Finally, let’s start our Goldfield adventure. This shows the trip we made which took about 5 weeks.
We want to go to Kalgoolie first to get my prospecting licence but Kalgoolie is still far from Perth so we had three stops in between and because the two little towns we passed were already worth visiting, this blog contents is about these three stops.
The first one is York which is the oldest inland town in Western Australia, situated 97 kilometres east of Perth. Home to 2,088 people at the 2006 census, it was settled in 1831, only two years after Perth was settled in 1829.
We only stayed there for one night and it was a great little town. Also our accommodation was great as you could stay free on the edge of a park and even power was provided. Good on you, council of York!! It’s just a 24 hours stop so you are allowed to stay only one night but that doesn't matter.
York still has some nice old buildings ;
We leave York and are going in the right direction as you can see!!
We continue our travels and we end up in Westonia. I didn’t know they had a gold mine otherwise I would have got my licence earlier, in Perth.
Anyhow, Westonia was such a nice little place with only a population of approximately 300 people, with a great and cheap caravan park, we decided to stay a week.
What a crowded place hey??
The caravan park was a section of a much bigger park with rows of container lookalikes in which the workers of the Goldmine lived. These people earn so much money that can buy a house after about two years working in the mine.
Next day, after walking at night on my slippers to the toilets, I read this brrrrrrrr.......
Even though Westonia was so small there were enough things to do so once we walked to the gold mine.
It’s an open pit and we thought it was huge, later we heard that the one in Kalgoolie can eat this one up, well we are curious but for now this one is amazing already.
Just look at the size of the carriers….
Seeing all this we were getting excited, there still is a lot of gold there so wait and see if I'll find some!!
We even went to a museum though we don't like museums as you know, we really enjoyed this one.
The museum features a variety of scenes showcasing early life in the shire including a pub scene,
a shop/hardware store scene,
a petrol station/garage scene, a kitchen scene,
a bedroom scene and a blacksmith/farm workshop scene.
Gee, they really look real
Fred looking at his hobby he had to leave behind in The Netherlands....
No, that's not Fred still looking.....
writing with a old fashion ink pen...
The museum also includes a vibrating mine tunnel that aims to replicate life in an early Westonian gold mine. Visitors press a button upon entering the tunnel & then experience a three minute sequence of sound effects and physical vibrations that simulate blasts going off in the vicinity of the mine. The sound effects also include a conversation between miners working in the mine. …..
And went to Sandford Rocks for a walk and a picnic of course….
The huge granite landforms were once a mass of molten rock (magma) deep beneath the earth surface.
Over millions of years this land surface has been extremely eroded, particularly by wind, rain and the resultant streams.
The granite sculpture provides a protective niche for a number of plants and animals....
The last stop before Kalgoorlie was a free camp, it was bloody cold and we lit a fire, handy, because we could also warm our Snert (pea soup) up!
We had some drinks near the fire and enjoyed it very much.
The Snert was delicious.....!
Fans!! Give me some time for the next story because it will be a HUGE one and I can because I will put all the gold digging weeks into one story!!
So be aware, check every day because you can't miss it!!
See ya in Kalgoorlie, the gateway to the GOLD fields!
Cheers!
