This morning we went for a walk around the Sports Complex before breakfast. There's been quite a lot of planting of trees and shrubs in recent times. Perhaps it's so the town can live up to its name, after all, Greenbushes was named after its bright green bushes that contrasted against the grey eucalyptus trees of the district.
Called into the township with the intent of visiting the Discovery Centre but found it wasn't open on Mondays. Visited the Op Shop next door and purchased some black and white gear for our black and white dinner in the desert in Karlamilyi National Park after we meet up with the others in Newman in a couple of weeks.
Greenbushes was founded as a mining town in 1888 following a surveyor's discovery of tin in 1886. The town experienced a period of economic boom until the international price of tin slumped in 1893, which caused the Greenbushes industry to collapse. By 1913, approximately one-quarter of Greenbushes' inhabitants were working in the timber industry, which was established shortly after the first mine.
More than a century later, the Greenbushes mines are now part of Western Australia's multibillion-dollar development boom around lithium. The metal and its chemical compounds have long been used in aluminium smelting, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, glassware and ceramics. Its lightweight and energy density means it is also found in the batteries powering laptop computers, mobile phones, calculators and digital cameras. The emergence of electric vehicles, however, has set the lithium market alight. With electric cars, scooters and trucks tipped to account for up to half of all manufactured vehicles by 2030, demand for lithium is on the rise as car makers and their suppliers plan for the rechargeable batteries that will power the new fleets. UK-based minerals research house Roskill sees global consumption of lithium growing at 18 per cent a year up to 2026, driven by annual 26 per cent growth in the rechargeable battery market.
The Greenbushes mine is already the world’s biggest producer of lithium with its long-life, high-grade ore body accounting for 30 per cent of the market. Further development will create the region’s own Super Pit — 2.6km-long, 1km wide and more than 500m deep. Unfortunately, the mine is another example of Australia "selling off the farm" as the company, Talison Lithium, is owned by China’s Tianqi Lithium and Albemarle Corp of the US. The increased production will feed more than one $1 billion of new downstream processing plants in Kwinana and Kemerton, north of Bunbury, by Tianqi and Albermarle.
The current mine is right on Greenbushes doorstep and impressively, appears to exist without imposing itself too much on the township as other mines do – Peak Hill and Mt Isa come to mind. One can only hope that the expansion of the mining, the mine can continue to coexist favourably with the township. We walked up to the lookout with its view over the mine. On the way up there were colourful seats, each with an thoughtful quote “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm”, “If you judge people you have no time to love them - Mother Teresa”, “Our future is in our hands”, "A bargain ain't a bargain unless it's something you need”.
From Greenbushes we headed towards Bunbury with the intention of detouring through Gnomesville. We had read up about Gnomesville in one of the magazines we had picked up along the way. Just near Donnybrook we saw a sign "Solarfruit" and just had to call in. The farm, run by Sue and Steve Collis set up in 1994. The fruit is dried naturally by the sun (for up to 10 days) in a single process, without the constant washing, sulphuring and oven drying that is used by other methods. We bought some of their fruit leather (very delicious) and some chocolate coated apricots. Had a very interesting chat with Steve and he filled us in on the local flora, even showing us a snottygobble tree. How's that for a name!
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| Snottygobble Tree |
It is not known exactly how Gnomesville appeared; however, there are several different stories. Some people believe that a random gnome appeared, and other people placed their gnomes so the original one would not be lonely. Another story is that the local workmen created a cricket scene with gnomes in the middle of the roundabout for fun! Regardless of why the gnomes live in Gnomesville, this community of fascinating gnomes has grown to an immense scale. As you approach the area, you see the gnomes, they are everywhere, and become quite intimidating. It is estimated that there are now over 5000 different gnomes living in Gnomesville, and this number is continuously growing. Just an incredible spot.
From Gnomesville we headed to the coast and Bunbury for a quick stop at the lookout before heading on toward Perth. Bunbury is the main port for the South West Region and is Western Australia's third largest city with a population of over 33,000 people (67,000 in the Greater Bunbury area). A pretty spot.
Camp tonight was further up the road at the Lake Clifton Tavern (they allow camping out the front of the Tavern and we were the only ones there tonight). We had a flock of "Twenty Eight" parrots put on a great display for us.
