Karalundi Aboriginal Boarding School

KARALUNDI is a boarding school for aboriginal kids from all over the State. It is 50 km north of Meekatharra and has a caravan park, the proceeds from which help support the complex, along with its great café and sale of farm produce. It has 250 acres and abundant water and its run by Seventh Day Adventist church.

It started in the 1950’s, and has had a chequered history. All the buildings are fairly new, and it has beautiful green grass, excellent amenities and great camp kitchen. It’s accurately described as an OASIS.

Our ‘van was there for a week, as we left it there while we travelled to Mt. Augustus.

Other things were for sale in the café including a book, published in 2006, on the history of Karalundi. I bought it.

AT THE VERY NEXT CARAVAN PARK we stayed at, at Cue, some people adjacent to us asked where we’d come from that day … as you do. When I said Karalundi, Margaret said “I went to school there 60 years ago; I was the only white kid; my father was the superintendent and started the school. He was Pastor Vaughan”.  

Amazing co-incidence?

It was great to see the pictures of her Dad, Mum and sister in the book. Margaret has written in it for me. Another unexpected meeting I’ll treasure.