Katanning to Perth

In Katanning, I stayed once more at the lovely Premier Mill Hotel. This is a beautifully converted historic flour mill, proud of its heritage, and now owned by Dome. The pleasant American guy who checked me in turned out to be the manager; when I checked out he was keen to chat about my impressions of the place. I said the only thing wrong was the minuscule fridge: everything else was perfect. There is an informative booklet about the history of the mill and of Katanning, a souvenir to take away. This has been expanded a lot since I was last here. I also told him how much I appreciated the super-fast wifi in the hotel. He took me outside and pointed to a nondescript building with a big tower. This is Telstra’s back-up station for the whole of WA. If the state network fails, this back-up station can take over! That’s why the signal is so strong here.

Part of the original flour mill machinery.

Small kitchen on every floor for tea and coffee.

More about the hotel here

Check this out: beautiful shots by a professional photographer. I was in a Boiler Room.

Railway line going south.

When this railway was built in the nineteenth century, it was an important link between Perth and the port of Albany. Katanning was a halfway stop. Now it is only used for goods transport. It would be great to bring back passenger trains.

Just outside the hotel, there is a new charging station for electric cars. I saw three of them later at Williams (these ones owned by Tesla). The charging stations are popping up everywhere, to encourage the purchase of electric cars. I don't know how much it costs to charge your car or how long it takes. When my 15 year old Prius dies, I want to buy an electric vehicle.

One of several murals around town.

Inside Williams Woolshed, where I stopped for coffee.