Wyndham Radio (VIW)

The radio station was built just outside the town, which is located at the base of a
300-metre high mountain on Cambridge Gulf. The waters are infested with crocodiles
and, during the wet season, mosquitos hit plague proportions.

Staff stationed in Wyndham during those early years spoke of tolerable weather
from May to August during the dry season, but complained of the almost unbearable
heat - the mean temperature being more than 35 degrees Celsius.

The population of Wyndharn underwent seasonal fluctuations. The main industry
of the town was the meatworks, which only operated for 20 weeks of the year; during
that period, the population could swell from 50 to 300. Even by 1931, the town was
still small and comprised a hotel, three Chinese shops, a post office, police station,
hospital, a European store and a smattering of private houses.

For the staff at the station, social life was extremely limited, especially during the
periods when the meatworks was closed. The main event of the week was the arrival
of the mad plane, which operated for eight months of the year. At other times, contact
with the outside world was restricted to the bi-monthly steamer.

The one hotel was the source of most social life. Swimming was impossible in the
waters around the area, but some of the staff took to duck shooting for recreation.
Once the meatworks began operating, the social life improved with tennis
tournaments, twice-weekly movies, and social gatherings.

By the mid 1930s, several of the outlying cattle stations had installed teleradios
and had contact with the outside world via Wyndham Radio. The local mission was
also equipped with a radio telephone by the mid-1930s.