Meeline Station is situated some 650km north east of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. Although not a desert, the country is very desolate and dry, receiving only about 8" of rain per year. Sometimes two or three years may pass with virtually no rain, and then a year's rainfall my come in one or two days! The region is used for sheep raising, and because of the desolate nature of the counrtyside, the stations must be large, with Meeline being around 120,000 acres.
This photograph shows the typical country. It was taken from a quartz ridge about 10km from the station homestead. The vegetation is natural, with no clearing having been done. The reason there is so much green is that about 3 weeks earlier there had been around 10" of rain in 2 days.
This photograph is taken looking south east towards the station homestead and shows the quartz ridge mentioned in the earlier photograph. The large lake is a result of the rain that had fallen about 3 weeks earlier.
In several areas the original laterite overlay has been eroded away leaving softer, clay-loam soils exposed and covered with quatrz rocks.
After heavy rain it can be quite interesting drive to the station! The roads are all unsealed and can become very muddy and soft after rain, not to mention flooded! At this time very careful driving is reguired to aviod getting stranded. With the station homesteads around 40km apart, it is a looonnngggg walk!
The homestead is about 500m from the shearer's quarters, and is fairly typical of outback homesteads. A well-kept garden with plenty of shady trees (definitely a necessity!!) surrounding a timber and iron house with wide verandars.
Originally power was supplied by diesel generator, however in recent times, many station owners have switched to a combination of wind and solar power generation, with the diesel remaining as a backup. This has resulted in considerable savings for the station owners.
