As Darwin agronomist Robert Wesley-Smith drives through WA , he photographs the rugged countryside and sends a report on his observations to Little Darwin , which cover a wide range of subjects : cattle , sand, salt and mineral mining , large trucks and other equipment , cranky car washing machines .
His latest communique has been sent from the capital, Perth , where he seems to have washed away most of the red dust .
Along the way , he came across a pleasant change from the stark countryside , a green scene , at Carnarvon , where irrigation and fertiliser have enabled massive banana plantations and large scale vegetable growing.
Wes said there was a person there , a drip irrigation expert, who had been a member of the New South Wales volunteer group, Bega Valley Advocates for Timor-Leste , which since 2004 had been helping a region of that country to rebuild schools, a health system, agriculture ,small businesses .
At Geraldton ,479kms south of Carnarvon , Wes ,interested in Australian naval and aviation history, photographed the memorial for HMAS Sydney , which sank with the loss of 654 men on November 19,1941 after the battle with the German raider , Kormoran .
In Perth , more than 400kms south further one , he called on two longtime Timor activists .
