THE KALGOORLIE STORY

Kalgoorlie boasts the richest single mile of gold in the world. And you can tell almost as soon as you arrive. The place is clearly affluent and despite the fact that this is a corporate mining area it retains its Wild West feel – right down to the advertising boards out the front of the many saloons in town letting you know which skimpies (half naked girls) are serving tonight.

We did pretty much every tour going in Kalgoorlie and they were all worth the expense. We toured the Super Pit – which is the largest “scratch in the earth” in the southern hemisphere, can be seen from space and is clearly an environmentalists nightmare – both by driving into the mine area and taking a helicopter flight over it. We went underground into an abandoned gold mine. And we toured a local brothel. I won’t bore you with all the details, but thought I’d share a few little known facts we picked up on the way:
• The current boom in Kalgoorlie owes a great deal to Alan Bond (for the Canadian audience “Bondy” is a rogue West Australian businessman from the bad ‘80’s who took Australia to win the America’s Cup Sailing, made and lost a fortune and only recently got out of prison- kind of an Aussie Conrad Black). It was Bond who started buying up all the small mining claims in the area, making it possible to establish the huge open pit mining operation which has made gold mining so profitable in the region.

• When people first started mining gold in this area they were unaware that the telluride rock which is everywhere here was actually full of very fine pieces of gold. This rock was tossed aside as waste and used to pave the roads. So when you hear that Kalgoorlie’s roads were paved with gold, it is literally true. Needless to say these old roads have long since been dug up and replaced.
• As mining became more technologically advanced, miners started to use power drills to drill into the rock (instead of a hammer and chisel). Drilling into quartz (which houses much of the gold) is like drilling into glass and the dust created by the drilling process was actually full of little shards of glass, which shredded the lungs and led to death in a 3-4 year period. Hence the term “done and dusted”.

• Brothels have always been an accepted part of Kalgoorlie life because it was recognized that this was the only way to “safely” manage a city largely populated by single men. However, the brothels are very tightly controlled by the police. Up until 9 years ago, the girls who worked in the brothels were required to come from outside Kalgoorlie and were forbidden to go to public places (or risk a charge of soliciting).

I must add that the highlight of Kalgoorlie for me was the helicopter ride over the Super Pit. It lasted only about 10 minutes but was such a thrill. I’ve put “helicopter pilot” very high on my list of things I might grow up to be when this trip is over!!

I’m sure that Dennis is going to give you the full story on the Nullabor Links golfing – but just in case he doesn’t mention it, you should know that I am playing the course too. I’ve done two holes so far and am 15 over par, so I’m fairly confident that the whole experience is going to reinforce my determination not to become a golfer.

The downside of Kalgoorlie was the caravan park – which might have been ok if we hadn’t been parked right beside the playground and (despite the fact that it’s not even close to school holidays) the place was teaming with very noisy, precocious children who thought they owned the place. The piece de resistance was the fact that the pool had to be closed because some kid had crapped in it. I’ve been surprised at the number of people we’ve met who are educating their children via correspondence whilst living a nomadic lifestyle. I don’t think I approve – and not just because it makes the caravan parks so unbearable.

Speaking of caravan parks, we have established a new sport of watching the domestics that flare up when people are setting up in a caravan park or reconnecting their caravan to the car. Naturally it is always the men that drive and the woman gets out to help direct them. Whenever there’s a problem it’s because the woman is standing in the wrong place or isn’t talking loud enough. I must admit though that I do have some sympathy with the men because some of the women you see in caravan parks are pretty feeble at giving instructions!

But the prize for caravan park capers has to go to Greg and Pam, a fantastic couple from Perth that we met at the Kalgoorlie Caravan Park. We liked them both for many reasons, but I think the thing that really attracted us to them was that they had a Kimberley Karavan (same brand as our Kamper but way more fancy and expensive) and they seemed capable of outdoing us in their ability to make dumb mistakes. We went to bed the first night after meeting them, and no sooner had we put our heads on the pillow than there was a huge crash. We leapt up to discover that Greg and Pam’s caravan had tipped over so their bed was now touching the ground (well actually it was touching the coffee table it crashed into) and the back of the caravan was pointing at the sky. Turned out Greg had forgotten to put up the legs that support the caravan. I cannot describe how sheepish Greg looked the next day –and how superior we felt!

I’m pleased to report that we have now escaped the entire caravan park scene and are camped in the bush at Cave Hill. We drove here via 4WD track from Kalgoorlie, driving along the train lines that brought timber from miles around to feed the power needs of the mines. Because the timber has been stripped (although trees are returning) it’s difficult to say that the area is beautiful – but the rock formations, caves and the dams that the timber companies left behind have a definite appeal. There’s no internet here so not sure where we’ll be by the time you get this, but you may picture that at the time of writing I am parked in front of our tent, typing away on my laptop and swatting flies at the same time, while Dennis snoozes beside me.

Speaking of Dennis, let’s find out what he has to say…..

Enroute from Hoover House, via 4WD trek, we visited the Gormley statues on Lake Ballard, where there are some 50 pieces displayed on a dry, salt lake, which we walked out to view.

Then headed to Kalgoorlie, which is all about gold, from the Super Pit on the one extreme and professional prospectors on the other.

We again got right in the thick of it going below ground some 300 feet and finding specs of gold to touring the giant Super Pit where they mine $2million worth every day and then the helicopter flight over the top which was great.

We have both commenced play on the Nullarbor Links golf course (the longest golf course in the world – stretches over 1365 kms and takes at least 4 days to play). We played the 2 holes in Kal (as the locals know it) and will play 3 more holes before heading to the coast. We pick up the remainder in February when we make our way across the Nullarbor.

Clear skies, mid-30’s every day with lots of time for thinking. It’s been 3 months now and time passes quickly probably because we cram it in a bit. We both reflect on the trip so far and what we are learning about ourselves and each other. I will save this for another time when I have done some more thinking. Suffice it to say that life is great and we are enjoying this time.

Tonight we are bush camping alone (so far). Will light a fire and have steak, baked potatoes and veg with a glass or 2 to wash it down. Boy, I can taste it now.

The next blog will be closer to Perth and the arrival of Stephanie’s mother Jacquie, who joins us for 3 weeks in Fremantle and Margaret River.

PS We have just reached the coast of Western Australia so have successfully crossed the continent pretty much through the middle. Feeling pretty pleased with ourselves!