Mount Charlotte

We arrived at today’s destination — Kalgoorlie-Boulder — around 12:30p. By 1:00p, we knew where our campground was located in Boulder … knew which site we’d been assigned to. But as early as it was, we decided to do a bit of sightseeing first and then get settled in.

Kalgoorlie is a city in the heart of Western Australia’s goldfields. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie-Boulder, because the urban area includes the historic townsite of Boulder.

Our train trip on the Indian-Pacific, is going to bring us to Kalgoorlie. But the stop is going to be late at night. We expect that except for what Journey Beyond Rail has planned for our off-train experience here, everything will be closed up for the day. Hence our decision to come up this way to see what we will be missing then.

The town, which was established during the Western Australian gold rushes of 1893 has a definite old-west vibe. A number of buildings dating back to that period line the streets. Sadly, they are all covered in advertisements and sign boards for the shops and such they now house.

Since the temperature was getting on towards 90F, we decided to head to the Museum of the Goldfields where there was much appreciated A/C to keep us cool. We arrived to find the 128-foot high Ivanhoe headframe serving as the gateway to the museum. We used the elevator to access the platform at the top for an aerial view, which included the Super Pit we’ll be visiting tomorrow.

Inside we found exhibits covering the “… rich Aboriginal culture and glittering history of the Eastern goldfields.” In the basement we visited the vault … “it’s real gold,” the volunteer greeter told us. On the grounds, we found a number of buildings dating back to the gold rush period … still a work in progress was our impression.

Though small in size, the museum’s exhibits were interesting and informative. A good introduction.Read more