Goldfields

We woke around 6:30 am to the gentle sound of raindrops on the van roof. The rain was steady but light and barely enough to moisten the ground. It was cooler this morning.

It was approaching 8 am when we had finished our morning routine and Majella drove out toward her next hole at Widgiemooltha, about an hour away. Not far out of town we crossed Lake Cowan on a low causeway. The lake was a large expanse of mostly sand or mud with a few patches of water though the bed was visibly damp from rain that had fallen over the past week.

The countryside was gently undulating and mostly covered in low trees. Some areas were seriously fire damaged though recovering. Other areas signs of burning on the ground but not into the canopy, presumably the result of well managed cultural burning.

The rain eased as we went north and by the time we reached Widgiemooltha the were small patches of blue sky in the northeast. Majella played her hole in sunshine and got her card marked at the roadhouse.

About 20 kilometres further north she turned off toward Kambalda, site of the next hole. Someone, probably another itinerant golfer, had left a wood driver by the tee. Majella picked that up along with a ball lying nearby and walked to the ladies tee, about 50 metres on. The wood helped once she managed to connect it to the ball. She continued to the green and putted out. There were 3 balls lying on the green so she added one to her growing collection.

That was the end of Majella’s golfing adventure. Uncharacteristically she had decided not to finish something she started because the woman she spoke to at Ceduna had advised that the two remaining holes at Kalgoorlie might require a booking and had a dress code requirement.

After some driving around in town we found the information centre and Majella got her card stamped. There was a coffee shop there and it was that time so we had coffee before driving on toward Kalgoorlie. By then the sun was shining through scattered clouds and the outside temperature had risen to 20°C.

As we passed through Boulder we saw a sign for the lookout above the Super Pit and took the turn. The road went up an incline onto the accrued waste from decades of mining. The Super Pit is about a kilometre wide, more than 3 kilometres long, and about 500 metres deep. It has been formed by blasting and digging areas that had been mined underground but necessarily left rock in place. We learned later that in 2010 it had been expected to close in 2021 but is still producing in the order of 100000 ounces of gold annually. It was an impressive hole.

Majella drove to the visitor centre in Kalgoorlie where we sought advice about what to see. After a short walk to admire some impressive buildings in the main street we drove the short distance to the museum where we began by looking at the gold and ore in The Vault said to be worth a few million dollars. Then we took the lift to the viewing platform at the top for a look over the surrounding area before going down to the main display. It had lots of historical information and artefacts. Unlike others we had seen on this trip it made substantial acknowledgement of the First Nations and offered a vision for a sustainable future involving First Nations people in caring for the local environment. On the way out we looked at a display about Sixteen Legs, a short film about cave dwelling spiders in Tasmania. It might be interesting to watch the film sometime.

Next stop was the Mount Charlotte Reservoir and lookout. The display there had more information about the construction and upgrading of the pipeline that brings water from a reservoir near Perth. There were views over the town and beyond.

Hannans North Tourist Mine was the third suggestion from the visitor centre. They advertised a free BBQ area which suggested they might not have food. It was past 1 pm and we had not eaten since 10 am and then only a shared piece of cake. We thought about finding lunch but there was nowhere along the short drive. Nor was there a cafe but we made do with a magnum ice cream each before spending a bit more than an hour exploring the museum. It is a series of buildings, some from the original mine, some brought from other mines, and some replicas. It was interesting, enjoyable, and educational.

Sometime after 3 pm we finished there and drove to Boulder to see the Town Hall which had also been recommended. It is an impressive building and the main hall had some displays about the local history. Again we were pleased to see substantial acknowledgement of the First Nations people who had lived in the area for thousands of years before the miners arrived. There were some other interesting old buildings nearby but we read in the history that most were just facades that were restored after the 2010 earthquake.

Our campsite was along the same street so we drove on there to check in. For the first time we have a card to pass the cable barrier at the gate, a code to pass the security gate after 6 pm, and code for the ablutions block.

By then it was too late for lunch, too early for dinner, and we did not want to simply sit and wait. We drove back into town and found the Salvo’s store where Majella donated her golf club. Then we drove to Karlkurla Bushland Park on the outskirts of Kalgoorlie where we walked a 4 kilometre circuit. It had been recommended by the visitor centre and was a pleasant walk among trees and flowering shrubs. It was created about 25 years ago and, given what we had heard earlier about all trees in a radius of about 100 kilometres having been consumed as fuel by mining operations, it seems to be doing well at rehabilitating some of the country.

The woman at the visitor centre had told us there would be a blast in the Super Pit at 5:30 pm that could be watched from the lookout we had visited earlier. She advised arriving around 5 pm in case conditions caused it to happen earlier. We were there soon after 5 pm but sat in the car rather than join the people standing in the breeze to look into the pit. About 5:15 pm I decided to join them to be ready but, as we stepped out of the van, the blast went off early. We saw the clouds of dust and smoke.

While we had been waiting for the blast, Majella had consulted the list of eateries she collected at the visitor centre and made an online booking for 6:15 pm in the Balcony restaurant at the Palace Hotel. We had nothing more to do now the blast was done so we drove back to Kalgoorlie and walked a little in the streets before arriving early at the restaurant. That was not a problem and we were soon seated. Majella had seafood pappardelle with a glass of Moscato. I had pepper crusted eye fillet and creamed potato with a glass of Shiraz and, at Majella’s insistence, a side of asparagus with melted parmesan. The meals were excellent but large and Majella has lunch for tomorrow.

We made it back to our campsite past the security coded gate and the cable barrier with time to relax before sleep in preparation for a long drive tomorrow. There had been rain on the windscreen when we came out of the restaurant and there was a light shower soon after we arrived back at camp. We really had been fortunate to have fine weather most of the day.