Principal Architect of Western Australia.

Yampi Sound

The Sound contains many islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago the largest being Koolan Island; others include: Cockatoo Island, Irvine Island, Bathurst Island, Finch Islands, Hidden Island, Baylis Islands and Iron Islands.