You'd expect York, WA, to have plenty of ghosts. And, actually, there are some. Its old hospital where my mother was born over a century ago is said to be haunted.

It appears more like a town set in amber, when we arrive one late afternoon. Golden facades on the gold-rush solid main street buildings, now National Trust Heritage Listed, glow in the sunset haze, and the street itself is empty as the town drowses through the conclusion of another hot day.

I saw them then. The shadowy figures of 1880s' prospectors pushing handcarts, heading further east, the setting sun throwing long shadows out in front. Their sights were set on Southern Cross, then later Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie, where they were to make their fortunes. They hoped.

Those ghosts linger in the bars of some of the town's hotels, many of which sprang up around that time and are now enjoying a 21^st-century refurb and renewal. These would have been rough tough old places in the gold-rush years. It was here  deals were done, stories told, and maybe a few tears spilled into the beer as well, by those who hadn't made it rich.

My great-grandfather and assorted sons and their cousins came here in 1893, a decade or so after gold was discovered at Southern Cross, over 270 kilometres east of York. Having seen the same scenario played out in Victoria a couple of decades earlier, there were no handcarts and  picks for them. They knew a better way to make a fortune. Rather than scrabble underground they set about building condensers along the gold-rush route. These would provide something even more precious than gold to the miners. Water.

As Western Australia's first inland settlement in 1830, York was originally planned with other things in mind. It was to be the base for agriculture. The rolling hills and wide valleys and generous amounts of sunshine seemed ideal for the governor's plans to make this the food bowl for the infant Swan River colony almost a hundred kilometres away. There was a river here too, the Avon, now better known along its northern reaches for an annual white-water classic  event, the Avon Descent. In York, though, the river is winding and sedate.

Convicts were sent as manpower to establish the early settlement in York named nostalgically for someone's home city in the UK. Today visitors wander through The Residency Museum, the place where from 1851 convicts came to be allocated work, and where the magistrates later lived. Today, even on the hottest day, those thick stone walls provide a cool respite for people who want to step back in time and learn about the town's history. Its displays of convicts, ceramics and Chinese market gardeners with interactive activities make it popular with families.

York is not locked into its past. Sure, the town's long-time attraction, the York Motor Museum provides a spin down memory lane for almost any age as the more recent vehicles are fondly familiar.

"It's a museum of today, actually," says Peter Harbin, the museum's curator as he reverently touches a gleaming 1903 Oldsmobile, the museum's oldest vehicle, then points to a 1978 Toyota Corolla, the same as one I remember driving not so long ago, it seems.

Each country town has its own character, so I ask a few people "what do you do for fun here?"

"Coffee with friends," some reply. Jules Café, with pavement dining in the main street, is busy with prams and youngsters. Their parents chow down falafels and wraps and lattes. Bugatti, across the road, has the better coffee, some say, although, on another tip-off, we decided to leave the main drag and visit The Mill, a former flour mill was built in 1892. Now it has a bakehouse and serves good coffees and light meals under shady trees and umbrellas in the courtyard. We explored the handcraft gallery selling everything from silk scarves to jarrah dining tables, and upstairs, the art gallery. You'll need plenty of time for all this, and perhaps another coffee at the end of it.

"Come back in late May," we were told by several people. "That's when the Food & Wine Festival is on." The Motor Museum's cars join the Festival of Motoring later in the year, and if we miss those, there is still the hugely popular Jazz Festival to plan for. "Book early!" we're advised.

In fact, it seems that York is a bit of  a party town. Just far enough from Perth (a little over an hour's drive) it's well located for a day-outing to whatever is on. Many sensibly choose to stay over at one of the hotels or guesthouses, such as Laurelville which is newly redone and gorgeous. We'd booked into The Imperial Hotel on the corner opposite the Town Hall and Information Centre, and it proved ideal for us. Our accommodation, one of several in the original staging post quarters, has been dramatically restored. My ancestors would have gaped at the heaps of black and red pillows on the wide bed, TV, air conditioning and a modern en suite.

Sadly, I didn't see their ghosts in York. I couldn't even find the farm they bought with the money made from their condensing-enterprise. There had been a dreadful drought around that time, I was told, the worst for many years, and they soon left.

York is now off the main Perth-Kalgoorlie highway. Begun as an adjunct to Perth, it was always on the way to somewhere else. Now, at last, it is becoming a destination in its own right. Well worthy of a detour.

- Sally Hammond