Out and about around Wyndham

Boab tree glowing in the late afternoon light on Telegraph Hill near Wyndham, Western Australia

Wyndham’s not the picture-perfect Kimberley town. In fact all the things we have come to love about Wyndham are the things that it’s not. In a world where everything is becoming same-same, Wyndham is still being true to itself - and it’s exactly the kind of place we’ve been seeking out on our meander around WA this year. 

Before we’d even unhitched the van we drove straight through to the old port where we found a couple of local policemen with their arms full of hand-lines. They were heading up the jetty to go fishing with some of the kids after school. It was a lovely introduction and an insight into the community.

Lying at the end of the road, Wyndham is Western Australia’s northern-most town with a rich history - gold mining had a brief boom in the late 1800s, and in the twentieth century the town had a busy abattoir and port. There’s enough remnants to allow visitors to imagine what it once was. In its heyday there was apparently six pubs; today the only one left standing is behind a wire fence while it waits for someone new to bring it back to life. 

So much of Wyndham has perhaps seen better days and, yes, it’s rundown in parts, but the fresh bright paintwork on other buildings shows that there’s still life in this old town.

We’d only planned to be in Wyndham for one night but stayed for several as we explored the town and the surrounds, discovered the history and the characters, and made some new friends. 

As a professional portrait photographer my passion for the last 11 years has been a personal project called Lives Well Lived and Wyndham provided me with some wonderful people to capture. A special thank you to Pixie, Honest John and Bushy each of whom have their own blog post in my Travel Journal.

Parts of the Kimberley may have their resorts and wealth, diamonds and pearls, but Wyndham is the hidden gem. 

[Thanks to Steve for the drone images - it was all a bit hair-raising with all the hawks and eagles around!]