8 May - Weeks 4-5
We have really started
to get into the ‘freecamping’ (FC) since I last wrote….as long as we can get
water, we can FC just about any where.
Myth #2 – the Nullabour
is boring – we don’t think so!! People
must be driving with their eyes closed or at night. We have found crossing The Nullabour an
amazing experience and another item ticked off from my list of adventures. So many trucks crossing our nation 24/7,
keeping our economy ticking over.
At Caiguna, the road
sign indicates this is the longest stretch of straight road in the world…and
that it is, but still plenty to see as we head due west with the sun chasing
us.
We arrived at Norseman CP on Monday 26th, a public holiday for ANZAC Day, so not a lot to see or do, unless you want to park up at the BP and watch the trucks go by. It’s quite an outpost, but a major intersection for north, south and eastbound traffic. North to Kalgoolie, south to Esperance (Highway 1) and east back across the Nullabour.
We turned due north for
an easy 184km drive to Kalgoolie, through Kambalda. The drive was beautiful as we were travelling
through wooded plains filled with magnificent salmon gums. They were truly beautful and the
morning/afternoon light only enhanced their colour. It struck me that these were also the colours
of the Mediterranean – terracotta (salmon gums), sage green (salt bush) and
bright blue skies, occassionally a splash of bright green from the kurrajong
trees. Also, the soil was changing from the sandy limestone across the Bight,
to the red dust of the gold fields.
Kambalda is built
purely as a popup town for the mining staff, with mining offices, school,
Woolworths supermarket and a footy oval.
There are many towns similar, a bit of a green oasis as they all have
enough water to have a green footy ground.
We arrived at Kalgoolie-Boulder to the CP at Boulder on the 26th (Tuesday). I had not known they were ‘sister’ towns, joined up eventually by the continual open pit mining for gold. A great CP, so washing and cleaning were the first jobs to keep the caravan ship shape. There is always something to do! Not really all that different to home, just on a much smaller scale. Over the past 10 days the weather had not been fantastic – a bit of rain and cool nights, but we could not begrudge them the rain, so quite happy to rest for a day or so. Noel was very excited – Bunnings and Jaycar!! For me, Kmart……..we had no idea Kal was so big…32,000 population, everything you need in this outback city. The Super Pit is literally on the town’s edge, like the big open cut coal mine at Morwell. The Pit is 3.5km long and 700m deep.
On Thursday we went to the excellent Info Centre and took the audio self guided walking tour of Hannan Street (the main street) on the history of the remarkable, beautful buildings and the stories attached to them. We struck it lucky at the Town Hall as Les the cleaner kindly opened up the Council Chamber and Town Hall for us, unchanged since 1890’s, and beautifully maintained. The seats in the Dress Circle were all cast iron, covered in red velvet. They have 14 Councillors in all. That evening we went out for a ‘smart’ dinner at The Palace Hotel, sitting outdoors on the upstairs balcony. Had a bit of a blowout on the wine list, but worth it.
We read up quite a bit about Herbert Hoover, future US President, who had come to Kal in 1896 as a young man (he was an engineer) and he was instrumental in much of the early development of the mines, which up until then had been mainly shaft mines. The amount of gold found was phenomonal, and with the current price of gold, huge investment is being made again to continue the Super Pit until 2036. The Pit is now fully Australian owned. There are no FIFO mine workers, a term of their employment, so that the city retains its growth and services.
The only spoiler was the nightly hoon drivers with their super hot utes - when you earn $4K a week, I guess you have to spend it on something…..there are also social ‘issues’ with local indigenous peoples.
Friday, we drove out to Coolgardie, almost a ghost town, but large amounts of government and LotteryWest funding is seeing the buildings being restored and this will soon become quite a tourist destination. The little Info Centre had the most amazing and informative displays. We then went up to the past Mine Warden’s house, now owned by the National Trust, and enjoyed a Devonshire Tea with more history.
Saturday, we took the
tour of the Super Pit, which was incredible, as you can see from the
photos.
We enjoyed a few more
days in Kalgoolie as the weather was showery, and it was nice to just visit a
few shops and cafes. And the nail salon!! Can't let my standards drop. We also had the
Prado serviced at the Toyota dealers - excellent to deal with. 
One of the thoughts
that has remained with me, noted in the excellent Kalgoolie Gold Museum, was a
quote that “gold has no real useful purpose”, over 80% of gold mined in the
world goes into jewellery, the remainder in dental work and some
chemistry. I found this comment very
thought provoking, considering the value we humans place on this mineral, the
obsession we have with finding it, wearing it or hording it in times of
hardship.
We were a bit sad to leave, but more discoveries were beckoning, so Wednesday we continued north to Menzies. Again, an amazing look into the gold past and the future, as the entire country both sides of the road were being mined for the precious yellow metal, and now large nickel mines.
We had hoped to FC at Lake Ballard, Google it to read the story of the sculptures, but because of earlier rain the road was closed. We continued north and turned off on the spur of the moment at a sign saying Niagara and FC the night. What a top spot! Clearly every fly in the entire universe also thought this was a top spot!! LOL. By nightfall, the flies had disappeared, and it was a stunning evening. The couple camped nearby invited us over for a drink - Phil and Liz (Phillip and Elizabeth!!) were great fun and Phil was able to give us lots of tips about travelling through the area. After dinner we sat by our campfire and took in the beautiful night sky. This is what it’s all about…
We continued to Leonora, staying for 3 nights as there was much to see. What a beautiful little town, so full of history, community pride and again, much funding invested into restoration. We drove out of town to the Malcolm Dam, another dam similar to that at Niagara. These dams were built across the desert to hold water for the trains to enable the steam power needed to freight miners, provisions and ore. Not one of the most successful or sustainable ideas in the Goldfields.
Out from Leonora a fews kilometres is the 'ghost town' of Gwalia. A group of local community minded people started the restoration almost 20 years ago. The life of a miner in the 1890's was something unimaginable, all in pursuit of gold. Many died, many suicided and very few found gold. Now there is an amazing information centre and a beautiful home built on the hill around 1895 to plans designed by Hoover as he was the Mine Warden, but he never lived in the house. It is now a B&B and we had a beautiful Devonshire Tea on the verandah.
Our next stop was Leinster (pronounced 'leenster'). This small town is near the end of the gold country as we
border the Pilbara, red dirt country. It is a major open cut nickel mine. A full on mining town/oasis in the desert. Found the pub, (not difficult!) as it was busy for Mothers Day lunch. We had a fabulous meal in the bar and watched the footy....very pleasant Sunday.
That's it for now, way too much to do and see for the rest of the day. 👀👣
Love to all, Mum and Dad (Nana Maz & Poppy), Maz and Noel..
Excellent blog Maz. We started day one of our trip today.
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