Weekend Activites in Perth - Mundaring Weir

At the crest of the Darling Range, 40km from Perth, is Mundaring Weir, a dam constructed in the 1890's to provide water from the Goldfields Water Scheme.

At the time, a desperate water shortage was hampering development of the Eastern Goldfields and the dam was part of the innovative solution devised by the colony's chief engineer, CY O'Connor.

He planned to raise the water the 500km up to Kalgoorlie with the aid of a series of pumping stations. Such a radical idea was ridiculed in the press and mocked in parliament and O'Connor struggled constantly to secure funds for his scheme. He eventually committed suicide on Fremantle Beach just months before water finally gushed into Kalgoorlie's Mount Charlotte Reservoir in 1903. Today, the Goldfields are still fed by an upgraded version of the pipeline and pumping stations.

At the base of the dam in Mundaring is the CY O'Connor museum housed in the primary steam pumping station. Inside are early versions of the pitch and wood pipeline, at that time the longest in the world, and details of O'Connor's other public works.

The weir has plenty of walking tracks nearby and is a nice setting for a picnic.

Mundaring itself is a little laid back town with an active artistic community, check out the Mundaring Arts Centre and the sculpure garden for local artists' work.