Chapter 3 - Kalgoorlie and the Northern Goldfields

Day 14 - Tuesday 4 June – Kalgoorlie                 Go to previous chapter

It was a slow start as sleep-ins became a rush for the showers and washing machines. I missed most of the fuss as I went for a walk along Burt St - the most famous street in Boulder.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder is a twin town arrangement with both having lots of history - most of it to do with gold.

Eventually we all went different ways to spend (collectively) over $400 at supermarkets, buy a 12v/240v car fridge, a heater for a caravan, some alcohol, some camping apparatus and a new pair of pyjamas. No names need to be mentioned.

Shirley and I happened to find the art centre of Kalgoorlie and took photos of the following wall/street murals - among others.

After that Shirley and I visited the famous "Big Pit Lookout" and saw the following:

Loaded Truck



Empty truck heading back

Big Pit. Note the number of terraces.

Over 60 million ounces of gold have come out of this pit.  All of the stats are phenomenal.

We were all back at camp for lunch then we all headed off for more tourist activity. Some of us toured Boulder's Burt St and saw the following:



Boulder Town Hall



Boulder Town Hall - Stage

Boulder Town Hall - Back of Hall

Court Hotel

We had happy hour together then all cooked and dined separately.

Day 15 - Wednesday 5 June – Kalgoorlie

There was no rush to activities today. More washing was done and coffee was partaken. Eventually we headed to town for a historic walk around Kalgoorlie. However some shopping delayed us enough to join Bev & David on the town hall tour.  It is a 110 year old building that is the cultural centre of town, with regard to entertaining visitors, social events and life performers.



View of the stage from the dress circle



View of the rear of the ball room

Inside and outside the town hall is a status of a favourite son - Paddy Hannan. The statue on the left is inside the town hall, precious and totally made of copper. The other statue is outside the town hall, less precious and made of bronze.

The status on the left is not allowed to leave Australia, the one on the right does not want to.

Paddy Hannan in copper and bronze

Kalgoorlie also has a tram.

 

More art was observed.

More historic buildings were admired.

Indications of mining were there to see.

We arrived back at camp in time to make scones for the assembled masses.

Scone Eaters

A short happy hour caused an early dinner, as the evening was getting chilly outside.


Day 16 - Thursday 6 June – Kalgoorlie to Menzies

We departed Kalgoorlie about 8:30 and headed north. It was cool and windy and sunny. We passed the Two-Up sign, a regular activity at Kalgoorlie.

 

We collected some wood along the way and arrived in Menzies around 11am. The town of 150 people has a coffee shop, so there we stopped.  The town had a plentiful supply of sheet-metal-art that told a story about the town.

Art with a Story

Some of the old buildings have also been beautifully maintained/restored.

Town Hall

I spotted two galahs giving attention to each other. There were a much brighter pink than their pale Victorian cousins.

Menzies is a lovely clean town that looks like its inhabitants have pride in their town. We visited the cemetery and marvelled at the corrugated iron and tin grave monuments. Many of the graves were early 1900’s children – a sign of those times.

Graves that use Corregated Iron and/or Tin

We moved on to Lake Ballard, a salt lake that has 51 statues that allegedly are replicas of the “insides” of 51 residents of Menzies.  The 50 km trip included 25 km of gravel road.

Road to Lake Ballard

We set up camp in the sand-dunes and went for a walk around about 12 statues. There are 51 statues and it took us 65 minutes to see what we saw.

Four of the Statues that we saw at Lake Ballard

The salt lake had a small sharp hill that offered a good spot for photos - maybe tomorrow.

Bev, Kay & Shirley Pondering a Walk up the hill

The Kelly Gang - Ned, Shirl, Bev, Wrighty, Kay & Dags

Back at camp, we dug a hole in the sand, lit a fire, and inserted a 2.4 kg leg of lamb in to the camp oven. About an hour later the veges entered the other camp oven and more coals came in to play. Broccoli and gravy came later.

Darryl was the master chef and controlled most of the cooking.

Lake Ballard Camp with Fire and Dinner Cooking. David & Bev Overseeing

A bottle of Pepperjack Shiraz was opened for the lamb. Dinner was magnificent, with a superb sunset behind us.

Sunset

We drove 202 km for the day. Sleep was not an issue, although the wind strengthened during the night.  When the clouds hid the stars the caravan could not be seen from one metre away. Total darkness.

Day 17 - Friday 7 June – Menzies to Leinster

I was up at 6:45 and went for a walk on the waterless Lake Ballard, complete with salt flat and statues. The sunrise was something special, as the weather threatened to turn nasty.

Sunrise Photo No 1

Chris n Friend at Dawn

Sunrise Photo No 2

Our campsite from the hill in the photo below

Lake Ballard from the Shore

Lake Ballard from the hill in the photo above

 We broke camp at 8:30 and headed back into Menzies. Shirley and I bought a coffee while the others did other things. We then headed north to Leonora, a trip of about around 130 km.  The head wind was the worst since we left Melbourne. Dark red clouds threatened as we arrived in Gwalia, the home of the Gwalia Ghost Town and the “Sons of Gwalia” mine. We were impressed with everything we saw.

Gwalia Ghost Town

Outhouse at Gwalia Ghost Town

Gwalia Ghost Town Guesthouse

Sons of Gwalia Mine (above & below)

The (Sons of) Gwalia museum was superb and is run by the local council.

We drove the 4km in to Leonora and had lunch, then bought fuel.

The local camp site was busy (due to mine workers) so we decided to press on to Leinster, about another 125 km.

Road to Leinster

The wind was lighter, but the clouds were darker and eventually turned to gentle rain as we booked in to the Leinster Caravan park.

After setting up camp we soon headed to our vans and had an early night. The rain was occasionally very steady, and sometime just a slight sprinkle. The country definitely needs it.

We drove 296 km for the day, a total of 3754 for the trip to date, or 220 km per day. Accommodation is averaging $22.95 per day, diesel somewhat more.

Day 18 - Saturday 8 June – Leinster to Mt Magnet

We had a wet night which was good for the locals. However they need a lot more over a lot longer time.

The showers cleared while we did our morning "stuff" and broke camp - about 8:20.  However the windscreen wipers were to get plenty of more exercise.

I took a photo of the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) emergency airstrip sign, which are frequent in Outback Australia. This is just a widening of the natural road highway that allows RFDS aeroplanes to land on the road that us travellers also use. It is a world-best practice.

We moved on and marvelled at the beauty of the Wedged Tail Eagles who are majectic beasts of the air - and have a knack of avoiding my camera.

We also saw a wild dog feasting on a dead kangaroo, a sight rarely seen.

A few km before Sandstone we deviated down a dirt road to the sight of a 1907 brewery that was established by an Irishman called J.V. Kearney. He was able to use the harsh climatic condition to brew, chill and sell beer in a place that few people would now care to stop at.

Site of Kearney Brewery

Kearney dug a cave in to solid rock and then drilled a vertical tunnel to provide air to maintain the right temperature. Water came from a well about 100 metres below the cave entrance.

We drove another short distance to London Bridge - one of many around the world.

Shirley Pondering the Sights from London Bridge

In days of old a horse and dray would cross London Bridge. No more!

We drove in to Sandstone and were (again) impressed with the lovely old buildings.

Sandstone Post & Telegraph Office



National Hotel at Sandstone

We found a coffee shop that was run by a middle aged lady in Yakka shorts and Blundstone boots (normal wear for Aussie blokes). The ambience, coffee & cake were superb.

Shirley & Bev debating the merits of the muffins and the fruit slice

The street art was also enjoyed.

As was the plants on wheels outside the pub.

We moved further west. The land was quite depressing, from a farming perspective, and quite enlightening, from a geological perspective. It was not the sort of country to grow veges or fruit trees.

We arrived at Mt Magnet, caught up with Crippsy and Wendy, and camped for the night.  We took a couple of photos of old buildings.

We drove 313 for the day. 

Day 19 - Sunday 9 June – Cue & Nallan Farm Stay
 
The night consisted of rain and wind and sleep.  I had my first sleep-in of the trip. Shirley beat me to the shower.  We were on the road north just after 8:45.

A few km up the road we stopped and took a gander at three rocky phenomena called “The Amphitheatre”, “The Cave” and “The Granites”. The rock formations and colours were impressive.

The Granites

Un-named Rock Formation

Wild Goats

The Cave

The Amphitheatre

 Later we stopped and admired a Wedge Tail Eagle having breakfast on road kill.



Wedge Tail Eagle



We then drove on to Cue (90 km from Mt Magnet), a lovely town with beautiful buildings, art work and statues.

Art at Cue

 

 

 

 

Not long later we stopped at “Nallan” a farm stay station.  The station is around 90,000 hectares, with local land being worth about $1.25 per acre. The fire was soon lit.  We had a chat to Jacko, one of the owner/workers.


"Jacko" chatting to the Boys. Love the hat.

Jacko has a 8 year old son who can drive every vehicle on the station.



Chris, David, Bev, Wendy, David, Shirley, Kay & Darryl

 

Fire-side relaxation

 

Some time after lunch Wrighty and I decided to experiment with scones in the camp oven. One comment was that they were better than the scones that are cooked in the oven.

First Batch of Scones in the Camp Oven

It was decided that everyone was having a BBQ for dinner. So I got the BBQ plate out and placed it near the fire as potatoes and other veges were wrapped in foil and placed in the coals. It was a great way to dine – around the fire.

 

BBQ in Progress

Today was a short drive of 103 km.

 

Day 20 - Monday 10 June – Nallan Farm Stay

Although it was a chilly night we were snug and warm in the caravan.  I was able to get a sunrise photo before I headed to the showers. I lit the fire so that the others could get warm. They drifted out over the next 90 minutes.

 

Sunrise

Morning Fire

Two cars were disconnected from two caravans, allowing all of us to go for a drive to visit a couple of local scenic spots. One car was delayed while the ladies completed a communal washing of jeans from all families. Let’s hope we get the right pair back.

It was around 55 km to our first stop – Walga Rock. Walga Rock is a huge rock that has historical significance to the local indigenous people. As such it has a fair bit of indigenous drawings.  Notably one drawing included a sailing ship.

Walga Rock (Above & Below)

Indigenous Drawings

We then headed to the deserted town of “Big Bell” – so named because of the gold mine. The main feature of Big Bell is the remains of the huge pub.
 

Big Bell Hotel

We drove around the town with concrete slabs being the main feature.

We headed back to camp via Cue. I took a photo of the Catholic Church - maybe the first Catholic Church I have seen mainly constructed from corrugated iron.

Cue Catholic Church

The fire was restarted and the first camp oven for dinner was commenced – two lamb shanks. Others followed with lamb chops, beef and pork. Four pots for four families. Two smaller pots were added to cook the flat damper-buns, to soak up the juices from the above pots. Dinner was pretty good.

Four Cooks, Six Pots and Wide Smiles

It was another early night and we all had some sleep before the rain started – sometimes quite heavy.

Today was a drive of 151 km.

Day 21 - Tuesday 11 June – Moving North

Although we had a great time at Nallan Station it was time to move on, and we did about 8:20 am. Around 100 km later we were in Meekatharra, with steady rain dampening our ideas to explore.

We had a team meeting and decided on the next five night stops - two at Newman and three at Karijini NP. We got online and booked accordingly.

We moved on through country that was somewhere between depressing and barren - unless you are a geologist or a miner.

 

We found a place for a late lunch and liked it so much we stayed for the day. The country had changed as shown by the following photos.

A small dam behind our caravan, frequented by cattle & widllife

Our site for the night

We gathered wood and made a great fire. Soup, crumpets and left-over stews appeared.

Site for happy hour and dinner

Bower Bird looking for "loot"

 Around 7:30 we all headed to our caravans. Shirley and I worked on a secret project, that involved a chocolate cake for Wrighty's birthday tomorrow.

It was our first cake (I think) in our oven and we were able to turn a rich chocolate cake in to a rich chocolate mud cake.


Day 22 - Wednesday 12 June – "Wrightys" Birthday

I woke early and turned the heater on as it was four degrees. I dressed then took a couple of sunrise photos.

I iced the abovementioned cake and we were on the road by 8 am. Around 150 km later we stopped at a roadhouse and had morning tea, complete with birthday cake and candles.

Birthday Boy & Cake & Wife

The surprised birthday boy was impressed. The "mud" cake tasted pretty good.

We were in Newman by noon and camp was soon established. Washing machines soon were in action. Some shopping happened.

We organized a courtesy bus to the Newman Hotel for dinner. It was a good night. The birthday boy bought the drinks. The Taylor's Shiraz was excellent.

We are now in the Pilbara and the tropics, having crossed the "Tropic of Capricorn" earlier today.  The goldfields have finished and we are now in iron ore territory.  However we are all amazed at the number of mines between Norseman and Newman.

Tomorrow is the start of a new chapter. We will have a day in Newman and then head mostly west until we get to Coral Bay. Our first stop will be Karijini National Park.

The map below shows our approximate route to date - 4860 km - 23 days.

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This post is complete (apart from a few minor edits).
This post was last updated around 9 am on Thursday 13th June 2019