Gold Rush Fever

Feeling much more refreshed after a full nights sleep, Saturday and Sunday had us venture into the mining world of GOLD. After a yummy 'camp breakfast' with jaffles (cast iron sandwich maker bread, egg, cheese and bacon cooked in the fire pit), we headed out to the mines.

On Saturday we visited an underground mine. The mine we visited is no longer active, but is still maintained as a tourist site. We only went down 1 level in the elevator shaft - it actually goes down 12 levels. The lower levels are now flooded since they are no longer pumped out.

The site also included many historic aspects of mining. There were samples of miner camps, older style mining rigs and such. You could pan for gold if felt lucky (we passed). There was also an extensive indoor display of rocks and minerals. Patrick would have enjoyed the crystals - they were very colourful and large. My favourite exhibit was a massive polished wall hanging of tiger eye.

Our guide on the tour underground was a retired miner. He had worked as a contract miner for many years, and now does the tours. As a result he was knowledged as only a first hand worker could be.

The tool Michael is demoing here is used to 'hammer drill' the holes for putting blasting rods into. They would place about 14 charges, wire them up, back away and set them off. The same man would then clear the rock into the trolley which would be taken up the shaft for processing. Today the miners work only one station, and contract work is no longer allowed - all in the name of safety.

Included in our tour was a gold pour demonstration. In actuality, we saw a bronze pour, not a gold pour. They don't have the necessary security setup for a real gold pour here. As such, you were able to concentrate on the demonstration, rather than try to think of creative ways of making off with the gold :-)

Next on tap we paid a visit to the 'Two Up' ring just outside town. As mentioned in my last posting, anywhere there are many men and few women, the predicted vices seem to crop up - and gambling is of course one of them. Two Up is a simple game based on a coin toss - you can read about it here if you wish to know the rules and history. We had been given a demonstration and some play money to get us going, and we had a lively game at the now dilapidated ring. Michael and I were NOT on the winning end I must add.

After a quick visit to an abandoned town to catch the sunset, we returned to the camp school (where we were staying) for a bbq dinner. The group had kindly modified the agenda to allow Michael and I to catch the Rockingham Flames basketball game in town. Michael teaches with the coach of the semi-pro team, and he wanted to show his support. We had been to game 1 of the playoff set last weekend in Rockingham, and now they were playing in Kalgoorlie. Unfortunately despite winning the first game in Rocko, they lost game 2. So they had to go to a game 3 which was held on Sunday at noon, by which time we would be on our way back home.

After the game, we managed to catch up with the rest of the gang at a local bar - after all, you can't visit Kalgoorlie and not check out the bar scene!

Sunday had us rise early to pack the bus, and then we headed for a tour of the Super Pit. As we waited for out tour to start, we browsed the local Sunday market - complete with sellers of 'gold nuggets' by the local prospector still struck with gold fever.

We had viewed the Super Pit from a lookout point earlier, but this time we entered the actually property. It is one big hole!!! It is 3.5km long, 1.5km wide and 680 meters deep. To give you a sense of scale - the shovel Robin and I are atop of here is from a digger.

Several shovel fulls are required to fill one of the trucks seen here. These trucks run non-stop 24 hours a day hauling out ore.

The current estimate is that the pit will continue to produce gold till about 2017. At that point, they will abandon the mine - leaving a big hole. Currently about 10% of the worlds gold comes from this pit. It certainly is impressive - but at the same time I must admit that I left the tour feeling sickened by how we treat this planet.

And then we were back in the van for our 6 - 7 hour return trip home. Lindsay was our prime driver for the weekend which saved the rest of the chore - which was very much appreciated! By the time we were back in Mandurah it was after 8pm, and Kyle had returned from his buddies home and fixed himself dinner. Then to an early bed and back to the grind on Monday - at least for Michael that was, Kyle's school actually had a PD day - but no such luck for Mikey!

Around and About Kalgoorlie

Sorry for the delay folks - I've been making plans for our wrap up trip and yesterday when I was ready to post, blogger was having problems - but I'm here now. I must say though - I have a new found respect for travel agents. Perhaps if you know your markets you can be much more efficient, but I find it takes me an awfully long time to find hotels and cars and flights and tours and....

This past weekend however I did not have to do the organizing - the teacher exchange group again looked after this one for us. We headed to Kalgoorlie on Thursday after school. We convened in Perth where a 'team van' picked us up and the 12 of us headed off. It was a long drive and we did not arrive till about 2:30 am on Friday.
So with minimal sleep, we started our Friday with a visit to a local aboriginal school. Unfortunately a parent of one of the students had recently passed away and the funeral was on Friday - so many students were absent. We still had a chance to sit in the classes with the students however and it was especially fun for me to be back in the company of a class of pre-primary kids and to read with them. Memories of helping out in Patrick & Kyle's classes when they were young! We also caught a maths lesson where we even got to count Smarties.

The school itself had a wall painting by well known aboriginal artist Mary McLean. She has a very unique style and she has received high honours - her work hangs in Buckingham Palace and she has been granted honourary doctorate degrees. Mary paints out of Kalgoorlie and had her work not been so out of our price league we could have met her to get a custom piece!

The school had prepared for our visit, and we were treated to a kangaroo stew which had been slow cooked for almost a day along with fresh baked damper by the pre-primary kids. Turned out we did not really need the packed lunch we brought!

As part of the aboriginal education program, local elders are brought into the school to do cultural education. We were lucky to have the boys present their dance as a rehearsal for an upcoming show. They also had a practice run at getting painted up.

Later in the afternoon, we were off to visit the Royal Flying Doctors Service. This is a privately run service which now receives some funding from the government for operational activities, but still no capital allowances. The service is fundamental to life in the outback. It is the only access to medicine for many people - these doctors actually do fly around practice and assist local clinics in addition to emergencies. The service was conceptualized by Reverend John Flynn in the early 1900s before either the planes or the radio service required existed. But as planes became more advanced and a simplistic radio box which could be used by the average person was designed, Flynn's concept became reality and by 1928 the service was running. And they've been fund raising ever since.

Kalgoorlie itself is a gold rush town. So as you would expect, there are lots of bars as there is not a lot to do in Kalgoorlie. We visited one bar which had a mine shaft in it. It is covered with a thick glass plate, but you are able to look down into it as seen here. And after a quick drink, we were off to our next stop.

And Kalgoorlie has other activities associated with lots of men in one place with few women. To get a well rounded education (which of course teachers are after) of the local life, a trip to Kalgoorlie would not be complete without a tour of the local brothel. There are only a handful of them left, and they are 'tolerated' rather than legal. There was a law passed allowing the existing brothels to continue, but no new ones are allowed. Today I suspect they make more money on their tours than on their service. At a couple of spots on the tour the guide required an assistant to demonstrate the 'equipment'. Lucky us, the Montgomery's were both chosen as the guinea pigs! Oh well, I got to be the volunteer to feed the dolphins in Monkey Mia, so I guess it balances out in the end!

During the day we also had some time to browse around town and check out the scene. Mike found another bar with this 'Ned Kelly' in it, and we found another 'Monty's' Cafe. This time it was named after the import/export dealers who owned the warehouse where the cafe now resides. From the newspaper articles on the walls, the Montgomery brothers did not sound like very nice blokes.

Also around town (just out of town I believe), Mike also browsed around the local cemetery. It's not difficult to tell which plots belong to those who found gold and those who did not.

After a full day, we packed in a bit early to get set for another busy day on Saturday!
(view here of Kalgoorlie from the top of the museum)