We arrived back from Kalgoorlie around 3pm yesterday. It was a seven hour drive@ the maximum speed limit of 110kph with a stop over at Merredin for a ‘cuppa’ and snack. Over the three days we were there, we ‘did’ Kalgoorlie taking in sites such as the Superpit, museums, some lovely public buildings and the gals haunted a few Op Shops. I reckon Kalgoorlie must have more preserved old buildings that any other Australian town. Some do need some restoration work. Pics below.
The motel we had booked into was one I had previously used before, but on a travel site it was shown with a different photo of the hotel/motel. A much different photo! Some wag had posted an image of a substantial building. Some folks would get a bit offside once they arrived after booking online. I showed the photo to the management and they were unaware that someone had posted the the photo of lovely two-story hotel suggesting it was the Star and Garter.
The real Star and Garter
The motel was a bit basic and no awards were given to the designers of the ‘new’ units we were allocated. They were definitely designed to be on-site accommodation for miners.
Kalgoorlie is a very busy town/city but relies heavily on the price of gold, which at the moment, has fallen almost to the point of mines laying off staff.
Interestingly, many small towns and places to the East of Perth have names ending in ‘-in’.....Tammin, Cunderdin, Kellerberrin, Merredin, Burracopin, Carrabin, Bodallin etc, whilst when one travels South from Perth many towns have names ending in ‘-up’.....Burekup. Dardanup, Boyanup, Mallalyup, Balingup, Boyup, Manjimup etc. These endings to place names are from the indigenous languages and usually mean ‘place of’.
We enjoyed the drive and visit to Kalgoorlie.
Click on photos to enlarge. Click again to scroll through.
Margaret and Joy with Padddy Hannan
In need of restoration
Old miner's cottage
Joy admiring the Palace Hotel foyer
Kalgoorlie's wide roads are a legacy of bullock wagon days
Click on photos to enlarge. Click again to scroll through.
4 comments:
I so enjoyed viewing your photos Kev, thank you for sharing. The ladies look great, is Marg the tall lady with short blond hair? xo
Marg is on the left. On the right is Joy.
Kev
Kev, Great pictures, brought back happy memories of the trip, You get full marks for driving us there and back and for the many laughs we shared. It was great to return to my birth place. It what a friendly town and the pace was so much slower. I was amazed that it was so cold at night. I suppose that is because we were in the desert. I couldn't get over the size of the super pit, It is enormous and so deep. Marg
Great photos Kev and great memories. Thanks for doing all that driving. Taking the car was definitely the way to go.
Joy
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