The elegant, ultra-modern S.S. Koombana arrived in Western Australia in March 1909. After only three years of Nor’-West service, the ship and her entire complement disappeared in a late-summer cyclone off the Pilbara coast. The vessel has never been found and the tragedy remains unexplained.
Koombana Days is the story of the ship and of the people in whose lives she figured so large. From Koombana’s first appearance, Nor’-Westers shaped their schedules to her arrivals and flocked to her saloon at every opportunity. At sea and in port, she was an island of ice and electric light: a cool relief from the present and a bright depiction of the future imagined.
The book’s eighteen chapters are also free-standing essays, spanning politics, law, religion, race relations, industrial relations, and the emerging sciences. Together, they offer a snapshot of a colourful period in the history of Western Australia.
The hardbound edition is illustrated with maps and photographs, and printed in full colour on quality paper.
the book
