The elegant, ultra-modern S.S. Koombana arrived in Western Australia in March 1909. After only three years of service, the ship and her entire complement disappeared in a late-summer cyclone off the Pilbara coast. The vessel has
never been found and the tragedy remains unexplained. 'Koombana Days' is the story of the ship and of the people in whose lives she figured so large. From Koombana's first appearance, Nor'-Westers shaped their schedules to her arrival and flocked to her saloon at every opportunity. At sea and in port, she was an island of ice and electric light: a cool relief from the present and a bright depiction of a future imagined.