Today was our day to complete some visits before we move on. We headed to Australind to go to Aldi for berry jam, rice snacks and pre-wash soaker, then to Bunnings for a new torch for Russ and some cleaner for the shower, and as an added bonus, I got to go to an Op Shop.

I read the next book of the Cat Among Dragons series for most of the way there as we had already driven this road previously.

Australind lies in the Shire of Harvey, and at the census of 2021, there were 15,988 people living there.

Prior to European settlement, the area was home to the Elaap and Pindjarup people of the Noongar nation. Early explorers and settlers found them to be excellent trackers, and many of them found employment on farms.

The name Australind is a combination of Australia and India, which was chosen due to the belief that the area could be used for breeding horses for the British Indian Army, as was later done at Cervantes, Northampton and Madura.

In 1840, the Western Australian Land Company purchased 42,000 hectares of land with a plan to create an English-style village populated by settlers. The area had been mapped in 1831 by John Septimus Roe and explored by land by Lieutenant Henry Bunbury in 1836.

A detailed plan of the town included a town square, church, a school, stores, a mill and a public hall.

Marshall Waller Clifton, who arrived on Parkfield in 1841, was appointed leader of the 440 settlers. However, in January 1841, the Swan River Colony’s Methodist minister, Rev. John Smithies, wrote in the following terms to the Wesleyan Missionary Society in London: 

‘If any of your friends are thinking of Austral-Ind as a point of emigration tell them to Stop. It is one of the greatest puffs that there has been for some time. I should be sorry if any of our Methodist friends or others should be so deluded as to embark for such a place.’

Before long, the settlement began to fail owing to poor soils and climate – no water in summer and too much of it in winter – and the settlers drifted away.

Little of the planned town was ever developed. The company folded, the land was mostly resumed by the Crown, and the settlement plans were officially abandoned in 1875.

Today the Historic St Nicholas Church building, originally a worker’s cottage, is 3.6 metres (12 ft) in width and 8.2 metres (27 ft) in length and is believed to be the smallest church in Australia, while Henton Cottage was the town’s first hotel.

In the 20th century, the district’s residential and recreational appeal gradually attracted more development as Bunbury expanded to become a city.

A primary school opened in 1980, relieving pressure on that of nearby Eaton, and was followed by a high school which opened in 1987.

By 2001, Australind was predominantly residential, with the census reporting over 10,000 residents, more than half of whom were first- or second-generation British immigrants, with a notable Italian minority.

We went to the shopping complex in Treendale. Around this part of the suburb the majority of real estate is probably less than 15 years old and prices for homes are about equivalent with Mildura prices at the moment.

The shopping complex is as busy as I can remember seeing anywhere and that includes the major cities. The car park is huge, and full, and there are people scurrying to and fro all around.

On the way back to Collie after a very successful shopping expedition, I continued reading to Russ until we arrived at Woolworths where we did the main grocery shopping before we move to Nannup. I also got my scripts filled at the chemist here.

We were back at the van by 2:30pm and all the groceries and other items were scanned in for Nielsons before being put away. At the last look at the Nielson’s app, we have earned $200 which we will take as a Visa card.