Kalgoorlie is about 600 kilometres from Perth. It takes us over seven hours to get here from Perth because we stop to walk the dog and he has a drink, too. We gave up on buying lunch on the way after pretty awful food from a roadhouse on a previous trip. Now we buy continental salad rolls before we leave Perth and pack our water bottles. We also had a packet of Dutch speculaas spice biscuits. We had dinner when we arrived.
This is such a good time of the year to visit Kalgoorlie. The weather is still mild with cool evenings, avoiding the hot weather during the summer months. Western Australia has had heavy winter rain and the wild flowers are beginning to bloom. The country side is green, lush and not very dusty, yet.
Although our son was at the West Australian School of Mines in Kalgoorlie I’d never visited their Geology Museum. If you’re interested in rocks and where they are found you’ll love this collection. I really liked the old fashioned specimen labels and display cases plus the museum is part of a lovely, well maintained old building.
One day we went to Gwalia, about two and a half hours driving time from Kalgoorlie. The Gwalia townsite’s $3.5 million dollar Upgrade Project in 2019 won the Heritage Award for the Shire of Leonora. Gold was discovered here in 1896. By 1919 the Sons of Gwalia was the deepest mine in Western Australia. Many of the miners came from overseas, especially Italy and in 1939-1945 the Italian mine workers were interned.
The Sons of Gwalia operated from the 1890s until December 1963. When the gold mine closed the population fell from 1200 plus to 40 in less than three weeks. Buildings still in Gwalia include some houses, the school house, the shop, the guesthouse and the hotel. There’s a museum and many buildings with mining artifacts. You can take your dog into all the buildings except the entrance and the cafe. The mine manager’s house once housed Herbert Hoover, the future 31st President of the United States
The Mine manager’s house still has some original fittings and furnishings. It now houses a small cafe, too. The coffee was very good! Our wrap for lunch was good, too.
Our 89 year old neighbour spent a few years in Gwalia when her husband was appointed head teacher. They had three boys under 3 and fairly basic accommodation. The Schoolmaster’s House has been restored so I took photos for her.
Open cut gold mine in Gwalia now.
Herbert Hoover, the mine manager in 1898, designed and had built the Mine manager’s House, the Mine Office and the Assay Office. He also designed the angled head frame, above, the only remaining wooden incline head frame in Australia.
The State Hotel, now privately owned. In 1903 the State Government built the hotel to provide a licensed premise and lessen the “sly grog” trade. In March 1919 the State’s first ever beer strike occurred. The locals demanded a different brand of beer, better prices, cleaner glasses and that the disagreeable manager be dismissed. The boycott lasted seven months! In the meanwhile, a pneumonia influenza epidemic hit the town and the empty hotel was commandeered by the Health Department as a hospital.
View of Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter chimney from lookout on the way out of town.
The next day my son and I had a wonderful day exploring ghost towns, newly established and older mines and enjoying the beautiful landscape. After heavy winter rains the area is green and not too dusty. The weather while we were in Kalgoorlie was lovely.
Old mining head originally at Bailey’s Reward Mine relocated to Lions Lookout out of Coolgardie.
Sculptures in dried out lake.
What remains of the Premier Hotel at Kunanalling, a ghost town. Originally called 25 Mile as the mine was 25 miles from Coolgardie, Kunanalling was gazetted as a town site in 1896. At its peak more than 800 people lived in the town.
Disused open cut mine, possibly originally called the Premier Mine.
Sign post for nearby towns, except Credo Station.
Beautiful freshwater lagoon at Rowels Conservation Park. A really lovely, peaceful lake with a camping area and covered picnic areas.
Another ghost town, Daveyhurst, once home to over 1000 people.
Remains of the battery at Daveyhurst.
Lake by Pianto Road heading towards Yarri Road.
Wildflowers have begun appearing but we were probably two weeks too early for the best. There are over 12 000 species of wild flowers in Australia.
Kalgoorlie is a historic town in a state known for mining and pastoral interests. There’s so many historic buildings to investigate, ghost towns in the middle of nowhere to visit and striking landscapes with big horizon views. Soon there will be masses of stunning wild flowers.
Yesterday was DOG DAY. Well, that’s easy to celebrate, isn’t it?