I had the aircon running at 18 degrees overnight so the room was pleasantly cool. I took quite a while to fall asleep and woke up early but did manage to doze somewhat so I had a late start to the day. I decided to walk to the main part of town to do some shopping after a look round. Just round the corner from the hotel I found a 24 hour store that had everything I needed. The lady who served me was very nice and told me I could take a few plastic knives as there were none in my room. As I had purchased some bottles of water I asked if I could borrow one of the baskets to wheel my purchases back, so that made life very easy.
I walked to the railway station and changed my seat to a window seat then on to the main part of town. After a coffee and muffin at the Coffee Club (with free WiFi) I found the information Centre. I am pleased I did as I bought a ticket for the hop on hop off tram ride. At $20 it was a good purchase. The driver was excellent and gave us a running commentary.
I nearly missed the tram as I managed to find some sparkling water at Coles market then found the public toilet not far from where the tram leaves. This is totally automated, all push button controls. When I was inside and the door closed a voice came over telling me I had ten minutes to use it, lol! The soap, water and han d drier are all enclosed in one unit. I came out and the tram as just pulling away but I called out and he stopped for me, lol!
We headed to the museum, this has the upper workings of a mine overhead. Along the way to the Tourist Mine we learned some of the history of Kalgoorlie. Paddy Hannan was the first to find gold and mining started in 1893, however many died as there was no water supply. In 1903, water started pumping from Perth via a pipeline that covered the 630 km from Perth (Mundaring Weir) to Kalgoorlie (Mount Charlotte). CJ O'Connor proposed a pipeline be built that pumped water 65 km to a reservoir, then it was pumped the next 65 and so on. He was roundly criticised as people thought it was not possible. Ten months before the water flowed he committed suicide. The system is still in place today and there are fewer people in the area than when it was first installed.
The tram went round the suburbs of Kalgoorlie and Boulder but the highlight was the Super Pit mine lookout point. I am pleased I am doing the mine tour tomorrow. They still take about $100M per month in gold value out of the pit. It is an incredible sight and they use 40 huge dump trucks that use 140,000 litres a week working 24/7. Most of the Drivers are women who earn around $95,000 - $100,000 pa and work 7 days or nights on, then 7 off!
Boulder was where all the mine entrances were and the township was very run down until recently a donation of $4M was given and it has changed the face of the place. We also passed the Kalgoorlie School of the Air. This uses modern technologies to educate students living remotely. Here are some new private estates springing up around the area of the airport on the way back into Kalgoorlie.
I caught a taxi back to my hotel and had a quiet evening after a very enjoyable day.
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