Kalgoorlie

Today is my second last day living in Kalgoorlie before we return to Perth. So I thought I would put up some photos Ive taken around town.

Main street of kalgoorlie, this is the town clock

The statue of St barbara, in St Barbaras square. A local hang out for indigenous people who ask for money

The exchange hotel

The museum

Boulder Playground, we have spend many an afternoon here

One of the many old pubs in Boulder

Main Street of Boulder

The palace, this is where we went roller skating. Felt a bit haunted to me!

Driving home

Our house 

The beautiful skies we have become used to.

Kalgoorlie to Perth

The road between Southern Cross and Kalgoorlie

1200 Kilometres in two days

We have a trailer and a camper, which we can obviously only tow one at a time. We had to make a quick overnight trip to perth on the weekend to drop the camper so when we move we only have the trailer to take down.

The distance between Kalgoorlie and Perth is 595km, which takes us six hours of non stop driving. There isn't a great deal between the two destinations, but there are a few little towns to note.

Coolgardie: A population of 800. What was once a thriving gold town is now no more than a couple of pubs and a servo.

Southern Cross: This is our first stop, we stop in at the servo for everyone to use the toilet. We grab a drink and head off. This town has a population of 700 and was named after the star constellation. All of the streets in this town are named after constellations and stars, I would like to walk the streets and take photos but we are always in a rush on our trips to and from perth.

Merredin: This is the start of farming country and you can see on the side of the road that the dirt turns from the red outback dust to brown soil. It is the halfway point between Perth and Kalgoorlie.

Northam: This town is bypassed now. I know once we are in Northam that we don't have far to go. I almost view Northam as being the change over point between the farming land and the suburbs which follow down the hill to the city.


All of this driving is done on one road, Great Eastern Hwy, which is the only road that connects Perth to the eastern States. The road runs parallel with the Pipe Line. The pipe line was completed in the early 1900's by CY O'Connor to deliver water from Mundaring weir to Kalgoorlie. It is still used today.

The pipeline 

A controlled burn off that was happening as we came through Mundaring

The girls in the back watching DVDs and eating their sandwiches

This will be our last quick dash. Next time we do the drive will be for our final move back to Perth. While I don't mind driving, I certainly won't miss the rushed nature of our trips down. Im looking forward to getting on the road next year and being able to take our time to see the sights and do a few hundred kilometres a day instead of the six hour stints we have become accustom to. 

Day trip to Leonora

On Sunday we decided to do a day trip to Leonora, which is 234km North of Kalgoorlie on the Goldfields Highway.

Craig worked in Leonora for a couple of years when he was doing FIFO and had 'fond' memories of the place. He wanted to show the kids the mine where he worked and the town which was his home for eight days out of every fortnight.

The road to Leonora

Menzies

A half way point between kalgoorlie and Leonora, and good stop for toilet and playground is the small town of Menzies. Small is a good word to describe it, with a population of 56! The town was founded in 1894 and named after a Canadian prospector 'Leslie Menzies' who resided there. Today there is a nurses post, a hotel and a shire office. A police station was running up until 2007 but was closed due to lack of funding. 

Main street of Menzies

Menzies Town Hall. Did you know: This was built in 1898, however, remained 'clock less' for over a hundred years as the original clock ordered was lost in a ship wreck and the town declined shortly afterwards. A clock was finally put up in 2000 to celebrate the new millennium!

The playground stop at Menzies

Leonora

From Menzies we drove through to Leonora, into the townsite to have our lunch. We had packed some rolls and juice boxes from home into the engel fridge. A necessity when travelling as lunches would have cost us $50 plus.

Another town another playground. This one is in the main street of leonora. Kids are eating their rolls on top of the slide!

Gwalia

After our quick bite to eat and a quick walk of the town (so quick I took no pics!) we got back in the car and headed the few kilometres out of town to the 'ghost town' of Gwalia. This town was built around the Gwalia mine site in the 1800's and was a thriving site until the final whistle blew on 28 December 1963 and the mine closed down. All the workers were forced to abandon site and find work elsewhere. The little tin shacks and artefacts are all that is left of that time. Some of the shacks have been restored and it is now a popular tourist attraction. 

Craig and the girls exploring the townsite

Two beds (minus the mattresses) in one of the shacks. Love the original pressed tin walls. 

An old car parked outside a shed that has been covered in number plates and signs

Funny to think this was someones home all those years ago. Amazing how a human being can live with so little possessions and comfort but still manage to survive. Makes me thankful for my toilet, shower and kitchen!

The Gwalia mine was reopened again in the 1980s.  The decline is now over 2,000 metres below the surface and lots of the new mine works pass through old works from the first gold rush days. Craig used to be underground here and there have been many ghost stories from this underground site.  Craig said he has felt like someone has been behind him when working only to turn around and nobody there. On saying that he isn't an overly spiritual person and I would like to go under there one day myself or at least research more about the ghost stories. Im sure there would be hundreds of stories!

In 2000 a plane full of workers was flying from Perth to Gwalia when the plane failed to land. It continued on and eventually ran out of fuel and crash landed in outback Queensland killing all on board. It was named the 'ghost flight' by media as it is believed all on board suffered from Hypoxia, a lack of oxygen as the plane went above its designated altitude.  Quite an apt name for a plane that was due to land at this site. 

All in all Gwalia is a townsite full of history. Although it wasn't riveting for the kids it was interesting for us adults to visit.

Can't wait to get on the road.....

I have been reading some of my favourite traveller blogs. It makes me get very itchy feet and I can't wait to get on the road and experience Australia with my family.  My top 5 blogs I follow are:

http://highwaydreams.net

http://podolskifamilyadventures.wordpress.com

http://ourfamilygetabout.wordpress.com

http://mummysmiles.com

http://gadsventure.wordpress.com

Where to from here?

So we have found ourselves assessing what we are going to do in the coming months.

In my previous post I listed three options that we may put into place. At this stage it looks like we will run with the option of moving back to Perth for the next six months to work out the next step for us as a family.

Our unit is coming up for rent so rather than race in and buy a property or rent someone else's house we will move from Kalgoorlie and live in our unit in Perth for a few months. Craig will get a job and we will play it by ear in terms of our travel. 

hard words

Someone I know is not well. 

I cannot go into detail on here but its made travelling plans seem trivial and got me questioning if I really want to leave my extended family for a length of six months.  Our house settles next week in Perth and we even questioned if we could pull out of the sale and move back to Perth. But legally its all binding and Ive no choice but to sell.

So we are in a situation at the moment where we will end up:

a) sticking with our original plan of leaving Kalgoorlie next March and doing our six month trip

b) Move back to Perth from now till March and rent a house

c) move back to Perth and buy another house and put the travel plans on the wayside

At this stage its a bit hard to 'make plans'. Sometimes in life we just have to roll with it and see the outcome.

I just feel sick about the whole thing. So sick.

For now all I can do is.....

The camper

We are at the stage of planning what we are taking on our trip and where we are going to put it. With two adults and three kids the space is minimal and we are condensing our list as we go.

Underneath the camper trailer we have five plastic tubs. they contain:

BOX 1: Towels and tea towels.

BOX2: Toaster, kettle, tupperware, BBQ tools

BOX3: for school work, texts, pencils and kids toys

BOX4: Spare blankets and sheets.

BOX 5: Empty (but it won't be for long! leaving this for any last minute bits)

We have a long draw that runs the width of the camper. This one is for food storage. We are calling it the pantry draw. We can fit the basic cooking stuff in my tupperware and a plastic tub for biscuits, bread and dry foods. Theres a spot for tins and condiments. This means we should be able to store enough food to last us a week without having to go to the shops. This will be handy when we are remote and in between supermarkets. Hopefully keeping the costs down. 

our pantry draw

There are two side compartments that Craig has used for battery and wires and chargers, I don't plan on opening these draws!

Another side compartment that will be used for fold down laundry basket, pegs and toiletry bags. 

Under the fold out kitchen sink we have stored plates, cups, bowls and cutlery, and things like glad wrap and bin bags. 

There is a long tool box on the front of the camper that will store shoes (all 15 pairs of them!) swimming gear like kick boards and floaties, kids outdoor toys like frisbies and skipping ropes. 

Another draw for the BBQ and bike helmets.

Craig has removed the gerry can holders from the very front of the camper and plans on putting a long tool box in their place. This will contain his tools of the trade so he can a) fix the camper if it breaks and b) do a few jobs along the way if we run low on $$. Who am I kidding, I mean WHEN we run low on $$!!

This leaves us with the back of the car which will hold our clothes (two large suitcases and three little ones). A fridge box that Craig has custom built for the engel. And a space bag with rain coats etc that I will vacuum down flat. Oh and my thermo will take pride of place next to the fridge! We are having a cargo barrier fitted so we can stack things higher than the back seat. Also adds a safety feature in case of an accident we really don't want suitcases etc flying through the car. 

The Pathfinder will also have a roof rack fitted next month. This will hold our camping chairs, table and our oz trail sunshade tent. 

The top of the camper is where we sleep. We will leave our bedding on the bed and lay the kids sleeping mats and sleeping bags flat on top. This will then be covered by a tarp and the camper folded down. On top of the camper we will stack the broom, the kids beds (folded down) and the ladder for the bed.A big PVC cover then goes over the top of this and zips around and ties down so everything stays snug.

Some of the things Im in two minds about are:

TV: do we really need to take one. Or if we want to watch something should we just watch on the laptop or one of the iPads or the DVD players in the back of the car! When we go camping previously we have taken a TV as the kids need some down time and them laying on the bed watching an episode of Dora can sometimes be the difference between me staying calm or me ripping my hair out.  But they are getting older now and Im wondering if iPads will suffice.

A toilet: Craig thinks we should have one for our bush camps. I am thinking that for the amount of bush camping we are doing a toilet is not necessary. Most rest areas are well set up these days with toilet facilities. But then if they are feral maybe a chemical loo would be a good idea. I just don't like the idea of strapping a toilet to the camper. It kind of seems gross. But anyways we will work that out. 

Our bikes: We always take them on our two week holidays, and we never use them. Miss 3 is too young and I can't get on my bike and ride off, I am more needing to walk along side her to straighten her handle bars and stop her riding into old people. Miss 4 too needs some assistance and I think it would be too stressful with my bike. And the bikes are big and need to go on the bike rack at the rear of the camper which just adds length and weight which I don't think is necessary. We are however certainly taking the kids bikes. 

Anyway things are slowly coming together, our house settles in two weeks and we will be completely debt free and able to save some more coin till we depart Kalgoorlie in March 2015. The car/camper is almost set up which will mean a car service before we leave and thats it! 

Trying not to feel overwhelmed at the prospect of having no house. I know things are going to work out fine but the worry wart in me can't help but analyse things. Usually at an inconvenient hour of 3am.