Karalee Rock rocks!!!!!!!

Hi Folks,

Sorry it has been a while……. we were in the outback & had no way of uploading our blog.

A big thankyou to our friends & relatives for their feedback here or on Cheryl’s Facebook.

When you last heard from us we had arrived in Kalgoorlie which signalled the beginning of our Goldfields experience! We had not originally intended to see the Goldfields so early in the trip but we had to get our television & my UHF radio repaired.

 For the benefit of my overseas relatives & friends following this blog …. Western Australia has a rich history of mining for iron ore, nickel & gold. Kalgoorlie Boulder is the gold producing capital of Australia.

It is a town of 30,000 people & has many fine old buildings & was settled in 1893. Just like Mt. Isa in Queensland the town is adjacent to the mine. In 120 years, there have been more than 80 mining operations but many were amalgamated. The mine is known as the Super Pit & produces 22,000 kilograms of gold a year. We did a tour of the mine & the open cut is awesome. It is a 7-8-kilometre drive to the bottom!

We also did another tour whilst in Kalgoorlie. We visited Questa Casa the only original brothel still operating in Kalgoorlie. We got a tour of some of the rooms & were told the history of brothels in Kalgoorlie. The Madam had us quite amused with some of the stories of the goings – on at the brothel.

After 3 days in Kalgoorlie we then headed further north to explore little mining towns in the outback. Our first destination was to be Niagara Dam where we set up camp so we could explore a bit each day. Niagara Dam was a little outback oasis BUT THE FLIES WERE TOO FRIENDLY & TOO NUMEROUS. The massive concrete wall was built in 1897 to provide water to the now disappeared town of Niagara & the steam engines that worked the railway line. We visited Kookynie with a self-descriptor “A Living Ghost Town” There isn’t much there!  The town has around 20 residents & a self-drive interpretive panels tour.

After Kookyne we travelled on the dirt toward Malcolm. The road got progressively worse & worse with much old flood damage evident. We finally came to our first water crossing of the trip where Lake Raelene had cut the road which I could negotiate in 4wd but which I could not have done with the caravan in tow. We finally got to the railhead at Malcolm & turned east for another 100 plus kilometres to get to Laverton. Laverton is the link to “Australia’s greatest shortcut” or “The Great Central Road” through to Queensland. The town was gazetted in 1900 & we were disappointed to find only a roadhouse & general store open. Mind you it was Easter Saturday!!!!!

 

We could not return the way we had come from Malcolm as the road was now closed.

During our sojourn to the Northern Goldfields we also visited the town of Leonora which is a small place with a wide main street & historical building providing modern facilities & services. Three kilometres from Leonora is a ghost town Gwalia which takes its name from the famous Sons of Gwalia Mine. The mine was originally an underground mine but is now operated as an open cut. Herbert Hoover was appointed the mine manager in 1897 & later became the 31^st President of the United States. We did a tour of the ghost town & found the house Hoover had built very impressively restored as were the other buildings & contents.

After leaving the Goldfields & en route to Wave Rock we free camped at Karolee Rock