Place Review: Wiluna Club Hotel Motel & Caravan Park

Sadly not... It was to depressing. With the steel doors at the front entrance and the corrugated iron over the windows the hotel now looks as if it has been boarded up until you walk around the back. The picture shown is, I believe, as it was a few years ago not as it is now. Also the caravan site is now closed despite them still advertising it on their website.

Michelle
Just following you link to Lorna Glen and in the description it it described as, and I quote " Lorna Glen Conversation Reserve ".
Just wondering what a Conversation Reserve is ?

Thanks Wicket - all fixed now.

Agree with Michelle, better off out at the Gunbarrel Laager - was there in 2013, CP in town wasn't very attractive. Due to family commitments, my Mum had to fly out and meet us in WA before our trip up the CSR - we chose Willuna. She had to stay in the hotel before we got there. There was a young Indian couple trying to make a go of it, however there was no food in the hotel or anywhere else in town. Mum had to survive on a packet of crisps and some instant soup for the night. Not a recommend.

Pete, I can assure you in the following ten years (we were there in 2015) it hasn't improved. Of all the depressing places I've been, it has to top the list of those best viewed in the rear vision mirror. It made some of the lower tier outback NSW towns of poor repute seem like paradise. SWMBO had not seen it before, and made it clear she doesn't want to see it again.

Cheers Robert,
Will check out the features next time around. We kicked on and overnighted at North Pool. I pointed out, by web mail, to the 'owner' of the 'Hotel' and the adjoining facilities that their advertisment on the web was misleading and merely copped a swag of abuse. I think their profit margin is based on welfare cheques.

Wiluna and its people were once proud and prosperous.

I was there in the mid 80's a completely different place to what we saw in 2014 when I took my wife and children through.

The Desert Gold farms were a success, making money and employing locals. The Local Co-op ensured that there was access to food and produce at reasonable prices and that not all the money went into the "club coffers".

The school had a fantastic program where the camp kids would be picked up in the morning by teachers, given clean clothes, showered and fed breakfast. Local women would wash/repair their camp clothes and cook lunch that had been hunted by local the local men. The kids would be changed, given afternoon tea and then returned by the teachers to their communities by bus.

There was even a local art workshop where men and women created art to be sold to boost the coffers of the co-op.

Yes! It was driven by welfare money, but like many indigenous communities, there was little to no employment. What set Wiluna apart, was a system (managed by locals) where to reap the benefits you had to contribute. Self determination.

I don't know what happened, perhaps it is just a reflection of our new society. I know the world I grew up in has changed from the one my children are growing up in. The once innocent country town where we lived now has the same social issues as any major town or capital city across the country - drugs, violence, unemployment etc etc.

When we went back there were more bitumen streets, new houses a new school and service station. The "church run missions" had gone. Desert Gold had been sold, the co-op was a supermarket. Adults and children wandered the streets aimlessly.

I think they call it progress - I'm just not sure who is making the progress!

I wonder how many of those who have responded to this post have witnessed what once was? Or are they judging a once thriving town based on their own comfortable middle class affluence? I have read many posts on this site and others that criticise/ridicule/bad mouth many towns that are now a shadow of there former selves...

The advent of long range fuel tanks, efficient 12 volt fridges and more reliable and comfortable vehicles will continue to assist in the demise of towns like this - not just in Wiluna, but right across the country. Unless we (the travellers) support them socially and economically, there will eventually be nothing left.........

Cheers

Anthony

Baz,
I could not agree more with your sentiments regarding the plight of the indigenous people. We have travelled reasonably extensively through WA and NT where these issues are most noticeable. Because most of Australia lives east of Dubbo the issues faced by these individuals are essentially out of sight and out of mind. I am no expert but as I see it there are a number of aspects to this problem. The equal pay decision in 1967 forced many indigenous people off the stations and into settlements. The welfare mentality then became entrenched and this combined with the lack of meaningful and appropriate employment has led to many of the issues being experienced today.
Of course it has always intrigued me that so few if any indigenous settlements have made their communities traveller friendly. With the number of travellers these days I am sure many would like to have a greater exposure to indigenous culture. How many indigenous people do you see managing the indigenous owned roadhouses?
It is always confronting seeing the way many of these people live and seeing the security measures that have to be taken in such places as Halls Creek. Witnessing the "Keep Your Unleaded Petrol Secured" signs and the barbed wire around caravan parks in Warburton and Laverton is also quite disconcerting.

Concur with everything you guys have just said plus that bit about the roadhouse management - That was also something we discussed around the campfire. I mostly feel for the youngsters who are still vibrant and full of fun, what future is there for them. When you look at the teenagers and the adults it is almost as if the life has been sucked out of them.
What can we do to resolve this... I honestly don't know and as a white fella I felt completely out of my depth trying to understand what I was confronted with.

We didn't see the Club Hotel looking in that new condition on either of our visits.
We stopped in there for a lemon squash to spend a bit more money in the town & it was in a state of disrepair.
At this first visit, we bought diesel & Groceries from a store which was well stocked.

Our second visit was a few years on & the place was ruined. Not a tourist friendly town.
I think they'd better update that picture,it is very misleading especially to visitors from overseas.
We've spoken to Elders and even worked with them, back in the 70-'s and they would say, that it would take at least 3 generations to bring us closer. It is now 2016.!
Drugs of a terrible nature are affecting both our communities and Aboriginal.
If this sort of thing is happening then people keep away.

If you feel welcome & safe in a place then you go there instead.
Take care,Safe travels. Ma.