Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the Goldfields

Tuesday, 9 October to Saturday, 13 October 2012

After picking up our mail from the Esperance Post Office, we set off towards Kalgoorlie-Boulder. About 80kms north we had a blow-out in one of the van tyres and after changing it we stopped at Norseman to purchase a new tyre. From there we continued on to Mt Thirsty Rest Area, 23kms north of Norseman for the night.

The following morning we made our way to Kalgoorlie-Boulder, via Kambalda, a small town on the Goldfields Highway.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder is made up of two old goldfield towns, now grown together. The old buildings in the towns reflect the prosperity of the area, now and in the past. One old building, I think it is the Post Office-Mining Registrar Office has a clock tower which is capped with gold plating which shines brilliantly in the sunshine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kalgoorlie Town Hall is also a magnificent building with a huge wooden staircase to the dress circle of the theatre area which also has cast iron seating upholstered with velvet.

 

We also visited infamous Hay Street, Kalgoorlie, when we took part in a tour of the oldest remaining ‘house’ in Kalgoorlie. This was a most entertaining afternoon with the current Madam, a real character, telling us about the history of the industry and an insight into the goings-on behind the walls.

We visited the famous “Super Pit”, a huge gold mine, hundreds of metres deep and kilometres long. We viewed it from the lookout and then Crawf went on the two and a half hour bus tour into the pit and the processing plant. The machinery used in the mining industry is huge and very expensive, for example, a dump truck costs approximately $10 million and uses about 140 litres of fuel for every 10kms travelled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boulder is also on the edge of the Super Pit and the plans are to tunnel under the town to extract more gold way below the surface. We visited the Metropole Hotel where we viewed an old mine shaft in the floor of the pub. According to the locals, several pubs were accessed by the miners in this manner as it was a safer way to get to the gold buyers who bought gold in the hotels. I think it was also a short-cut to a drink.

Many of the buildings in Boulder were badly damaged by an earthquake in 2010. Unfortunately we were unable to view the Boulder Town Hall as it was closed. It has a Philip Goatcher Stage Curtain, believed to be the last remaining curtain in the world painted by Philip Goatcher.

Sunday, 14 October 2012

While in the goldfields area we visited Coolgardie, the town where the first substantial amounts of gold were discovered by Paddy Hannan. Coolgardie is now a slightly deserted town compared to Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Many of the old buildings still stand in the very wide main street.

We completed our round trip of the goldfields area and commenced our exit trip from Western Australia by calling into Norseman for fuel and then commenced our third crossing of the Nullarbor and spent the night at a great rest area 77km east of Norseman. We also camped at Moonera Rest Area and 157km Peg Rest Area before arriving at Ceduna where we spent two nights while doing some washing, grocery shopping and indulging in some local oysters.

Albany and The South of WA

Monday, 1 October 2012 to Wednesday, 3 October 2012

We chose to stay at Kalgan River Caravan Park which is about 20kms outside Albany, set in a rural area and very spacious which suited our needs. The park is on the banks of the Kalgan River and the park is very quiet and relaxing. There are many kangaroos, birds and sometimes bandicoots wandering around the park.

While in Albany we visited the Whale World Museum, an old whaling station which only ceased operations in 1978 when the government banned the killing of whales for commercial purposes. Until then whale oil was very valuable and used for heating, fuel and in the cosmetic industry. Life was very hard for the whalers and when the station closed about 200 people were out of work. The town has recovered and is now committed to the preservation of the whales.

Albany is also the port where the original Anzacs of 1914-15 set sail for Gallipoli and the middle east. The town has honoured them with a large memorial.

 

 

This is also the site where the Brig, “Amity” brought the first convicts to Western Australia. A replica of the “Amity” overlooks the harbour. Many of the buildings from that time are still standing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While in Albany we also visited the local blowholes but due to the low tide they weren’t blowing. We then made our way to the Gap and the Natural Bridge. These are very incredible rock formations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, 4 October 2012

We commenced our trip towards Esperance and had lunch at Jerramungup and then spent the night at Munglinup in the rest area opposite the roadhouse.

While in Esperance we caught up with Cyril and also restocked the pantry in preparation for our trip back across the Nullarbor.

Tall Trees and Cliffs

Friday, 21 September 2012

Between showers of rain, we made our exit from Big Valley and wandered on towards Pemberton via Sue’s Road. We arrived just before the rain set-in, it rained and hailed all afternoon and most of the night and the following day was very, very cold and windy.

We braved the elements and went to see the famous Gloucester Tree, a huge Karri tree originally used, and sometimes now days, as a fire spotting lookout.  It can be climbed using the metal rods embedded into the trunk in a spiral fashion but we decided not to attempt it because of the gale force winds.These Karri trees are about 60 metres tall.

Sunday, 23 September 2012

Pemberton has some lovely bush walks and at this time of year many wildflowers. We took a ride on the tram along the old rail track through the Karri forest where the timber industry of the area took place. The driver provided a great commentary about the history of the timber industry and the railway. Most of the buildings in the town are very old, many of the original timber-getters cottages and stores are still being used today.

Monday, 24 September 2012

Walpole was our destination today. We travelled along the very pretty, but very hilly highway lined with huge trees. Our campsite for this area was Ayr Sailean, a farm based caravan park and chalets. We made this our base for the next week because the inclement weather made it difficult to see the sites of the area.

 Walpole is, possibly, most famous for the Valley of the Giants, Tall Trees Walk. We spent a morning exploring the Red Tingle forest from both the suspended walkway about 40 metres above ground through the forest canopy and also from the ground on the Ancient Empire boardwalk. Some of these trees are up to 400 years old. They have huge trunks which with time have become hollow and in some cases the tunnels are large enough for people and even cars to pass through.

We also visited Denmark while in this area. Denmark is a pretty little seaside town with many trendy shops and cafes. The beaches and coastline are dotted with rocks, the most spectacular being Elephant Rocks.

Circular Pool is another lovely spot, also known as ‘the cappuccino” as the water in the pool at the bottom of the small rapids is frothy and the colour of coffee. The water is coloured by rotting plant matter.

We also visited an old saw pit used for the sawing of the huge tree trunk into long slabs for use in the building industry of the day. We learned from the sign where the term “under dog” came from. The person working the saw from the bottom of the pit was described as the “under dog” because he was under the log of wood and during the day was subjected to all the dust and sawdust making his working day very uncomfortable. The worker on top was usually a more ‘superior’ worker who was known as the “upper dog’.