Gold Fever

After the Nullarbor we headed to Kalgoorlie, gold mining town, to get the car serviced and to check out the huge mining trucks which we knew would impress Jackson. Unfortunately the Super Pit lookout was closed for a few weeks so we headed to the Hannans North Tourist Mine to look at a replica instead! They also had a mining truck and front end loader that you could climb on, WOW, they are huge and kids (and us) were suitably awed. We also did some gold panning here and Emilia was very impressed with the tiny gold flakes her and Daniel managed to find. We spent a bit of time at the wonderful Hammond Park where peacocks wandered the grounds and kangaroos and emus in bush parks and huge array of birds in cages surrounded a surprisingly lush green lawn and a large playground. They also had a pond complete with ducks and a replica castle built from local rocks and gems. We spent several hours here on the first day then had dinner here on the second day. Days were hot (38deg) and nights were steamy too. It was a city on a permanent double shift with the pubs open early for the night shift workers then late for the day shift. The city didn't seem to sleep and the noisy, hot nights meant we didn't sleep much either! The caravan park pool was a welcome relief but we were ready to leave after a few days.

Panning for gold

Miniature Castle at Hammond Park

Playground surrounded by a bush wildlife park at Hammond Park

Upon leaving Kalgoorlie we checked the weather for the next place we were heading to find that we were driving into the remnants of the cyclone that had just battered the WA mid coast. Decided to drive and make a decision on the way. After 1 hour in the rain and wind started, there was no way we would be setting up camp if this kept up. Well it did keep up so we ended up in a cabin in a caravan park about 3 hours out of Perth. Kids relaxed in front of TV and we all had a relaxing afternoon listening to the crazy weather. By morning it had cleared and we were SO glad we had made the decision not to camp!