WA is one third of Australia in size measuring 2.5 million square kilometres (ten times larger than the UK) and would be the tenth largest country in the world, but only has a population of 2.8 million (UK is 24 times larger), 80% of whom live in Perth.
It was first encountered by Europeans in 1616, with the first colony, The Swan River Colony (now part of Perth)set up in 1829 by the British. In 1892 gold was found in WA, creating a boom and in 1899 The Perth Royal Mint was created to buy gold and mint coins. The Mint remained under British control until 1970; while Britian was on the gold standard, until 1931, the Perth Mint produced over 100 million gold soverigns. In 2011, the mint produced the world’s largest gold coin at 1,012kg made of 24 carat gold which is displayed at The Mint.
WA is Australia’s wealthiest per capita state driven primarily by mining and petroleum extraction, which represents almost half of Australian exports.
Our trip was a case of “third time lucky” having cancelled twice due to pandemic travel restrictions. With only two roads into the state, the government of WA chose to close the borders to other Australian states as well as other countries for almost two years earning it the nickname “hermit state”.
Shilli-Fully Travels 