Hannans / Perth???

Just a quick look at what they are building in Kalgoorlie at the moment. The upmarket suburb of Hannans has a fair bit of that going on at present. Gone are the front fences, it's definitely reminiscent of Perth suburbia.

Wildflower Season

Lots of bushes are now coming into flower. Some are quite showy and coat the bush, whilst others are tiny and delicate, hiding almost unseen amongst the foliage.

Being a tourist

The Mining Hall of Fame is just a kilometre or two out of town. It proved to be a great place to spend Sunday arvo.

First I tried my hand at panning for gold. I wasn't too successful, till a pleasant assistant found me a grain or two of the real stuff. Then I headed underground.

The Pit has 13 levels, 11 of which are flooded. It is about 457 mtrs (1500 feet) deep, though we only went to the 1st level, 36.5 mtrs down. Four at a time in the cage.

We were shown around by an old digger who had worked underground all of his working life. He was a mine (excuse the pun) of information, giving us insights into the past and present state of mining in and around Kalgoorlie.

When he set this drill going the noise was excruciating. Imagine working without ear plugs....apparently they did.

Squeezy in places.

After the Pit, it was above ground again, to watch Gold Pouring.

The guy went from this


to


and it still wasn't over. I still had to go through the actual Hall of Fame. Really I didn't have time to do it justice, so that's somewhere else I will have to revisit.

Australasian Safari

http://www.australasiansafari.com.au/

There were more cameras and journalists than competitors, well not quite, but that's what it felt like. Obviously a big event in the racing calendar and I must say I was sucked into the excitement.

The motor bikes looked lean and mean, whilst the four wheel drives were quite sparkling in their polished duco. Personally I was quite taken by the quad bikes. The rider in the photograph told me she expected a sore behind after what will be a 4000 plus kms ride over 7 days.

This afternoon was the ceremonial start, because I guess the organisers realise that not too many of the general populace will be up at 6.30 am to wave the participants off tomorrow morning.

There were lots of speeches and flag waving, even the mayor of Kal got into the act. My own camera worked overtime and as per usual the battery ran out before the activity.

Chardy also managed to make some friends and seemed quite popular with the younger set. He managed to ingratiate himself and just loved the extra attention.

Some days..........

"I should have stayed in bed." That was the thought that coursed through my head as I removed a young student who had just thrown a wobbly.

Throwing up was next on the list of major classroom events. Kitty Litter for the uninitiated is always a good standby for these occasions.

As my working week drew to a close I was rewarded for my patience by a lovely little gift from a young person who is moving. Of course in keeping with the day, I promptly lost it.

After at least half an hour of the frantic searching of my desk, rubbish bins, and numerous boxes of paraphernalia and worst of all wondering how I was going to tell the little boy that I had lost his present, I went home.

Going down Hannan Street, I managed to get trapped half way around a corner on a red light. Having no idea quite how that happened, I then wondered about dementia.

The silver lining? When I eventually reached home I found the lost gift tucked into my camera case and it is the weekend.

Greenie Activity

Greenies are everywhere, and I must say I really enjoyed introducing my young charges to the joys of getting down and dirty.

Whilst I don't put my littlies faces on the net, its easy to see from these red hats that they are all well and having fun. Yesterday my class and another class of six year olds headed off to the local bushland park to add our efforts to greening Australia and fighting climate change.

We were met by two local environmentalists who led us and the parent helpers to a shed. Here the kids rolled up their sleeves and mixed up a blend of worm poo, local bush seeds, red soil with a good dollop of water. As might be imagined most of them loved getting into the bucket of mud. Of course there's always one or two.

"I don't want to get my hands dirty." said in that moany, mewly way that all parents recognise.

I couldn't believe it when one of the parents pulled out some rubber gloves and handed them to the reluctant mud ball makers. Problem solved.

After cleaning themselves up in buckets of water, the kids headed out to throw the small balls of mud encrusted seeds into the bush. Hopefully one or two will produce the desired result and small seedlings will appear after the next downpour.

Great fun for one and all.........the kids had a ball and so did the the adults.

Sunday, Sunday

Quiet, very quiet.

The dog nagged and nagged until, at around 2.30pm, I gave in and headed to the car for a walk. Well I'm still not feeling the best so I needed the car to take him for a walk....

Not logical, well it was more of a look and see where we could be walking.

So when you haven't got any particular destination where do you go in Kalgoorlie. Well I found myself making a quick tour of Boulder. On the way home I spotted a shop that has long intrigued me and so seizing the moment I stopped to have a look. There were a number of cars parked outside, so I wasn't going to be on my own.

I was quite taken aback for behind these inauspicious doors, totally belying its humble exterior I found; china delicate enough for the finest dining room, exquisite glassware, ornaments suitable for elegant drawing rooms and a plethora of giftware to suit the youngest to the oldest of tastes. To cap it all a young shop assistant approached me and asked if I'd like a cup of tea while I browsed.......now I've never had that happen to me before. Well yes at the hairdressers.

I love the pleasantly unexpected and somehow this often seems to happen here in Kal.

From there I thought I really had better take Chardy for his walk, so headed towards one of our favourite grassed areas. It was here I took the photos of the flowering gums and made note of more newly planted trees.

Influenza strikes

Voiceless, bunged up and red-nosed is how I would describe myself at the moment.

Not a pretty picture, but that's what I'm like. It came quite unexpectedly and I, who had been smugly thinking I had escaped the winter ailments that had been all around me a few weeks ago, was caught totally unprepared for the ferocity of its attack.

Running eyes, burning throat, coughing, sneezing and the constant blowing, all part and parcel of the flu, or maybe it's just a cold. I'm sure it couldn't be just a common old cold. I mean I really have felt pretty rotten, but then again I haven't had to take to my bed and I did, whilst wrapped up in my doonah, manage to watch all, well most, of the Olympic opening in Beijing. Spectacular!

Today itself has been an almost silent day, except for two phone calls and a brief sojourn to the supermarket for a jar of Vicks, throat lozenges and headache pills I have completely rested my voice. Quite a change for me.

Broad Arrow - Ghost town

After lunch today I headed out towards Menzies, but it was Broad Arrow that was my destination, only 38 kms from Kal.

Being the first time I had travelled that way I was interested in the landscape and was pleased to note a number of working gold mines just off the road. However soon after leaving town, I was stuck by an unusual phenomenon. My initial thought was that I must be passing the council tip and that the recent storms had blown litter all over the side of the road.

Unfortunately it became all too clear that many travellers along this stretch of tarmac think throwing their rubbish out of the window the thing to do. It was pretty disgusting, kilometres of litter strewn highway.

Obviously I'm not the only one who's noticed.



Broad Arrow itself is, as listed, a ghost town. There is still a tavern operating and it looked as though another house was occupied, other than that. Nothing. A far cry from days of old, when there were at least five pubs, a cordial factory and it had its own stock exchange.

I took a couple of shots of nature reclaiming its own and wonder how long the whole process takes.

Diggers n Dealers

What's that?

Well I guess it's what Kalgoorlie is all about.

The local media, both radio and newspapers, have been talking about it for weeks now.

"Do you have any spare rooms?"

"Are you prepared to rent your house out for 3 - 4 days early in September?"

So what is it that fills every type of accommodation, pushes ordinary workers out of there's and turns the town upside down.

It's a Mining Convention. Yes apparently the town is currently host to some of the richest, most powerful people in mining. They come here to talk, set agendas and discuss the future......
According to what I've read this convention, held here annually since 1992, is the largest of its type in the Southern Hemisphere. Quite a coup for little old Kal.

There are up to 1700 delegates expected to arrive here before the start of business which kicks off tomorrow morning.

How will it affect me.......well probably not at all. Though it does serve to remind all of us in Kalgoorlie that without mining this town, for one, would not exist.