Road trip – 261 km – Kalgoorlie-Boulder
The night was peaceful. I woke up around 07:00, packed some stuff, and had a shower. After having breakfast and coffee, talking to a Switzerland couple, we started towards Kalgoorie. Andrew has some friends in Kalgoorlie, a couple he met somewhere at a camping place. He wanted to meet them in Kalgoorlie, but they are travelling these days, Spain, Dubai, Perth … But they kindly offered us their house to stay for a few days. Their son, who is living in the granny house. In Australia, a “granny flat” is a self-contained, secondary dwelling unit on the same property as a main residence, often built to accommodate elderly parents or family members, though it can also serve as an investment rental or teen retreat.
We stopped in Menzies for a coffee and a scone. In Australia, a scone is a small, quick bread that is served as part of a Devonshire tea or afternoon tea, often with jam, cream, and butter, or as a savory item with ingredients like cheese or herbs.
We continued driving towards Menzies. Near Menzies, around 50 km from there, is Lake Ballard. There are salt people, statues made of salt. But we were not in the mood today to drive more 50 km and 50 km back. Our next stop would be the Broad Arrow Pub in Kanowna. Andrew was working in the Gold Mine in Kalgoorlie years ago; he has been here many times. This pub is a real outback pub.
Then we headed on, and we shortly stopped in Mullingar. There is a place for gambling in the bush, and they are playing Two-Up. A game often played by Australian diggers. Two-up is a traditional Australian gambling game, involving a designated “spinner” throwing two coins, usually Australian pennies, into the air. Players bet on whether the coins will both fall with heads (obverse) up, both with tails (reverse) up, or one of each (known as “odds”).
We reached Kalgoorlie, a town with around 30.000 inhabitants. Kalgoorlie–Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located 595 km (370 mi) east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway.
Andrew showed me around a bit as he was living in this town for a while. Then we drove to the Super-Pit-Goldmine. The Fimiston Open Pit, colloquially known as the Super Pit, is an open-pit mine in the western Australia. It was Australia’s largest open cut gold mine until 2016, when it was surpassed by the Newmont Boddington gold mine, also in Western Australia. The Super Pit is located off the Goldfields Highway on the south-east edge of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The pit is oblong in plan view and is approximately 3.5 kilometres long, 1.5 kilometres wide and over 600 metres deep.[1][2]
The Fimiston Open Pit is owned by Northern Star Resources. The mine produced 456,000 troy ounces (14.2 t) of gold in 2019, and employs around 1,100 employees and contractors directly on site.
It is just stunning how big this mine is and the oversized trucks and caterpillars.
Many of the big Haul Trucks are driven by women; they are more sensitive and aware of danger than men, and take fewer risks.
We reached the house from Andrew’s friends and called his son. I will not post photos from the house here to respect their privacy. Anyway, here is the pool for the next days.
The house is really spacious and luxurious. We are enjoying having each a big bed after 10 days sleeping in a tent, an underground motel and a cave.
Andrew called a company for car glasses before. They just confirmed we will get a new side window on Monday morning.
No responses yet