Aloe

Driving into town the tall aloe plants growing alongside the main highway are eyecatching. It wasn't until I moved to the mid-west that I knew aloe could grow as high! In my previous experience aloe vera was a small plant, often contained in a pot near the back door, close enough for a quick dash to pull off a fragment to 'dress' a slight burn or graze.

In Western Australia, and perhaps other regions ... I am not familiar with the rest of Australia ... aloe plants grow prolifically near to places of human population. Aloe, along with the pepper tree, must have been part of the herb folk-lore of early settlers.

Not having photographed the aloe plants growing alongside the highway to show you, I searched back through my CD's of photos [just imagine taking as many photos 20 years ago with a 'normal' camera as we do today with their digital cousins!] for a photo of an abandoned homestead, not far from the Rabbit Proof Fence between Yalgoo and Morawa.

Near to this old homestead, that must have been quite a building in its day [leaving one wondering why it was allowed to go to wrack and ruin ... perhaps its isolation had some bearing, or maybe the poor farming land surrounding it were reasons for depopulation], is a sign that reads, "The Outback starts Here".

My initial reading of that sign was on my first trip north, by coach, to a job ... how I wondered exactly where I was heading!

In the Outback potions would have been essential in treating minor wounds etc. Life must have been tough for the men and women carving out a home in this formidable environment.