Day 13 / 2014 - Kalgoorlie

We have been in Kalgoorlie since Friday. It is suprised me how much there is to look at here and how RV friendly Kalgoorlie is. They seem to understand that the gold mine will not last for ever and that the tourist dollar is a viable alternative income for the town.

Kalgoorlie appears proactive in attracting the RV travelling public. For starters they provide a free overnight parking area for self contained RV's. There are also a number of public dump points clearly signed posted, a number of parking areas set aside for overlength vehicles as well as a plethora of signs pointing to the various caravan parks available within the town.

There is plenty of tourist attractions for all types of travellers and they give you a piece of paper with a list the major ones. For starters there seems to be a pub on every corner so there is no shortage of places to drink, eat and gamble. The most dominant attraction would have to be the KCGM Super pit which is a very large open cut pit right on the edge of town. There is a lookout you can watch over mining operations with placards descibing the different process of the mining operation. If you are lucky you can also witness a rock blast.

Boulder Markets which are held every third Sunday just happened to be on while we were in Kal and although not quite Midil Markets the were still fun. We also visited the Loop line Museum. The loop line use to service the area around Kal and Boulder ferrying miners to an from the mine site as well as other passengers. They are in the process or restoring the line for tourist.

The Kalgoorlie Museum house historical exibits from the area including the Vault which apparently holds 4 Million Dollars in gold nugget form as part of the exibit. There is also a Poppet Head serviced by a lift which gives you a birds eye view of Kalgoorlie township.

Charlottes Lookout is where the Mundaring to Kalgoorlie pipeline ends. This is a large resivoir which holds the water when it arrives. The water is not potable here and must go through a water treatment process before being piped into peoples properties. It also has spectacular views over kalgoorlie township.

Hannans north Mine and Super Pit Shop is located at the area where Paddy Hannan actually found his gold nugget. The Mine technology centre is also there as well as an evolving display of mining and equipment from the then to the now. They have a full size Cat 793c Haul Truck which you can climb on and sit in the cab as well as a Cat 994D Front End loader. It was a blast from the past as this is equipment we used where I use to work at Premier coal. There is also a area where you can try your hand at paning gold I actually found some specs of gold in my pan. It also depicts some of the conditions the miners endured at the time of the gold rush very spartan conditions makes you appreciate your creature comforts.

There is so much to see here you could make Kagoorlie and goldfields area a destination in its own right and spend a couple of weeks just looking around.