Apr 9, 2013 - History in the goldfields around Kalgoorlie

Have had a remarkable few days tracking down some family history from my great-grandfather Ambrose George Chaffer, on my mother’s father’s side of the family, who was in the Coolgardie‒Kalgoorlie district in the early 1890s. The relevant pages from his memoirs show that he worked on the production of the very first edition of the Coolgardie Miner newspaper (which he thought when he was writing his recollections in the late 1940s was around 1892) and, with some sleuthing and involvement of the local Eastern Goldfields Historical Society and...

Jan 6, 2013 - Nullabor to Kalgoorli

From one roadside camp to another, not much to say about the Nullabor, a fairly boring piece of road. Was pretty cool checking out the great Australian bite. Travelled through the quarantine zone which is pretty strict. No salad, fruit, veggies, honey etc and they go right through all your cupboards! I donated a bit of lettuce and some beautiful lookin tomatoes which was a shame! Continued on to Kalgoorli.

Oct 2, 2012 - Around Kalgoorlie

Lazy start to the day and 5 minute drive into town - there is parking for motor homes and caravans in a side street next door to Coles and KMart. We went to the Kalgoorlie Town Hall (Visitor Information Centre) and then down the main street to the Tour Company which does tours of the Super Pit. The tours are so popular we wont be going until Thursday afternoon. A further walk to the top of the main street we came to the WA Museum. We spent about 2 hours here - there is the outside area containing a miner's cottage which was in use until...

Oct 1, 2012 - Gwalia, Menzies and Kalgoorlie

Left this morning under blue skies and a lot of wind. We drove the few kilometres to Gwalia - literally a ghost town showcasing the old miner's cottages. Gwalia was a large gold mining town made up of Yugoslavians and Italians up until 21st December 1963 when the mine closed down and literally people left overnight. The miner's cottages are very rough and ready - tough conditions to live in. The state hotel is still standing as well but is in need of some love and attention. It would have been quite a stately building in its heyday. A short...

Aug 3, 2012 - Kalgoorlie

Robbery under sweets, Jesus…. Well there was mayhem and drug busts in Boulder today but we were being robbed in the Olde Worlde Lolly Shoppe. And I was so looking forward to some boiled sweets but I’m not paying $45 a kg when I can get then at Crazy Clarks for $3 for 500gms…..” It’s the Eastern Goldfields, what would you expect” said the chap next to me…. Apart from the shock of that we had a great day in and around Kalgoorlie took some great shots and made a decisive decision to use the Boulder Town Hall in my Tramway, I’ll need a Town...

Aug 2, 2012 - In Melba's Foot steps

Today did not get off to a good start, the washing machine died……Got it sorted eventually a local chap fixed it in 3 minutes, undo 2 screws, take bottom off pump, remove fluff, replace bottom of pump. Job Done! Went into downtown Boulder and had a look at the Town Hall. So beautifully preserved. The stage curtain was painted by Phillip Goatcher in 1908 and though it has had some repair work it’s the original curtain and it’s absolutely awesome. Carol didn’t seem all that impressed; it was a very emotional sensation walking on the stage and...

Mar 18, 2012 - Guldrus

Efter en hurtig overnatning nærved Geraldton, gik turen mod Australiens guld mekka, Kalgorlie-Boulder. Da vi så langt om længe nåede byen, som folk for mange år siden gik til fra Perth (ca. 600 km, dengang tog det ca. 40 dage at gå turen), kunne vores jagt på guld begynde. Det første guld vi fandt os var dog i en lille, gammel og skrig pink butik, dette var en flere hundrede år gammel slikbutik hvor vi fornyede os med lidt gotter. Historien omkring Kalgorlie-Boulder, og hele det goldrush der var i det vestlige Australien for flere hundrede...

Sep 13, 2011 - Aus - Day 131, 132 - Super Pit Gold Mine

Kalgoorlie-Boulder, centered on the famous Golden Mile, reputed to be the richest square mile in the world. Paddy Hannan (the only person living in the area at the time) found gold in 1893; by 1902 the population was 30,000- with 93 hotels operating. Today Kalgoorlie is home to the “Super Pit”, a 3.7km long, 1.55km wide and more than 460 meters deep gold mining pit. There are plans to grow the pit to a final 660 meters in depth which will make it 1.9 times deeper than the height of Uluru (Ayers Rock) which stands 348 meters high. Up to...

Aug 28, 2011 - On the Indian Pacific

It was fun being on the Indian Pacific. The cabins, although cosy were cleverly designed: a pull-down bed is lowered after folding down the seats, which convert into the lower bed. After that's done there is little room to get changed. Yes there was a lounge carriage where we spread out and played games, read, ate etc. None of us slept too well on the first night; a bit bumpy. We were scheduled to do a late night tour of 'the Pit'goldmine at Kalgoorlie, but there was a signal failure when we were about an hour out of the town. We had to...

Aug 24, 2011 - Kalgoorlie

Got to Kalgoorlie quite early after an overnight stop 25kms west of Balladonia. Caught up with my favorite son Stephen who is living in the Prospector caravan park. It took me back a few years as my brother Alan and myself along with a crowd from work had a weekend in Kal. after travelling there on the slow train from Perth. We all stayed in chalets in the park for 2 nights to sleep off the booze mainly. As we dont stay much in caravan parks we got a shock when they asked for $45 for one nights stay, a rip off especially compared to rates...

May 10, 2011 - Kalgoorlie

We made it, taking 4 days to get across the Nullubour. We havent had any phone service and it nearly killed the kids but have enjoyed the break and no fighting between the kids! We were able to break up the trip with playing gulf on the longest course in the world. I was hopeless with the long shots but the small shots and putting I was better! Chris lost the most balls , but he could hit them along way. Ever heard that song "Some days are diamonds some are stone" we have had both, cabin fever or just out of routine but it started after...

Apr 13, 2011 - Kalgoorlie - until Sat 16th

On the road by 0715 for the 515kms last leg down to Kal - lovely day for driving, and after a pretty good sleep, was easily done. Arrived about 1330, did a bit of shopping, arranged to meet Mahony tomorrow, and all is well. Caravan Park is fine though under the flight path of the Airport - hope they stop flying during the night!!!! We have got pretty slick at getting the TV set up and setting the van up for either travel or living, and it gets easier as we go along, as we find better places for things. We have done about 2500kms since...