To Kalgoorlie

Friday 11^th July 2008

We were all awake earlyish this morning (by WA time, anyway), despite no longer needing to get away quickly – isn’t that just typical. It was cold but not as freezing as the last few days – I actually didn’t put my socks on til later, but I didn’t go outside the caravan, either!

There were lots of grey clouds loitering in the sky above us so we packed up as quickly as possible to avoid getting wet and were on the road refuelled and ready to move by 9:30.

The road from Laverton to Leonora is bitumen but it still had a few car bodies lying beside it and the road kill toll was horrendous – dead skippys everywhere – made even worse by the onset of rain turning everything to mush. We also saw more of the blue wine boxes – must find out what brand they are and check out if they are the cheapest around which might explain why there are so many of them.

We passed a couple of road trains and considerably more traffic than in the last two days, but the scenery was still spectacular and even the clouds and rain couldn’t dampen that.

It wasn’t long before we were cruising into Kal. As promised, the main street is very wide and is long, too – but then it is the only street, really, with nothing much happening shop-wise on those around it.

Our caravan park is set way down the road back to Perth (well, still within the urban section but not what you would call the central hub) and small but we have a big site that is big enough for two vehicles and the dog.

I was decidedly ‘upset’ to find that there was more red dirt inside the camper – must have been hiding in the crevices, just waiting...

We had just finished setting up when Duncan rang to say he was at the gate – timing. The girls charged off to go and see Charlie who wagged his tail at me but didn’t go mad – he is SO laid back! It is definitely going to be squishy tonight with six people and a dog in the camper – at least we’ll keep each other warm. We have all been excited about this next stage in the trip – Paul because he’s been dying to spend some time with Duncan, the girls because they get to see Charlie again and me because it’s something new again. I am also sad because it’s nearly the end and also because it’s gonna be winter from now on and I don’t want to be cold again!

Paul and the girls had spotted the Dome cafe on the strip so plans were made to head there for chips and wedges to keep us going for the afternoon (lunch having been skipped amongst the excitement of arrival). Charlie sat perfectly in the boot of the car – we followed Mum’s theory that as long as he’s in the car he knows we can’t go anywhere without him so he doesn’t fret.

We then drove out to the lookout for the Super Pit which used to be known as the Golden Mile. It is where Alan Bond bought up all the small mining leases who were struggling to turn a profit from their underground work and turned it into one big, open-cast mine. It is a gigantic hole in the ground and is right next to the town. The machines looked like Matchstick cars and Tonka toys and it’s hard to appreciate how enormous they are. They had some statistics on boards saying that the big dumper trucks (as pictured at the Tom Price mine) cost $4million to buy and there are 35 in this pit! The big excavator and loader machine costs the same but they only have one of those down at the bottom of the pit.

Holly wore off some of the excess energy from the last couple of days by climbing a huge shovel thing they have on display that would have been big enough to fit a car in the bucket.

A visit to Coles for some essentials was followed by showers and more story-telling – obviously Paul and Duncan are the traditional holders of this role but Yvette has certainly inherited some of it from her Dad and wasn’t shy in joining in and Paul was most perturbed that Holly and Katie wanted to tell some of the stories themselves!

Dinner was taken in town after which I brought the girls and the dog home to a chilly campervan that soon warmed up with the use of the heater that Duncan had brought from home – yippee. Holly and Katie are sleeping on the bench and flat bit where the table goes down so that Duncan and Yvette can share the double bed (obviously Yvette is not too impressed and I have warned Holly and Katie about the volume of Duncan’s snoring!). Paul, Duncan and Yvette felt it would be a shame not to sample some of the local hostelries so they should be back some time later...