2021 FROG’N’TOADING

Onslow is located 1380 km north of Perth via Highway 1. It is located 82 km north west of the North Western Coastal Highway.

Onslow is a sleepy little town where people go to fish and to have quiet holidays by the sea. Historically it was created as a mixture of pearling, farming and gold mining, but today, in part because it lies on the coast 82 km from the main North West Coastal Road, it is a true Cinderella - a gorgeous coastal retreat where only those who know of its charms tend to divert from the long journey from Perth to Broome. It has become known as 'Cyclone City' as, since its establishment in 1883, it has experienced major cyclones in 1909, 1918, 1926, 1934, 1953, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1975, 1995 and 1999. The 1963 cyclone had winds which were measured at 232 km/h. In fact the cyclones have occurred with such regularity that they have had profound effects on the town - it was forced to relocate after the 1926 cyclone and the frequency of cyclones in the 1960s forced the reconstruction of the local jetty to be abandoned.

Few Australians now realise that the Japanese actually bombed Onslow. They caused no loss of life but the town's very impressive War Memorial, at the end of Second Avenue, is a reminder that in 1943 the town was under attack.

It is hard to tell exactly what it is - could it be the wreck of a ship? - but just off the coast to the north of the Anzac Memorial is a jagged collection of remnants which is all that is left of a jetty that was built in 1925 and used to be 1.2 km in length. It was badly damaged by cyclones - cyclone damage in 1934, 300 metres removed by a cyclone in 1961, and finally destroyed by the Army in 1982.

As you enter Onslow it is impossible not to be amazed by the salt lakes and the huge mountains of salt which can be seen from Onslow Road. Onslow is surrounded by 90 square kilometres of salt flats and the Onslow Salt Pty Ltd can produce up to 2.5 million tonnes of sodium chloride in a year. There is a 1.3 km jetty off Sunset Beach and in 2002, its first year of operations, the company shipped 45,000 tonnes of salt to Asia.

Between March and October, on an average of three times a month, the remarkably beautiful natural phenomenon named "Staircase to the Moon" occurs. The phenomenon is created when a full moon shines on the exposed mudflats at very low tide. The result is an illusion which looks like stairs reaching to the moon. It can be observed at Onslow, Dampier, Point Samson, Hearson Cove, Cossack, Port Hedland and Broome.Läs mer