Goldfields and the Coast

OZDUCK · Mar 31, 2018

Our German friends are currently visiting us for 3 weeks. We arranged to take them for quick tour of Kalgoorlie and surrounds plus a quick trip to Esperance. The weather was a bit of a shock for them as they left their village, near Stuttgart, with the temperature at -8C and four days later they were walking on a salt pan in 40C heat.

The trip saw us covering 2,700 km in 8 days with some pretty rough tracks thrown in.

Firstly, a few photos around Kalgoorlie.

The Town Hall

Two views of Kalgoorlie from the lookout at the terminus of the water pipeline at Mt Charlotte. Boulder Town Hall is in the distance in the first photo. The "Gold" dome in the second photo is on the "Government Offices" - Wardens Court, Local Court etc.

Looking down into the "Super Pit".

The famous/infamous Two Up School about 5 km out of Kalgoorlie.

OZDUCK · Apr 1, 2018

Next, we drove the 133 km to Menzies and then turned left to Lake Ballard. It is about 51 km to Lake Ballard from Menzies and about half is now sealed and the rest is in pretty good condition. It is actually a pretty easy drive to get here. When we arrived the car was showing the outside temperature as 40C . The surface of the lake was slightly "sticky" but pretty easy to walk on.

As was suggested by another AFF member, Daver6(?), a few weeks ago we tried to take old shoes that could be thrown away afterwards with us - but cunningly left half behind. In fact I wore thongs without any problems and tried bare feet for a couple of hundred metres before it got a bit hot. The temperatures were such that half an hour was about all the time we could spend on the salt so we never climbed the hill or visited the more distant statues. I was feeling a bit crook after that time anyway and was happy to get off the salt and wash my head under water.

It was really worthwhile and I would recommend anyone interested to visit. Antony Gormley’s “Inside Australia” - Lake Ballard

I will let the photos tell their own story.

Daver6 · Apr 1, 2018

It really is quite an interesting place, having visited only a few weeks ago. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

moa999 · Apr 1, 2018

Some of the hotels (pubs) in Kalgoorlie are amazing buildings. It's quite a main street.

OZDUCK · Apr 1, 2018

Daver6 said:
It really is quite an interesting place, having visited only a few weeks ago. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

Thanks - I haven't got a huge number of photos as not only did I leave the "old shoes" behind I also did the same with my better camera. One of our guests is an incredibly enthusiastic photographer and he had an SLR camera, Video camera and a 3D camera. Hopefully, when he gets back from the second part of their trip - they are currently doing the South West including Margaret River - I will get some better quality photos.

OZDUCK · Apr 1, 2018

moa999 said:
Some of the hotels (pubs) in Kalgoorlie are amazing buildings. It's quite a main street.

And they still offer some pretty good "value for money" meals. This was a $20 special that three of us had for lunch at the "Kalgoorlie Hotel" - opposite the Town Hall.

OZDUCK · Apr 1, 2018

After Lake Ballard we basically we drove a few km west and then turned south along the Riverina - Snake Hill Road for about 40 km. This road was in reasonable condition, we were travelling in a 2005 WL Statesman, and our friends got to see a couple of Emus & a large Goanna so they were happy. We passed Riverina & the Riverina Homestead and then came to Mulline where my father lived for a while around WW1. He was born in 1904 and had me when he was 50.

The townsite of Mulline - the old wall on the left was the biggest structure left in any of these townsites.

We then stopped at the Mulline Cemetery where my grandmother, who had died in childbirth far from any medical help in 1918, and her 5 year old daughter are buried in unmarked graves. All these towns and cemeteries have been abandoned for close to 100 years. The track has been moved a little bit since the previous time we had been here but luckily someone had put up these basic, but useful signs to show the way. Also someone, probably the same people, have also cleaned up the site and made an effort to mark some of the "lost" graves - so thank you whoever you are. The car showed the outside temperature as 50C when we got into it to leave.

The cemetery from a distance.

turtlemichael · Apr 1, 2018

Great pix whatever the camera issues! And love your report.

RooFlyer · Apr 1, 2018

Love the goldfields and yes, whoever has tended the cemetery ...

craven morehead · Apr 1, 2018

OZDUCK said:
Next, we drove the 133 km to Menzies and then turned left to Lake Ballard. It is about 51 km to Lake Ballard from Menzies and about half is now sealed and the rest is in pretty good condition. It is actually a pretty easy drive to get here. When we arrived the car was showing the outside temperature as 40C . The surface of the lake was slightly "sticky" but pretty easy to walk on.

As was suggested by another AFF member, Daver6(?), a few weeks ago we tried to take old shoes that could be thrown away afterwards with us - but cunningly left half behind. In fact I wore thongs without any problems and tried bare feet for a couple of hundred metres before it got a bit hot. The temperatures were such that half an hour was about all the time we could spend on the salt so we never climbed the hill or visited the more distant statues. I was feeling a bit crook after that time anyway and was happy to get off the salt and wash my head under water.

It was really worthwhile and I would recommend anyone interested to visit. Antony Gormley’s “Inside Australia” - Lake Ballard

I will let the photos tell their own story.

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Wow ! That is something different. I can only imagine what your German friends must have thought.

RB · Apr 1, 2018

Some great photos already-love the distinct colours of Aust

OZDUCK · Apr 1, 2018

craven morehead said:
Wow ! That is something different. I can only imagine what your German friends must have thought.

They have been to Oz four or five times before, including Cairns, Darwin, Uluru and driving to Broome and back from Perth. But they did seem to really (mostly) enjoy being on the bush tracks as they had hire cars before so were restricted as to where they could go.

OZDUCK · Apr 1, 2018

After having a good look around the cemetery we moved down the track to Davyhurst where my father was born. The track was getting rougher the more we moved south

Part of a roadside sign at Davyhurst.

What is left of Davyhurst today. I agree with the sign, that the scattered bricks around here, and what looked like the remains of a cellar, means that this was the site of the above mentioned Grand Hotel. (Ozymadias comes to mind.)

Considering the number of washaways and small gulleys we encountered after this sign it is good advice.

A broader view of Davyhurst, with my trusty Statesman at temporary rest. The Golden symbol on the sign means that you are on the Golden Quest Discovery Trail Home - Golden Quest Discovery Trail . This is fairly well signposted and you can get an accompanying book and CD's for the drive - we got the CD's for free from the Kalgoorlie Tourist Office and they contain stories about the region.

Our friends were amused when I found a German Beer bottle (empty unfortunately) on the ground.

OZDUCK · Apr 1, 2018

WE had a bit of fun getting back to Kalgoorlie. I did not want to backtrack the hundred or so km top Menzies so I tried to take the Davyhurst - Ora Banda Road but after 12 or so km of very rough track it was blocked by mine tailings dumped across the road. This required us to take the Coolgardie North Road which was just as rough. Because of the delays we had to drive about 80 km of poor road at night. Luckily, only one kangaroo jumped in front of us, far enough away not to be a danger.

Eventually we connected with the Ora Banda Road and returned to the highway via Ora Banda and Broad Arrow. There is a bit of a lesson in this in that a few of the roads I tried to use were either blocked or moved significantly, even though they were still marked on maps, The mining operations often change the landscape significantly and a lot of roads are marked as mining access roads only.

A couple more photos to finish off the Goldfields section.

An old digger bucket at the lookout.

The small black squares in the upper level of the pit are mainly old horizontal shafts left over from
100 years of deep shaft mining.

Iron "camels" on the roundabout at Norseman. My father could remember seeing "Afghan" camel trains in his childhood.

JohnM · Apr 1, 2018

My father was born in Norseman and my grandmother (widowed before I was born) lived there until very late in life. She was a young girl when her family came over from South Australia in the Norseman gold rush. She often told me about the Afghans and their camel trains.

Staying with her was my home-away-from-home during summer school holidays as a young kid, days spent roaming around the old diggings and over the salt lakes. Hence my affinity for the bush in general and the WA Goldfields in particular.

Too bad you struck it so hot at Lake Ballard. With it drying out and the salt layer forming, the reflected heat would have been brutal.

OZDUCK · Apr 1, 2018

JohnM said:
My father was born in Norseman and my grandmother (widowed before I was born) lived there until very late in life. She was a young girl when her family came over from South Australia in the Norseman gold rush. She often told me about the Afghans and their camel trains.

Staying with her was my home-away-from-home during summer school holidays as a young kid, days spent roaming around the old diggings and over the salt lakes. Hence my affinity for the bush in general and the WA Goldfields in particular.

Too bad you struck it so hot at Lake Ballard. With it drying out and the salt layer forming, the reflected heat would have been brutal.

IT would have been an interesting place to spend your holidays. My father moved to Perth in the 1950's before I was born and this was only the third time I have been to Kalgoorlie.

It was really hot but that is part of the experience. We arrived there a lot later in the day than I had intended as the tour times for the Super Pit were different than we thought and required a re-arrangement.

OZDUCK · Apr 1, 2018

We then moved down to Esperance and went out Cape Le Grand National Park to visit Lucky Bay. The sand squeaks under bare feet like being on a highly polished wood floor - due to the high quartz content.

We also saw 6 or 7 of the local kangaroos browsing on the beach. Despite being wild they have no fear of humans and will approach you to have their heads scratched.

Kangarooz and the beach - two Australian Icons together

Luckily for the kangaroos it was a cloudy day so they weren't blinded by the sun reflecting off my shiny head

JohnM · Apr 1, 2018

Lucky Bay, like many of the bays down that way, is a magic spot - but made all the more so by the 'roos on the beach.

OZDUCK · Apr 2, 2018

Some photos around Esperance.

Looking out across the foreshore - with the - much recently discussed on AFF - old tanker jetty on display.

On a sunny day the beaches are beautiful

Sunset - taken just west of the town

A relatively new Clock Tower on the foreshore

OZDUCK · Apr 2, 2018

Nature around Esperance

A sleepy sea-lion at Bandy Creek Harbour. I had a bit of trouble convincing my friend that they are dangerous and not to get too close