Further trip planning conspired to keep us busy this morning. Having travelled inland instead of taking our planned route through the southwestern area of Western Australia has thrown our itinerary out to some extent. We have therefore had to perform some on the fly planning to get it back on track. Satisfied that we at least have a caravan park site booked now for our stay in Esperence, we headed into town for a busy day of shopping and sight seeing.

We started by driving from one end of Kalgoorlie to the other and back again to check out a few stores we had come across but which had already closed yesterday. A camping store, craft shop and a couple of electrical stores were on the agenda, but no bargains were to be had, so we were left empty handed.

It was decided that we had had enough on the shopping front by then, so went in search of the Western Australia Museum, Kalgoorlie/Boulder. It was easily located by pointing the nose of ‘The Beast’ in the direction of the towering mining poppet at the end of the main street.

Interestingly, entry to the museum is by voluntary donation, although the suggested donation is $5.00 per person. I read this to mean that entry was free, although felt bad as we entered, and succumbed to handing over a $10.00 note. How’s that for the power of suggestion? Regardless of how much we had paid, it was well worth the cost, with a fantastic display of items from the areas past. A series of galleries in the newest annex of the complex housed displays of fossilised bones found while digging for gold, actual gold nuggets (surprisingly found while digging for gold would you believe?), antique cars and information on the life of the early miners who found themselves searching, mostly heart achingly, for the elusive glimmer of precious yellow metal.

Some…

…of the…

…museum…

…displays.

The original British Arms Hotel forms another gallery in which early hotel memorabilia displays are featured. Interestingly, the hotel was the narrowest two storey hotel in the southern hemisphere, measuring only 3.2metres across.

3.2 metre wide den of iniquity.

In the wider grounds of the museum complex are a series of original Kalgoorlie cottages to wander through, each with their own little stories depicted on plaques adorning the walls.

One of the quaint cottages.

Finally, there was the poppet head that served as a beacon for us by which to locate the museum in the first place. Bec was initially concerned that she would not be able to make it up to the lofty heights of the viewing platform. Thankfully, the steep flight of steps leading up the side were only for show, and the upper deck is reached by a lift which rapidly elevates you directly to the top. From there, the city of Kalgoorlie spread out beneath us, although the howling wind made it difficult to enjoy without the constant anxiety that my hat would become airborne.

Looking up at me looking down.

The view from the top.

The view at the top.

Finished at the museum, we were going to go looking for what was described in the tourist brochures as the tallest rubbish bin in the world. We didn’t need to bother, as upon stepping out of the museum we noticed it directly across from where we had parked. It was easy enough to miss, being that it bore no resemblance to a garbage bin in any shape or form. It was nothing more than a large steel tube sticking up, out of the surrounding dirt to reach about 5 or 6 metres in stature. Had it not been for the hurriedly hand painted ‘tallest rubbish bin in the world’ inscription, we would not have recognised it for what it was.

With the museum and rubbish bin crossed off of our to do list, we motored across town to where we planned to have a walk around Hammond Park. We got there to find the whole area to be inundated with families. It hardly looked a relaxing prospect, with crowds of kids running about excitedly, so we drove on by without stopping, instead coming across the Kalgoorlie Arboretum. With the kids confined to Hammond Park, and only a few people giving their dogs a run in the off leash dog exercise area, the arboretum appeared a much more tranquil option.

We had barely parked and taken Alvin and Bethany out of ‘The Beast’ when a raucous commotion shattered the serenity though. We looked across to the dog area, which we had thankfully given a wide berth, knowing what our two are like. There were half a dozen dogs, all attacking a single animal with a primal savagery. The noise alone was sickening, as a gaggle of owners fought to gain control of the rampaging mob, thumping and punching at the raging animals. We were some distance away, but quick as a flash, I had Alvin under one arm, Bethany under the other and they were bundled unceremoniously into the safe confines of ‘The Beast’. Their walk could wait, as the hapless crowd finally managed to separate the mauling mob and haul them off in separate directions. Thankfully, with the animals all rapidly driven away, we were left to enjoy the surrounds on our own.

We had looked up the definition of ‘arboretum’ when we first read it on the tourist map the other day, discovering that according to the greatest source of reliable information ever, Wikipedia, that “an arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only…(but) more commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants…”

We found this definition to be apt, in that the park has a series of walking paths between a large collection of native trees. We started out on the longer of the three walks on offer, but by midway through decided to take the short cut back to the car park. It was a lovely waltz along the tree lined path though, taking in the many varietals of specimens on display.

Some of the trees…

…we saw at the…

…Kalgoorlie…

…Arboretum.

Back at ‘The Beast’ and with no sign of any of the aforementioned brutal dogs, we were able to at last get Alvin and Bethany out for a bit of a run. They bounded happily along the lush grass, the first chance in days they have had to get a decent run, leaving us all huffing and puffing as a result.

We made it back to the van by a bit after 3:00PM, where I told Bec to have a lie down while I sorted out the washing, made her something to eat and tidied the van. All of this I declared, I would do just as soon as I took the dogs out the toilet. An hour and a half later, after stopping to chat to our neighbours for a little while, I finally got back to our van, to find Bec eating the snack she had made for herself, after she had sorted the laundry and tidied the van. Oops. Then Alvin scratched at the door to remind me that he still hadn’t been to the toilet, having sat patiently by my side for the entire time I was busy nattering away. I wasn’t all too popular for a while. Not at least until well after I had prepared dinner and promised to do the dishes on my own. Which reminds me, I’d better get moving, because those dishes ain’t going to wash themselves.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.