CUNDERDIN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

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A central Wheatbelt town of less than 1,000 people, on Great Eastern Highway between Meckering and Tammin. Cunderin is the home of the Bulgin Bush Race run from Cunderdin to Meckering.
Location: 156 km east of Perth.
Origin of name: the Aboriginal name of a nearby hill, first recorded by the explorer C C Hunt in 1864. One source states "Cunder" is derived from "Quenda", meaning "place of the bandicoot". Another indicates it means "place of big turkey".
Brief history: the first European through the area was Charles Hunt who arrived in 1864 and the following year returned to blaze the track which became known as 'The Old Goldfields Road'. He was followed by sandalwood cutters and itinerant shepherds. The goldrush of 1888 saw miners pouring through the area on their way to the goldfields. The settlement of Youndegin emerged some 19 km south of the present town. The railway passed to the north of Youndegin and by 1894 and many of Youndegin's residents moved away. Land was set aside for the townsite around the Goldfields Water Supply's No.3 Pumping Station in 1904.
Natural features: Bullock Rock; Boordabbie Rock; Kelkering Spring; Bulgin Rock; Booralyocking Spring
Heritage features: Cunderdin Museum (No. 3 Pumping Station, Goldfields Water Scheme)