WESTERN HEART OF GOLD

Gold, mammoth trucks, Super Pits and true Aussie history, Kalgoorlie-Boulder is full of surprises!

WORDS BY FRED WRIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY BY FRED WRIGHT AND JOHN HABERFIELD

I’m driving along the highway, enjoying the starkness of the desert bush, and I know that soon enough the Golden Towers of WA’s west, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, will soon be coming into view some 600km east of Perth. I’ve got to be honest that something’s been troubling me for a thousand kays across the Nullarbor and its comments that my destination would disappoint. However, my research had shown me otherwise and now the challenge to succeed made me all that more determined to prove them wrong.

The last time I had visited was in 1980 with my family in our camper trailer and I was looking forward to seeing the progress that had been made since then. Shortly after passing RV friendly signs I arrived at my caravan park close to the CBD. I’d found a drive through site that was perfect and this was to be our base camp.

Hannan’s North Tourist Mine seemed the place to start at, so we headed about 1.5km from Kalgoorlie on the Goldfields Highway. They say that there’s so much to see and do here and after exploring I’d have to agree.

Our North Tourist Mine tour began with me climbing up several flights of steel steps to a giant 793C Haul truck as high as a house. In the driver’s cabin I marvelled at the instruments and gauges that gave you so much information, making me ponder on the skill that driving this machine would require. The thought of being in a mammoth truck like this was rather daunting, but as it belonged to Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) I knew their strict adherence to safety was second-to-none.

There are a number of different attractions, so spend time enjoying this tourist mine which will take you from the statue of Paddy Hannan, who discovered gold here, to the marvel of the KCGM Super Pit, to a small strip of land between Kalgoorlie and Boulder once known as the ‘Golden Mile’ which is the richest gold bearing earth in the world. You can even pan for gold and probably find some – as we did, inspect mining drills, see how the early miners lived and top it all off by having your own BBQ

One of the most fascinating features of the North Tourist Mine was the Chinese Memorial Gardens. This beautiful garden was built entirely by hand- with no power tools, by artisans who came from China – and took 12 months to finish. It features three traditional Chinese open air pagodas, joined by a path surrounding a pond full of bright koi and goldfish. The garden was built to personify and give recognition to all the immigrants who came to Australia from overseas and who now make up the Australian nation.

We’d recommend you consider a Super Pit tour or go to the viewing platform to get a bird’s eye view of this huge hole in the ground. The gold rush in WA was started by a single man, Paddy Hannan, who found 100 ounces of gold in the dry red soil of what is now Kalgoorlie-Boulder. This single incident led to the discovery of the area known as the Golden Mile. Before the Super Pit was created, the area consisted of roughly 49 operating mines, and more than 3000km of underground workings, all owned by small businesses. In 1989 the area was combined to create one big company and one big pit, from which gold could be extracted at a lower cost. It is now managed by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines Pty Ltd (KCGM). What started as a small hole in the ground grew to be 3.5km long, 1.5km wide and 600m deep – The Super Pit.

Mining is carried out 24 hours a day, 365 days a year here in Kalgoorlie. However, as you watch the constant procession of huge haul trucks making their way to and fro, you may be surprised to learn that only one in six trucks contain millable gold and even that’s only the size of a golf ball. These caterpillar trucks have a 225T capacity, burn 360L of diesel per hour and have a 55kph maximum speed. Just think how may RVs you could buy with the 4 million dollars each one costs?

You may be wondering about the name Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Kalgoorlie was derived from an aboriginal name and means ‘Silky Pear Bush’, and Boulder was once the name of a local gold mine. Here you have two towns that have come together to form a city, but not quite according to stickers on car windows and signs in hotels, proclaiming that Boulder is the capital.

Back in the late 1800s and the early 1900s, Kalgoorlie was always seen as the professional town. Nothing was spared to build opulence in the finest buildings and hotels that line Hannans street. On the other hand, Boulder with its distinctive working class feel was chosen by miners as it was so close to their mines. Whichever story appeals to you the most, I recommend you find the time to tour both Kalgoorlie and Boulder town halls. They’re distinctly different and you’ll learn first-hand what life was like in a golden era.

Most RVers head to the Tourist Information Centre on Hannan Street, referred to as Kalgoorlie- Boulder Pure Gold. When you walk inside you’ll realise why it’s won so many tourist awards. You’ll be taken back to the old days when there were 90 hotels and there was nothing in the world you couldn’t order on the menus. Opulence all around was driven by gold, gold and more gold.

There are tales of ghost towns, hard luck stories and a time when only the toughest survived often in a squalid lifestyle. Many miners pushed homemade wooden wheelbarrows with all their worldly possessions on board across hundreds of desert miles from waterhole to waterhole. However, the story isn’t only about Paddy Hannan and the discovery gold, but also of the hard work and ingenuity of Charles Yelverton O’Connor, who designed and built a plow to pump water almost 600km across the desert, bringing water to the arid goldfields.

From Kalgoorlie, we headed 40km down the road to Coolgardie. It’s a town regarded as the mother of the goldfields and should be included on your list of places to visit.

So many stories of hardship and eureka moments are to be found here. I was attracted to a story of an Italian gold miner named Modesti Vanschetti, at the Visitor Information Centre. This story is called ‘The Entombed Miner’ and is one to remember.

Approximately 10m down, he was working drilling out gold quartz when a fierce rainstorm above dumped about 20 tonnes of water into the mine, effectively trapping him. For more than a week he survived in a narrow air pocket by the courage of his fellow miners and hard hat driver, who risked their lives to descend into the inky blackness of water, feeling their way along to provide him with food. Thankfully they were eventually able to haul him out. It’s a story of the only mine rescue of its type and well worth finding out about.

There are so many wonderful attractions in Coolgardie. Above the Interactive Centre, you’ll find the Goldfields Museum, with one of the best bottle collections in Australia, a great black and white photo gallery of early life and rooms set aside to show family life and possessions and things of miners. A walk down the main street will bring you to the Pharmacy Museum, where you will find all sorts of potions, remedies and cures. There’s also a dentist’s chair with pedal operated drill that brought back memories I’d been trying to block out. Don’t forget to venture out to Lion’s Lookout, to enjoy a picnic and take in the view the first gold prospectors would have seen.

To put things in perspective, it was Coolgardie that did two major things. Firstly because of its wealth it brought huge numbers of people to the goldfields of WA, some 50,000 in all when the population in WA had only been 40,000. Secondly with gold discoveries beyond imagination it brought huge amounts of foreign investment and led to the developments of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. At its height, Coolgardie was a centre for the world’s major fashion houses, held world class events and hosted a huge trade fair of international significance.

The immense prosperity cultivated by Kalgoorlie gold during the 1800s has never been seen since. However, the staggering wealth it produced are riches that all RVers can explore today.

In these towns that gold built, the Kalgoorlie-Boulder, you can also visit a man that works in local wood, an absorbing thought provoking WA museum, take a ride on a hop-on hop-off bus tram and visit the Hoop Line Railway Museum and the Tram Station, once the busiest in Australia.

A special mention needs to go to the Beaten Track Brewery. We stumbled across this fantastic place following a long and dusty day of exploring. After taking a moment to enjoy the cool indoors, we strolled to the bar and were greeted by a friendly and enthusiastic bartender. After enquiring about our day and where we’d come from, he began explaining the different types of beers they served on tap – all of which were made in house! After a long and informative conversation (and a few sneaky tasters) we settled upon a tasting paddle and took our prize back to our table. We had the pleasure of sampling a Gunbarrel I.P.A, a Sandstone Summer Ale, a Gibb River Rye and Packhorse Pale Ale, all of which were delicious and cold and went down like water. I highly recommend a visit to this fantastic place.

Kalgoorlie also has one of the top ten desert golf courses. This was a most fascinating site to behold. I’ve swung a few clubs in my time, but never on such rich, red earth! The Kalgoorlie Golf course has a beautiful desert bush setting, with sections of manicured grass marking the tees. Hitting a few balls on this course is also a great way to experience the surrounding desert scenery. I was very happy to see that they have created the golf course to fit in with the desert and encourage the local fauna and flora. This really is a sight to see.

Ultimately, Kalgoorlie-Boulder was a fascinating and surprising place. I’m also happy to say that there has been immense progress since my last visit in 1980. Each attraction we visited was a wealth of knowledge and Australian history and the discovering the Beaten Track Brewery and strolling through the Desert Golf Course were just icing on the cake of a fantastic adventure. This trip to Kalgoorlie-Boulder has just outlined something to me that I already knew – that you must always create your own experiences and never listen to the negative opinions. Australia is a beautiful country and each place is filled with delightful memories waiting to be made.