Todays Challenge - To view the SuperPit

Our first point of call today is the Super Pit lookout which is 8km out of town. This pit is an open cut mine that has gobbled up some eighty odd underground mines and is now owned by one company, that being Barrick Gold. On arriving we are faced with a shut gate. Rod calls the number on the sign and they tell him the lookout is closed for yearly maintenance, he asks when it will be open they tell him tomorrow. Rod exclaims that Kalgoorlie can stick their SuperPit where it fits as we will be gone tomorrow. He also threatens to sell his Barrick Gold shares.

We head to historic Burt St in Boulder which was the original township during the gold-rush; the main attraction is the lolly shop selling sweets at twice their market value . We continue down the street and there are many fine old pubs but most are under renovation. It is only 9.00am so we decide not to do a pub crawl. Rod explains that his Grandmother was born in Boulder and her father worked in the Gold Mines. He wonders which pub his great grandfather might have frequented.

We then drive to Mt Charlotte which is the end of the pipeline and the site of the town reservoir. We have commanding views from here but still can not see the SuperPit. From here we head to Hannon Park which was recommended by the girl at the information centre. On arriving we note that it sits across the road from the biggest cemetery we have ever seen. There must have been a lot of fatalities in the mines, however we are told that many of the deaths were caused by dysentery due to the lack of clean drinking water before the pipeline was constructed.

We then meander to the Mining Museum which was worth a visit. It's now lunch time so we head into town for a counter lunch then up to the Duke Hotel for a few Bundy's before heading over to Hay St for our Brothel tour . Deb reminds Rod that there are no free samples.

We knock on one of the much heard about gates at the Brothel and the madam of the house greets us. She invites us in and we step back in time. The place is dimly lit and we are led to the lounge where a number of other tourists (all grey nomads) are sitting. She is a fascinating story teller and explains that the establishment is still operating today although she only has two girls working for her. She then takes us past the starting gates which is where the girls negotiated a price before inviting the callers in. We then are led into a number of different bedrooms all with different themes and she tells more stories. The tour ends in the sadism room and she explains many of the customers requests and how the girls would deal with them. We were then shown the door, I guess our time was up. It was a great tour and very interesting.

We head out for dinner at the Golden Indian then retire early, preparing for our long drive across the Nullarbor tomorrow.

Todays challenge was failed, but not for the lack of trying, Rod did however, take a photo of a photo in the Mining Museum.