Hyden & Kalgoorlie

After reading “Are we there yet?” By Alison Lester we just had to make a visit to Wave Rock. Although it was quite a distance, the route to get there was quite beautiful through the Stirling Ranges and masses of wheat farms. We arrived mid-afternoon after dropping our caravan at the recreation centre carpark. The wave itself was just as we expected from the book illustration – though nowhere near as big as other rocks we have seen on our journeys. We had a go at surfing the rock and got some other tourists to take some funny photos of us! Ingeniously Wave Rock also forms the local areas water collection from a man-made gutter on top of the rock which directs the rain into a small dam built into the side.

Mr J's big hippo yawn

Cool junk sculptures in Hyden's main street

We ventured up on the top and found a few Ornate Dragons sunning themselves. We also had a look at another rock nicknamed “Hippos Yawn” which is a tafione (basically eroded rock). After the 90 minutes we had spent here we were REALLY SICK OF FLIES. So we decided to pick up our van and keep going rather than staying the night.

We had a dilemma – the rugby final was on the next night and heading to our next stop would mean no television signal. So instead we opted to drive another 500km to meet our friends at Kalgoorlie. The quickest way there was straight up a gravel road so off we went. We realised this would mean another tap fitting wearing away under the van but for the sake of 3 hours we were happy to take it.

We stopped overnight at a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere that had only been operating for 4 days – always happy to support fellow businessmen so we bought dinner & fuel. The next morning we headed off fairly early and arrived at Kalgoorlie at 10am. Heading into town through the industrial area you can’t help but know that this is a mining town! So many businesses supply parts or services to the mines in town. 

We had a great time catching up with our friends – The Lynch Family – and playing in the pool on the 37 degree day! We all watched the Rugby grand Final in the camp kitchen that afternoon (sometimes it is handy having a 3 hour time difference from the east coast!) and had dinner together afterwards.

The next day we went to the Royal Flying Doctor Service at Kalgoorlie Airport for a tour through their facilities & plane. The set up was amazing and the tour guide the best we’ve had on our travels. I was particularly impressed with our children’s questions during the question time – really articulate and appropriate questions. Proud mumma moment J

Afterwards, we went for a drive through the town to see all the old buildings (a lot like Bendigo) then a trip through the Kalgoorlie Museum. Part of the museum was an art gallery which Miss T particularly liked and another part was the smallest pub in Kalgoorlie (there were up to 90 during its heyday.) We then raced off to the KGCM Superpit – the Gold mine that is pretty much the only reason the town exists. The size of the mine so close to the town is mind-boggling. They blasted a section of the mine just after 1pm and the sound and dust was incredible. Mr J thought it was AWESOME. So were the excavator buckets & truck tyres that the kids played on.

There were 5 in the bed, and the little one said... spoon me!

After that we chilled out back at the park and then had our last dinner with Matt, Jane, Caitlin & Jack. We waved them off the next morning on their trip over the Nullabour. We then headed down to Esperance for our last WA beach fix! I'm so glad we got to experience Kalgoorlie as it wasn't on our original itinerary & the supermine is planned to shut in only 6 years - who knows what will happen to this town after that!