Kalgoorlie 25/3 to 28/3

We arrived in Kalgoorlie–Boulder as its is known, on Friday afternoon and our caravan park is located in Boulder. Upon our arrival, the first thing we noticed was that Boulder is dwarfed by the enormous ‘Super Pit – Gold Mine’ and most of the two story buildings in Boulder are propped up by large sections of scaffolding. 

Scaffolding in Boulder

 We have since learnt that Boulder experienced an earthquake last year and most of these two story dwellings suffered considerable damage.  However because these buildings have been heritage listed, we don’t think they will ever be renovated, due to the enormous costs involved.

Kalgoorlie Hotel

Kalgoorlie Hotel

Only a few kilometres away is the township of Kalgoorlie.  Kalgoorlie is dotted with very decorative buildings and displays a character of past grandeur.  In its heyday it would have been the place to be in the west and there wasn’t just a hotel on every corner; but all the way down the main street. 

Kalgoorlie Hotel

Butcher's Facade

 As you can see even the butcher shop had an elaborate facade.  Today Kalgoorlie’s population is very young, the average age is under 30 as they are here to earn good money from working in the mines.  The pubs therefore cater for the younger generation, most have karaoke, live music, and they actively market the existence of scantily clad young ladies known as “Skimpies” who are there to entice  the clientele.  Mark enjoyed a drink in the York Hotel.  It was full of interesting sporting memorabilia.  There was one of the Don’s signed bats, Mohamid Ali’s boxing glove, signed golf balls by Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods & Jack Nicklaus....I could go on forever.  If you’re in Kalgoorlie call into the York to have a look around.

Mark & I also did the ‘Hay St’ (House o ill repute) tour.  The Madame was an extremely well spoken lady of at least 70+, who was originally from Brisbane.  It was interesting to see the ‘starting stalls’ where any keen man had to wait before being allowed to enter into the house.  They did look like horse stalls.  We could not recommend Kalgoorlie as a family friendly town, as we noted a lot of drunk people in the streets, even during daylight hours.  The worst we saw was a pretty blonde young girl of about 17 who was unable to walk a straight line at 4:30 in the afternoon.

Superpit View - The trucks look so tiny down there!

Kalgoorlie’s skyline is dominated by the ‘Superpit’.  Alan Bond was the entrepreneur who first tried to buy up all the separate gold leases on this ‘golden mile’.  This was completed by the company KCGM (Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mining), who now employ thousands of people and have invested millions into infrastructure for this extensive mining operation.

  Before the superpit, the miners followed the seams of gold down as far as 1.2km underground.  Then it was realised that gold could be extracted from the ore that had been discarded.  They even pulled up the pavers in the city as they contained gold. Now a huge hole has been dug in the ground, with blasting occurring every day and hundreds of trucks removing ore.  According to the marketing blurb, the superpit is expected to last until 2021   At that time they will have to decide what to do with it, as the mine will most likely not be viable.

Up close the trucks are huge....

Once the mining is discontinued then the KCGM group will depart and a large hole will remain in the ground.  Once this happens the hole will fill with salt water and it will eventually fill the huge hole in the ground leaving a lake that will be toxic due to the leaching of arsenic etc.  The Superpit tour we did today was extremely interesting.  For example did you know that each of these trucks can hold 220 tonnes of ore (that’s 220,000kg). An average of 1 in 6 trucks carries ore that will contain gold bearing ore.  This ore will usually yield 2g of gold per tonne of ore.  However KCGM extracts about 200 000 ounces of gold each year making this ground still the richest mile of earth in the world.  Pretty amazing!

After searching through the Kalgoorlie cemetery for the great, grandparents grave (Yes Kelly, we found it) it was lovely to visit Hannan Park (named after Paddy Hannan who was the first to lodge a mining claim in Kalgoorlie) an oasis of green in the red dirt township of Kalgoorlie.  Not sure why it has a miniature Bavarian Castle, but at least there would have been enough stone in the local area for the project.

Michael & Ryan you might be interested in the bicycle we saw in the mining museum.  Don't know how it would go on your wind trainer.

From here we are planning to travel south to Esperance and we’ll be looking for a freestay in Cape Le Grand National Park or nearby Duke of Orleans Bay, however after wonderful weather across the Nullarbor and in Kalgoorlie we’ve just heard that rain and a cold front is forecast.

 

Crossing the Nullarbor (21/3 to 25/3)

Day 1

We commenced our trip across the Nullarbor on a wet and windy Monday morning.  Our first stop was Penang Roadhouse for petrol and for John & Kathie another hole on the Nullarbor Links Golf Course. 

Mark & I stopped at the local museum where we not only learnt about the mouse, rabbit and snake plague in the district, but saw lots of household items that we remembered from our childhood.....IN A MUSEUM! 

The one thing that kept our attention was the high cost of diesel fuel.  We started off paying $1.56.9 in Ceduna and by the time we had arrived at the Nullarbor Roadhouse the cost of diesel had risen to $1.99.9 per litre.  Luckily fellow travellers had given us a warning about this and we did not have to fill our tanks at this stop.

A highlight of the day was our visit to Head of Bight.  After paying $5 each for the privilege, we enjoyed wonderful vistas of the Great Australian Bight.

Beautiful Colours of Great Australian Bight

Sand Dunes at Head of Bight

  

It was interesting that the sand dunes are marching inland at a rate of 12m a year.  At that rate they’ll be across the Eyre Highway quite soon.  Luckily we have encountered very little traffic.  A few ‘wide loads’ and some road trains but nothing to worry us.  

The Dann Clan might be interested in the road signs.  We’ve been watching out for Camels, Wombats and Kangaroos, but unfortunately none to be seen at present.  Jemma, we’re particularly on the lookout for wombats so we can put a star on our bingo sheets....but there are definitely no heart shaped clouds anywhere!

Day 1 Stop

We lucked out on our freestay for the night.  We’re in the Nullarbor National Park and can walk along the cliff face of the Great Australian Bight ....wonderful views, and as you can see from the photos we were lucky to have fine weather for most of the day.

 Day 2

We awoke to rain but by 9 o’clock had a fine, clear day.  We drove 80 km today, and also drove across airport tarmac.  Parts of the Eyre Highway are Royal Flying Doctor Service emergency landing strips. Our first stop was a scenic lookout that had been closed because the cliff had collapsed and the parking area now stood on the verge of joining the ocean.  We then went on to Bunda Cliffs Scenic Lookout, where the three layers of the cliffs jutting into the Great Australian Bight were very plain to see.  In a lot of areas there are signs that it is unsafe to venture further because of unstable cliffs due to undercutting caused by the sea.   We chose a stop close to the shoreline for our second night on the Nullarbor.  As can be seen from the photo we are sharing the free stay with loads of gravel and roadbase, which make excellent wind breaks.  Only 25km to the border.

Bunda Cliffs

Night 2 Stop

Day 3

Today we travelled ahead of John & Kathie who wanted to take a more leisurely trip across the Nullarbor.  Hopefully we’ll catch up with them in Kalgoorlie.  We had two stops before reaching the border.  On the first we went for a walk DOWN to the water. 

Mark on way down to water

Donna on way down

Our second stop was at a scenic lookout.  You can see that the cliffs have now given way to a more gentle slope to the sea.  Everywhere we stop we meet some fellow ‘terrorists’ as one Qlder called us tourists.  Today was a long day as we arrived at the border crossing at 11:45am   and left at 9:15am (Perth Time)

After the border was the ‘town’ of Eucla.  Once the site of the telegraph station that kept WA in touch with the rest of Australia and the world, now there is a caravan park, ambulance, police and aged care home.  After Eucla we went through a pass and for the rest of the day have travelled on the highway with plains to the south and a tableland to the north.  The land, though quite green because of recent rains, is no good for farming or grazing.  As per the signposts it is great for kangaroos, emus and camels.  People have tried to make this barren landscape more interesting by creating their own trees.  We passed a shoe tree, glove tree, undies tree, tinsel tree.  Took a photo of one tree that we need help with the theme.  There is a tv, shirt, cds....can anyone identify the theme?

Theme of tree????

Stopped for the night - day 3

We found a good spot for the night at Moodini Bluff in a grove of trees, which is very unusual in this landscape.  We were in bed quite early as the sun set around 6pm.

Day 4

After waking up quite early we set off on the next part of our journey. Our first stop was at Madura Pass Lookout, after we climbed to the top of the tableland.  The view of the Hampton Roe Plains stretched to the Great Australian Bight. 

View of Hampton Roe Plains

Second stop was Cocklebiddy Roadhouse.  After having to make sure we didn’t take any fresh fruit or veges into WA it was interesting to see brown bananas at Cocklebiddy selling at $1 each.  (That was the only fruit to be had).  The price of fuel here was $1.96.9 so once again we checked our tank & decided we’d be able to reach Norseman.  After the next stop, Caiguna, we encountered the longest straight stretch of road in the world.  90 miles, 146.6 km.  We stopped for the night at Woorlba Homestead Rest Area, after driving about 300km.  Luckily we have a shady spot, because it is very hot.

Day 5

We finished crossing the Nullarbor today.  We have been very lucky because we’ve encountered no headwinds or crosswinds, no rain, very little traffic and a great road surface.  Cannot even imagine what it would be like when it was a dirt road.  At the end of the Nullarbor is the town of Norseman. This mining town was established in 1860 after Laurie Sinclair’s horse, Norseman, as the legend says, pawed and exposed a chunk of gold reef. 

Statue of Norseman

View from Norseman Lookout of Mine & Salt Lake

Gold is still mined in the area today and between Norseman and Kalgoorlie (where we have set up for the night at a caravan park)  there are numerous mines. 

The streets of Norseman are extremely wide, being planned originally so that camel trains could turn easily in the street.  This is commemorated today by the corrugated iron camels in the main street. 

We were able to fill the car at the Shell Service Station where petrol was at a more reasonable price of $1.61.9.  (Thanks Ian Peacock for the tip)

 

So ends our journey across the Nullarbor.

Haslam & Ceduna 15/3 to 20/3

A Relaxed Mark outside Woolshed Cave

The Wild Coastline

After spending the long weekend in Elliston, we set off towards Streaky Bay.  We were on the lookout for a free stay, where the boys could fish and the girls could spend time reading their books and sunbaking under blue skies.  On the day we left Elliston, a couple of travellers had recommended that we visit the Talia Caves.  This stop enabled us to observe firsthand the destructive action of the wind & waves as the relentlessly pound this part of the Sth Aust coastline.

Woolshed Cave

There were several caves in this area, but the largest and most impressive was the Woolshed Cave, which I suspect was so called because it was as a large as a woolshed.  This cave has been gouged out to leave a massive underground opening that has undercut the cliff face.  A sign at the top of the walkway explained that the local cliff face is made up on limestone and as the sea levels have risen in recent times, the waves have eroded the immature limestone, leaving an elongated cave that is as spectacular as it is large.  It was only when we were outside the cave that we realized that our car and caravan were parked directly above the cave.

Donna at Talia Caves

John & Kathie at Talia Caves

We then continued our journey and stopped in to visit both Venus Bay and Streaky Bay.  Both of these locations were spectacular but unfortunately the caravan parks were booked to capacity and there simply wasn’t anywhere to legally park our vans.  Faced with this dilemma we then decided to adjourn to the local pub to catch our breaths and establish Plan ‘B’.  After sharing a couple of tasty pizza’s and washing them down with a couple of local brews, we then set off again to find alternative accommodation

About 40 klms down the road from Streaky Bay, we came across a free stay located in the middle of a small village called Haslam.  The name of this town was difficult to remember until Kathie came up with the name “Haslam El Masri” named after the recently retired Canterbury Bankstown winger.  The free stay was almost full, but with some careful manoeuvring we found some excellent sites to park our vans.  We stayed two days at Haslam and while the fishing was poor, John managed to catch a blue swimmer crab in his recently acquired crab pot and this coupled with a very generous serving of large local oysters ($6 per dozen –please note 1 dozen now equals 14) meant that he was in seventh heaven once again.

We always wonder how these small townships stay alive. Haslam was primarily a fishing village where the majority of locals worked in and supported an Oyster lease.  It was interesting to note that this particular oyster lease was based several kilometres off shore and primarily served the Japanese markets.  As we had arrived not long after the disaster in Japan, the locals were gravely concerned at the effect that the disaster in Japan could have on their industry.  In short a downturn in the market, could spell the end for this particular township.

Ceduna Foreshore (Murat Bay)

We also drove to Smoky Bay, a pretty township.  However John decided that we should travel via a local conservation park.  After travelling about 10 km an hour over the corrugated and well-worn track we were very happy to finally make it back to the highway, albeit still shaking from the corrugations in these roads.  From Haslam we travelled to Ceduna.  We were all surprise ed, thinking that Ceduna would be quite a large town as it has 4 caravan parks.  However, Ceduna is a surprisingly small township, having one IGA that opens seven days a week.  All other shops close at 12pm on Saturday, even the newsagent doesn’t open on a Sunday.

After catching a handful of just legal size King George Whiting at several different coastal villages, the boys were hoping to hire a boat and catch the motherload.  We had constantly being regaled by stories that Ceduna was the best place to catch K. G. Whiting in Sth Aust; but sadly this dream was brought crashing down when we unable to hire a ‘tinny’ at Ceduna.  Not to be dismayed we then set off to the local Information Centre to check on fishing charter opportunities.  Once again this dream was kyboshed when it was revealed that fishing charters which specifically target KG Whiting are available, but the cost is $135.00 per person, based on a minimum of 4 participants.  Unfortunately, the dream was finally shattered and due to the wind and rain we’ve been unable to wet a line in Ceduna. Please note that Donna got fed up waiting for the KGW to be caught by the boys so she ended up ordering one KG Whiting fillet at the local pub.

Memorial to those lost at sea at Thevenard

Due to the weather we made several trips to explore what the local area has to offer.  We found that Ceduna is more than just a fishing village and has a very large port, Thevenard, that is home to several large industries including Grain – Gypsum and the usual fishing pursuits. 

On the opposite side of town we took a trip to Denial Bay.  This was pretty bayside location which had the usual large oyster leases.   Not far from Denial bay we stumbled upon The Mackenzie Ruins that dated back to the 1800’s.  According to the memorial Mr. McKenzie was a founding father and was the local Blacksmith, Harbour Master, Farmer & J.P.  Attached to the memorial was a quote that McKenzie was famous for and that was,”You don’t grow wheat with your hands in your packets”.  I suspect that McKenzie might have been a hard task master and expected a decent level of output from his employees. McKenzie condensed sea water into water for farming purposes.

McKenzie's Ruins

Water Storage Tank McKenzie's Ruins (Rock & Cement Lined)

On our trip around Ceduna, there was one thing that made a lasting  impression on all of us. There was a foreshore caravan park located right in the middle of town, just a short distance south of the main jetty.  The main thing that struck us about this park was the existence of barbwire that had been added to keep out unwanted intruders.  In fact the barbwire surrounded at least two whole blocks adjacent to the centre of town and included a large Hotel/Motel, Bowls Club and a range of Government support facilities.  We all assumed that this must have been a tough place in past years!

Ceduna Foreshore Caravan Park - note the lack of grass!  Very few homes even have grass lawns they are all dirt! Saves on mowing!

As you will appreciate, the weather can have a marked effect on your view of a particular place or location and ever since we arrived in Ceduna it has either been extremely windy, wet or cloudy.  However John & Kathie have made the most of their stay,  starting their Nullarbor Golf Course playing two holes in Ceduna.

Tomorrow (Monday) we’ll commence our journey across the Nullarbor hoping for much improved weather and new adventures. 

Elliston 9/3 to 14/3

Sometimes things just don’t go to plan or perhaps we should have planned more carefully.  While Elliston is a lovely place as I’m sure you’ll see in the photos, we only planned to stay here a few days. That was before we discovered that Adelaide Cup meant a public holiday and long weekend in South Australia.  Most places on the Eyre Peninsula were booked out, so we decided to stay here until Tuesday.  Consequently we have spent 6 days doing all the ‘ing’ things....fishing, resting, reading, washing, socialising, drinking.  We have met some lovely people who have made our stay much more enjoyable.

The other problem we have experienced lately, resulting in us spending 6 days in a caravan park is that the council-run freestays in this area are not very enticing.  Although right on the water at wonderful beaches, they are covered in rubbish with amenities that you just couldn’t use.  It is such a shame as this is the first time we have encountered this so far on our trip..  The National Park Facilities in South Australia have been wonderful, and we have recommended them to a lot of fellow travellers.

We travelled only 166 kilometres from Coffin Bay to Elliston, stopping en route at Cummings Lookout, named after a boatie lost at sea; and Sheringa Beach.  The coastline on the western side of the Eyre Peninsula is very different from the east.  There is a tourist drive from Elliston which is known as Elliston’s Great Ocean View, which is similar, but on a smaller scale to Victoria’s Great Ocean Road.  Elliston lies on Waterloo Bay,  which used to have rich abalone beds until the 1960’s when overfishing decimated them.  There is now a hatchery and because of rehabilitation the abalone population is now on the increase.  

View south from Cummings Lookout

Elliston's Great Ocean View

Point south from Waterloo Bay. Previous land bridge?

Michael & Ryan, you would be proud of me.  I’m getting more confident using the bike off road. Check out the pics!

Donna riding around the point

Yes! Up and down the hill!

On Friday we drove to Locks Well Beach which has a long stairwell down to a famous salmon fishing beach.  They hold an annual salmon fishing competition there each May.  While we could see a school of salmon from the beach they were too far out to be able to catch.  Another notable feature of the beaches here is that walking along the beach is very difficult as you sink ankle deep into the sand with each step.  After walking a kilometre down towards the black school of salmon, trying unsuccessfully to catch a fish, trudging back the kilometre, the 259 steps seem to have grown to thousands.  I thought it was a strategy to ensure everyone stops to admire the view on the way.

Going down was not too bad........

The way back up, more daunting!

Yesterday, we went fishing at Waterloo Bay.  While we were all successful and a variety of fish was caught, there were only 3 keepers.  Kathie & Donna both caught their first King George Whiting and enjoyed sharing them at dinner.

Kathie's first King George Whiting, surely 30cm

Donna also caugt a KGW

Elliston is also known for its Sculptures on the Cliff, holding a competition each Anzac Day Weekend. It’s interesting to see how these towns try to attract tourists to keep their towns alive.

Farewell from Waterloo Bay & Elliston.  Next stops should be Venus Bay, Streaky Bay & then Ceduna.