Just as an aside, it's not on the coast at all...I get nit-picky about that because so many people seem to think that the coastal area is representative of the whole province. Eargh. Sorry. >_< /pedant

O.o I've never thought about it that way, but yeah, the east would seem more convenient...I think the first wave of immigrants was definitely triggered by mining, and subsequent waves by railway construction? There was more stuff to do in the West, I guess.