Sunday morning we were packed and
ready to hit the road quite early. Josh
had a fairly big drive today passing along the edge of Lake Cowan and through
Norseman (only just catching a quick photo of the Tin Camels as we passed
through the roundabout). We pulled into
the lovely heat of the goldfield town, Kalgoorlie, at around 1pm, set up camp in
the Boulder Discovery Caravan Park and had a quick bite. Straight back into the car we headed off to
find the KCGM (Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines) Super Pit, which is not hard
to find thanks to the size of it. Walking
into the caged lookout area, the first noticed was the amazing size of this hole
in the ground, then the “layer upon layer” of roads to get in and out of the
pit, followed by the tiny ant-size vehicles climbing the roads. There were plenty of information boards
around the lookout to learn about the town and pit and thankfully lots of room for
the kids to run about outside while they waited for Josh and I to finish our history
lesson. When we left here we went for a
drive through town admiring all the old buildings, in particular the pubs on
each corner. Josh was more excited though
to find the local KFC in town, something that we haven’t had since leaving home
so we went on in for afternoon tea / early dinner. Back at the caravan park we took the kids to
the pool for a swim for about an hour before returning to the van for some
socialising with our lovely neighbours, Chris and Margaret, who are from
Queensland but had just finished crossing the Anne Bedell track (which they had
travelled along from Coober Pedy). It
was a great evening to sit and enjoy a few drinks, losing track of time in the process.
This morning we packed up our
food and headed for the information centre so as to plan our day. We started by going in next door to the
Kalgoorlie Town Hall. It is a lovely old
building that has an old theatre with burgundy valour seating and pressed metal
ceilings… all we needed was the entertainment.
We went for a walk up and down the main street checking out the
buildings and shops along the way and then went to Hammond Park on the
outskirts of town. This park has a
fantastic playground area but is also nice to walk through… there are cockatoos
and other caged birds, kangaroos, peacocks, emus and ducks throughout. After the kids let off some steam and ate
lunch we moved onto Super Pit Shop to look about their museum of vehicles and
other town remnants from its hay day.
There was a short movie that we watched (in the comfort of their air
conditioning) followed by a climb on the big tonkas, checking out the replica explosives
room, shift boss’s area and miner’s cottage and then we moved onto trying our
hand at a little gold panning out in the 35+ degree heat… just like the “olden
days”. The kids had endured enough for
one day so we finished off the day by going to the local aquatic centre for a
cool down and a bit of fun.
Unfortunately, we didn’t find out the deal with the outdoor slide until
it was nearly time for them to close it for the night so we promised the kids
we could come back again tomorrow. Back
at camp I organised some dinner and again we sat outside all night with our
friendly neighbours. We enjoyed some
lovely dinner and a quite a few drinks before realising it was almost midnight –
we love good company and the kids love when we are enjoying the good company =
tv to themselves.
Josh helped Chris next door with
a few repairs on their truck this morning while the kids and I caught up on the
last bit of schoolwork so we could offload another weighted parcel from the van. Being Melbourne Cup day, and with the time
difference, we went to town in search of somewhere to have lunch and watch the
race… however, none of the pubs stood out as family venues. Instead we found a fantastic little Chinese
restaurant and had a fantastic meal. We
then headed for the Western Australian Museum.
We learnt all about how the goldrush transformed the region into an
economic powerhouse and the unique roll that this town has played in WA’s
development. We also got to view the
largest display of gold bars and gold nuggets in the state by venturing into
The Vault. Out the front of the museum
is the Ivanhoe Headframe which stands nearly 40 metres high and has a lift to
the top, it was a great view over the town from this vantage point. Out the back is a miner’s cottage with the family
background and story that goes with it, really interesting to read. And, to the side of the museum is the British
Arms Hotel which was built in 1899 and is actually said to be the narrowest pub
in the southern hemisphere. Later on
this afternoon, we kept our promise and went back to the fantastic aquatic centre
and booked the kids into 2 hours of climbing stairs and sliding down the water
slide – that would wear them out! It was
after 6.30pm when we returned home and caught up with our neighbours for the
day. Poor Margaret wasn’t feeling well
so came in to our van and enjoyed a bit of cool air and the company of the
girls and I… it will be sad to say good bye to both her and Chris tomorrow as
their company has been lovely.
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