Halls Creek is a town situated in the east

Kimberley region of Western Australia The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami deserts in the region of the Pilbara, and on ...

. It is located between the towns of Fitzroy Crossing and Turkey Creek (Warmun) on the

Great Northern Highway Great Northern Highway is an Australian highway that links Western Australia's capital city Perth with its northernmost port, Wyndham. With a length of almost , it is the longest highway in Australia, with the majority included as part of the ...

. It is the only sizable town for 600 km on the Highway. Halls Creek is also the northern end of the

Canning Stock Route The Canning Stock Route is a track that runs from Halls Creek, Western Australia, Halls Creek in the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region of Western Australia to Wiluna, Western Australia, Wiluna in the Mid West (Western Australia), ...

, which runs 1,850 km through the

Great Sandy Desert The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,IBRA Version 6.1
data

until the southern end of the route at Wiluna. The town functions as a major hub for the local Indigenous population and as a support centre for cattle stations in the area. Halls Creek is the administration centre for Halls Creek Shire Council.

History

The land now known as Halls Creek has been occupied for thousands of years by

Aboriginal peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

. The land is crossed by

songline A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal cultures of Australia. They mark the route followed by localised "crea ...

s and trading paths stretching from the coasts to the deserts, some passing near the modern town. The story of that long occupation remains alive today and it is revealed in the culture of the Jaru, Kija, Kukatja, Walmajarri, Gooniyandi and other Indigenous people who live in Halls Creek Shire. Late in the 19th century, Europeans arrived, searching for land for cattle and sheep, as well as minerals. On Christmas Day 1885 prospector Charlie Hall found a

gold nugget A gold nugget is a naturally occurring piece of Native metal, native gold. Watercourses often concentrate nuggets and finer gold in placer deposit, placers. Nuggets are recovered by placer mining, but they are also found in residual deposits wher ...

at a site that would eventually be named after him. News of the discovery drew more than 15,000 people to what is now Old Halls Creek to try their luck. It proved a barren land for these people, and some graves can be found in Old Town's small cemetery. The gold rush lasted less than three months and Halls Creek became a trading centre for

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

s, Aboriginal communities and miners who stayed there. The post office with its

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

line that terminated here, the police station, government office, racecourse and stores gave the town a purpose. In 1918 the Australian Inland Mission built a hospital and the old town continued, with few inhabitants and little water. In 1948 an

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

was built near the site of the present town and over the next decade the old town moved nearer to this new site. Except for the police station, which was finally relocated in 1961, the old town was abandoned by 1954. The nearby settlements known as Chinaman's Garden (Yarrunga) and Wangu Outstation (Flora Valley Station) were funded by the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

as outstations during the 1980s.PDF
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Tourism

For tourists, there are several nearby attractions such as: * China Wall * Old Halls Creek * Palm Springs * Saw Pit Gorge * Duncan Road * Wolfe Creek Crater, 200 km to the south on the Tanami Road * Purnululu National Park (the Bungle Bungles), 120 km to the north. *

Tourism information is available.

Indigenous Australian art

Many talented artists producing

Indigenous Australian art Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving, rock ...

live in Halls Creek and the surrounding communities. Some artists sell directly, and there are also multiple art centres within the Shire of Halls Creek, where buyers can meet the artists and purchase works. * Yarliyil Art Centre, Halls Creek * Warlayirti Artists Aboriginal Corporation], Wirrimanu ( Balgo, Western Australia, Balgo) Community * Warmun Art Centre], Turkey Creek ( Warmun Community, Western Australia, Warmun) Community * Laarri Gallery, Yiyili Community

Travel tips

There are alcohol restrictions within Halls Creek. In May 2009 the state Director of Liquor Licensing imposed a "prohibition on the sale of packaged liquor with an alcohol content greater than 2.7 per cent from licensed premises" in the town. In September 2009 it was reported that assaults and drink driving arrests had decreased dramatically as a result of the bans. Full strength alcohol can be purchased with a meal at the local motel or hotel, however take-away sales of alcohol above 2.7% are prohibited. Halls Creek has two distinct seasons, the wet season (November - March) and the dry season (April - October). Permanent surface water sources are scarce during the dry season. During the wet season, Halls Creek is often cut off due to flooding; water levels can rise and fall very rapidly. Permits are required in some areas.

Impact craters

Aside from the well known and well preserved Wolfe Creek Crater, averaging about 875 metres in diameter, nearby there is also Goat Paddock crater, 7 km in diameter and 106 km west-southwest of Halls Creek, and Piccaninny crater, 7 km in diameter, within the Purnululu (Bungle Bungle) National Park. Near the other end of the Tanami Road in the Northern Territory, over 1000 km away from Halls Creek, is Gosses Bluff crater, with the 5 km diameter, 180 m high crater-like feature, now exposed, being interpreted as the eroded relic of the crater's central uplift.

Indigenous population

In the 2016 Census, there were 1,546 people in Halls Creek. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 66.9% of the population. Material was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
It is home to the Indigenous Djaru and Gija peoples as well as some Tjurabalan peoples from the desert to the south of the town. Indigenous people have lived in the region for at least 30,000 years.Shire of Halls Creek, ''Travel and Tourism Guide'', p7, 2015.

"Aboriginal people in Halls Creek are predominantly Jaru and Kija peoples. Many residents celebrate both Jaru and Kija heritage. there are also significant numbers of Gooniyandi people from further east, Walmajarri from the south-east and Kukatja people originally from the desert country to the south. Over the years other Aboriginal people from nearby groups have moved to Halls Creek. These include the Gurindji and the Walpiri from the east, the Ngardi from the south-east and Malngin from the north-east."

Climate

Halls Creek has a warm

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

(''BSh'' according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

) with a dry season and a wet season. The temperature is warm year-round, with July, the coolest month, having an average high of and an average low of . November has the highest average high of , while December has the highest average low at . The highest temperature ever recorded was on 8 November 1988 and the lowest recorded temperature was on 18 July 1945. Halls Creek has never recorded a temperature below freezing point. Halls Creek receives of precipitation annually. There is a wet season from December to March and a dry season for the rest of the year. The hottest time of year is just before the wet season and at the start of it, from October to January. The dry season is cooler and has a higher

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag, also known as thermal inertia, is an important factor in diur ...

. January is the wettest month, receiving of rain on average. August is the driest month, receiving only of rainfall. August has the least precipitation days with 0.5 and January has the most with 13.5 days. Humidity is low year-round, but it is higher during the wet season. Halls Creek receives 3439 hours of sunshine annually, with July having the most sunshine and February having the least.

Heavy rare earth mine

the Browns Range Project pilot plant—160 km south east of the township near the Kundat Djaru Community—is producing per annum of

dysprosium Dysprosium is a chemical element; it has symbol Dy and atomic number 66. It is a rare-earth element in the lanthanide series with a metallic silver luster. Dysprosium is never found in nature as a free element, though, like other lanthanides, it ...

References

External links

Shire of Halls Creek

Halls Creek tourism
{{Towns Kimberley WA Towns in Western Australia Kimberley (Western Australia) Canning Stock Route