Kalgoorlie-Boulder (Heart of the Goldfields).......WA

In 1893 the discovery of gold, by Paddy Hannan, near Kalgoorlie triggered a boom and the influx of men eager to make their fortune. The old world charm of the many late 1800 and early 1900 buildings in Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie's main street, is a sign of the wealth at this time. I loved the architecture from the gold rush era with many of the original buildings still standing and totally functional after more than 100 years.

A must, was a visit to the Kalgoorlie Town Hall with its impressive Edwardian-styled building. This building was completed in 1908 and has intricate stamped metal ceilings, chandeliers, a sweeping staircase, majestic theatre and an extensive collection of art and memorabilia upstairs and in the council chambers. Today the town hall is home to the Kalgoorlie Visitor Centre, Sporting Hall of Fame and Claude Hotchin Art Bequest.

Kalgoorlie's twin town Boulder also had impressive architectural buildings in Burt Street, its main street, most notably the BoulderTown Hall, which was completed in 1908. This houses the amazing craftsmanship by Phillip Goatcher...........The Goatcher Curtain............an exquisite hand painted drop curtain which is believed to be one of the last surviving examples of Goatcher's work. We were fortunate to be able to tour the Boulder Town Hall on its first tour in 2 years and 3 months due to the damage experienced when an earthquake of 5.0 magnitudes rocked the Kalgoorlie Boulder towns at 8.17am on Tuesday 20^th April 2010. The earthquake occurred in the centre of Boulder.

We enjoyed golf at the relatively new completed Kalgoorlie Golf Course designed by Graham Marsh. This 18 hole championship grass golf course is anticipated to be one of the top ten desert golf courses in the world. Of course we played another two of the Nullarbor Links course...........the world's longest golf course!

A visit to the 'Super Pit'............Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mine (KCGM) was another experience. You looked down into one of today's biggest working open cast mines in the southern hemisphere. As I said before everything in WA is BIG!

After two days travelling further south, this morning (28^th July 2012) we arrived back in Norseman.........we arrived in Norseman on 11^th April 2012 after crossing the Nullarbor from east to west and now we are on our way back across the Nullarbor travelling west to east...........I will restart the blog once I get into new territory (past Port Augustus) which won't be for another couple of weeks.............until then!!!!!

KALGOORLIE / BOULDER........WA

Looking down, from a purpose built platform, into the Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mine (KCGM)......one of today's biggest working open cast mine in the southern hemisphere 

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KALGOORLIE.........

The walk down Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie's main street, you see great examples of architecture from bygone eras....................... 



York Hotel - 1901

Exchange Buildings - 1898

Australia Hotel - 1898

Palace Hotel - 1898

Speeds Criterion Hotel

Tattersalls Hotel

British Arms Museum - 1899

The old Post Office and Court House

Kalgoorlie City Markets - 1901

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - 1908

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The magnificent Hoover Mirror........

once was in Hoover House at Gwalia,

now in the Palace Hotel Kalgoorlie

Statue of Paddy Hannan - made from 90 pieces of soldered copper

and sculptured by John MacLeod in 1923

Kalgoorlie's beautiful Town Hall Theatre

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BOULDER...........

Like Kalgoorlie the main street of Boulder - Burt Street - boasts many beautiful architectural buildings from bygone eras...... 





Boulder Town Hall - completed in 1908 -

 houses the Phillip Goatcher Curtain - an exquisite hand painted drop curtain

Boulder Town Hall theatre

The exquisite Phillip Goatcher hand painted drop curtain

Court Hotel - 1900

Leonora, Gwalia, Menzies and Lake Ballard.....WA

Continuing south we visited Leinster.....another BHP Billiton mining town, set up for mining personnel. Next stop Leonora, once again a very small inland Western Australia country town where gold and nickel are mined. Leonora's twin town of Gwalia provided more interest. Gwalia is now a ghost town, so a poke around the area which was once a thriving community was especially interesting. The town literally died overnight on December 27, 1963 when the mine closed down prematurely due to an accident. The population of 1700 was reduced to 40 and by 17^th January 1964 the Gwalia State Hotel had been closed. Many of the town's houses are still erected but are deteriorating and just left as a tourist attraction or because it would cost too much to completely demolish them! The building which was once the State Hotel is still intact and currently used for the large 'Sons of Gwalia' mine.........an open pit gold mine which commenced in 1898. The first mine manager was Herbert Hoover who later became the 31^st President of the United States. This mine was resurrected and reopened with the invention of more sophisticated mining equipment. The restored historic Hoover House which overlooks the mine is now privately owned and operates as a guest house.
We spent the evening with lots of other campers at Niagara Dam.............a picturesque oasis which has been used for the last 100 years as a great camping, picnic and swimming spot. The dam was constructed by the Railways Department in 1897 – 98 to provide water for the steam locomotives.
Next morning we travelled the short 10 klm distance further east to another 'ghost town' Kookynie, once a thriving town, boasting (in 1907), a population of 3,500 people.
Menzies our next stop, yet another small town which in 1910 had a population of 5,000 people and today is home to around 70 people. The town features some historic buildings, most notably the Town Hall and Clock Tower, the original Menzies Hotel and the restored former Lady Shenton Hotel............which is now the Community Resource Centre, Visitor Information Centre, Community Post agent, Library and Spinifex Art Gallery. The Town Hall and Clock Tower was built in 1896 and never had the clock installed until 1999! The original clock was lost, when the ship carry the clock ran aground off Fremantle, in the year 1905. All those years the hole for the clock remained hollow.
We were keen to view Lake Ballard sculptures, so from Menzies we travelled 51 klms of reasonably good unsealed road west. The trip was worth the experience especially as we got to see the lake when dry, after rain and at sunset. Lake Ballard is a salt lake where Antony Gormley has created 'Inside Australia'. This incredible cultural display is situated within the eerie setting of the lake. He has 51 sculptures derived from laser scans of Menzies inhabitants. The 'Inside Australia' idea of the internationally renowned artist was commissioned to mark the 50^th Anniversary of the Perth International Arts Festival in 2003. We enjoyed a camp for the night along the edge of the lake.
Today, Tuesday 24^th July, we arrived in Kalgoorlie where we will spend a few days exploring this gold mining city.
     

Leonora, Gwalia, Menzies and Lake Ballard

GWALIA.........

'Sons of Gwalia' gold mine

The deserted houses of the ghost town of Gwalia

Gwalia State Hotel C 1900 - the building today is used

  as the headquarters for the 'Sons of Gwalia' gold mine 

KOOKYNIE...............

Kookynie is also a ghost town

 The Kookynie Hotel is still open and operating - although it is for sale!

Ruins of Kookynie homes

 Old farm machinery just left

MENZIES........



The Old Town Hall and Clock.......... today this building is the Shire Offices 

Renovated Lady Shenton Hotel

 now the Visitor Information Centre 

 Today the town's Menzies Hotel used to be the Railway Hotel

The Old Cemetery in Menzies..........

significent for the distinctive goldfields examples of metal graves

and monuments specific to Menzies between 1900 and 1939

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LAKE BALLARD 'Inside Australia' cultural display by artist Antony Gormley

Lake Ballard before the rain

 after rain

and at sunset

 There are 51 sculptures

Chris and I walked the lake before it rained

Our left shoe prints



 After rain

Rainbow over the lake after the rain

More beautiful lake view as the sunset

Cue, Mount Magnet and Sandstone .....WA

After leaving Newman we travelled further south through Meekatharra.............a very unexciting little town, then after a nights rest travelled to Cue.

Cue's town population is 550, and its rural population is 105 but this town is very quaint and because the town became the administration centre for the Murchison Region after the discovery of gold in 1892 the buildings of that era, built from locally quarried limestone, still remain and are still among the most impressive in the region. The Post Office, Courthouse and Police Station are still being used for their original purpose. Travelling to Cue we found a lovely camp site (Lake Nallan) just 20klms north of Cue, so after exploring Cue, we filled our water tanks and travelled back from Cue to Lake Nallan where I caught up with the washing and Chris adjusted a few bits and pieces on the motorhome, we showered and settled in for the evening. The days are comfortably warm but the inland nights are cool to cold somewhere between 2 to 10 degrees!

Next day we ventured on to Mount Magnet – another town with a lot of past mining history. Here gold was discovered in the 1880's. Today gold mining is still mined at the Morning Star open cut pit. Gold is still being found around these inland towns and a lot of prospecting tourists visit in the hope of finding some gold! Along the way over the past couple of weeks has seen us capture the delights of the WA wildflowers – not quite as prolific as in previous years due to the lack of rain Western Australia has experienced this winter – apparently the lowest rainfall for the season in approximately 90 years! Another enjoyable camp night saw us camp about 80 klms west of Sandstone – not long after we stopped another couple from Tasmania also stopped for the night. After dinner and on sunset and the temperature was dropping Chris lit a camp fire and the four of us sat around chatting and enjoying the evening.

Next morning we woke to an overcast, cold day and travelled onto Sandstone – around mid morning the sun shone and the day soon became a pleasant winters day. Sandstone is another small but once booming mine town. (For a period of six years from 1907 Sandstone was a small city of some 6,000 to 8,000 people. It had four hotels, many cafes, four butchers, stores, business houses, police station and two banks.) Buy 1919 only 200 people remained in the town. Many buildings were pulled down and moved to other towns. Today the population is around 50 town folk and 119 in the shire! The town folk were ever so friendly and very welcoming. Today (Saturday) was one of their sausage sizzle and cuppa days along with a small market stall selling scarves, beanies and other nik naks. Even though it was only 10.10 am we enjoyed a sausage sizzle and cuppa and chatted with other tourists passing through this town. The small town has been beautifully restored from royalties from the mining boom and they had a fantastic children's playground for such a small community. The Tourist Information Centre and Heritage Museum was worth the visit (especially as it was free admission)! We visited the heritage site where once the towns brewery operated. The brewery supplied the local hotels until 1910 when the railway line from Mt Magnet to Sandstone was completed. With the railway came regular supplies of beer from breweries elsewhere and the Sandstone Brewery closed down. Not far from town the heritage trail takes you to London Bridge.........It is formed of weathered basalt and the rock formation is believed to be about 350 million years old. 'London Bridge' is falling down......with time and weathering the bridge is getting thinner and thinner.

Cue, Mount Magnet and Sandstone.......... WA

CUE.........

The renovated original Police Station and Post Office in Cue.....these buildings are still used for there original purpose

 Post Office

The shire office was once the Gentleman's Club

 Murchison Pub

This building was once the Bank of New South Wales

 The charm of older buildings!

Queen of the Murchison Hotel

 This building was once the Gaol

How quaint......Cue's community herb garden

MOUNT MAGNET........

Looking down over the Morning Star open cut

gold mining pit from Warramboo Lookout  









Small town of Mount Magnet from Warramboo Lookout

SANDSTONE............





Sausage sizzle in the park

The water park

 Yes, you could hire the golf clubs for $5 to play golf for free. But wait!!

The relic of the Sandstone Brewery

 Looking down to our motorhome

from the rock shelf above the relic of the Sandstone Brewery

London Bridge

One of the fairways of the Sandstone golf course.....

not a blade of grass!