20th - 24th Nov

The road north from Hyden 130klm to the Great Eastern H'way was as good as promised, wide gravel road, well maintained. We still stopped at the end of the blacktop to remove the sway-bars and drop the tyre pressure on all 8 wheels down to about 30psi, just makes the run that much softer. We sat on about 65klm, so the trip took a couple of hours and we saw 2 other vehicles on the journey. Ah, the peace and quiet of an outback road. Once on the Great Eastern H'way we turned east towards Kalgoorlie, stopping a few kilometres along at a Roadhouse to get some lunch and pump the tyres up....no, the kitchen was closed for renovation and the compressor wasn't working. We parked under a tree whilst Evil made lunch and Roscoe fought off the heat and flies to pump up the tyres with out compressor. Soon back mobile, turbines to speed, atomic batteries to power!

With a few hundred kilometres to go we did think that we'd bush camp for a night on the way, there are about 3 well known camps off the H'way, and though we stopped to inspect a couple there really was no point of interest to stop us. We made for Coolgardie, 30klm before Kalgoorlie, thinking maybe a night here instead. This is an old goldfields town that had a population of thousands, the Main Street, the H'way, is lined with grand old buildings, hotels, courthouse, jail etc.! Now, the street is this day deserted. We stop outside the Info Centre in the grand old courthouse and it's closed, though we do meet the attendant who says she has closed an hour early as there has not been a single person through today! Today's population runs in the hundreds, not thousands!

So, we are off to Kalgoorlie after all, a big day for us, close to 400klm, this will require several beers later. Now we know Kalgoorlie is no ghost town, but as we drive through the outer limits and industrial estates Roscoe says "there's no one here, where is everyone? Is it a Public holiday?" After checking the iPhone Evi states "ah....., it's Saturday afternoon"! Happens to the best of us you know.

We book into the Prospector Caravan Park, then after a swim and a beer we drive into town for a walk, the Info Centre and hopefully dinner. The town centre is really lovely, lined by glorious older buildings in stone, timber and iron, balconies above lined with wrought iron and in general well maintained. The long Main Street has a great variety of shops, cafés, restaurants and of course pubs. On recommendations from our camp hosts we head to the very stately looking Palace Hotel on the main intersection, through a plush foyer and up a grand sweeping dark timber staircase to the restaurant which overflows on the balcony to both street fronts. The ambience was both elegant and relaxed, the food by the Irish Chef very contemporary and of high standard. A really enjoyable sundown, drinks and dinner.

Kalgoorlie is all about gold, lots of it and everything about it. The Miners Museum gave a real feel for life on the goldfields in the late 1800's through until tour modern era, showcasing not only the history of the Kalgoorlie Gold Mine (called "The Pit") but of the life and times of the small gold miners, their villages and the growth of Kalgoorlie itself. Walking the CBD the buildings all retain the names of their owners and often the business which operated within. An aside, the town also has some very good restaurants of many Nationalities and a few very quirky cafés with great coffee.

One street off the main road is Hay Street which throughout much of the 1900's was lined with brothels to cater for the miners "needs"! Today only two remain, one of which now has an open tour during the quiet hours at 3pm daily, except Sunday. The Madame, a small lady's from Queensland, tells a rollicking story, several in fact, as she guides us through both the history of Hay Street and leads us through the various "work rooms", one a fetish room with plenty of leather, lace and instruments of dubious use. Her dog greeted one of the other men there rather happily, to which his wife lifted an eyebrow!

We toured Hannans mine situated right on the edge of town, a now defunct goldmine which has been turned into both a Museum and a Mining College. Original mine shafts, lifts, steam trains, steam motors and winches sit alongside huge modern ore trucks and a massive front end loader. Strangely, in one corner is a beautiful Chinese Garden built by a Chinese billionaire to honour the great number of Chines who were caught up in the early Gold Rushes all around Australia.

The Pit, the Kalgoorlie Gold Mine whose tailings mounds run alongside on of Kalgoorlie's main roads, well it is huge. A short drive up onto the tailings mound finds oneself staring open mouthed at a hole in the ground, The Pit, 3.5klm long, 1.5klm wide and from where we stand on a lookout, 700 metres to the bottom. Massive machinery working in the Pit or the huge trucks climbing out on the winding road clinging to its sides are like Matchbox toys in the distance. Photos are one thing, but to see this place is amazing.