Lake Statues and Arrival

DAY: 6
Today we should be meeting up with Sheryl and Dave all going to plan…
Up early around 5am but stayed in bed as cool until around 6am. John made the coffee…tried to do my readings but no phone reception here so used the books I bought and my eBook….then packed up everything…even added the big downer now with the weather turning cold…
Had our brekky, packed the camper John went to start the car and rummmm rum splat battery is dead something might have been left on to run it down….
So we left it and headed out onto the Lake to do the shorter circuit to see the statues…most were women only a couple of blokes…very unusual indeed….we walked around the rock hill in the centre of the Lake. Bill spotted what he thought was a straight line of rocks but it was as I guessed old fence posts…burnt off to near ground level….unusual it was that way….there were parts of the lake floor very sticky and glue like sticking to our shoes….some sections even had salt encrusted water puddles….
We made it around…got the car going, Bill headed off…as John drove to the loo, I went to check out the camp area, it looked very welcoming and once there saw the hugest spider web….🤔🤔🤔😂😂😂 it was fake very well done…quite funny to see it there…this whole camp area is really well set up…with loos, water tanks, picnic areas and campfire areas and tables dotted around everywhere…other than the sneaky cold wind it’s been a great camp site….
Now off to Leonora to buy a new battery, some more wine and a towel for John…
We ended up at The Food Van Coffee shop Sheryl suggested we go to where Fiona from Emerald that owns this quirky shop with great food and Antiques… funny very loud lady…she was training a young guy to help with making coffees that was funny, but I imagine hard for him she certainly gave him heaps….
We headed across the road to the a supermarket come Hardware for a few items…found John some cheap shoes..,,$30 for a good pair of sandshoes…his boots are too tight….
Then off to Gwalia like Sheryl suggested…what a find a Ghost type town of an old Mining town…the old tin houses and huts had mostly been restored…and on the hill above the town is the Hoover House Museum….wow was it set up well…so many unreal relics and artefacts, plus a great coffee shop…so much to take in….
We had a look around the many sights to collectively finish up with a light lunch from the coffee shop at Hoover House….didn’t realise we could go into the Tin houses, but checked out the State Hotel now abandoned sadly beautiful old building…. All in all a great visit…

Story of Hoover House

History of Hoover House
Hoover House is typical of the expansive style of home built for senior mine management in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The site was chosen in 1898 by the first general manager of the Sons of Gwalia mine, Herbert Hoover, and its construction commenced under his direction, although he was transferred to China before the building was finished. Hoover, who was later to become the 31st President of the United States of America, visited the area several times after returning to Australia from China. Hoover stayed in the house in 1902 with the then manager, R. Atwater.
The building was constructed of locally made brick, fired nearby, and bought under a contract for £2/10/0 ($5) per thousand bricks, plus the supply of fuel. The house was finished by early 1899, but not without an objection from the Coolgardie office of the mine’s owner, Bewick Moreing & Co, whose management complained that the company’s London board of directors had never expected to spend £750 ($1500) – several times the cost of an average home – on a manager’s residence. Nevertheless, two of the three bedrooms were soon extended to twice their original size.
Eleven successive mine managers have lived in the house over the years.
Following the closure of the Sons of Gwalia mine in 1963, the mine manager’s house, mine office and assay office were used by Western Mining Corporation as a mineral exploration base until 1971. Hoover House was renovated in 2001 and has been managed by the Shire of Leonora since September 2010.
And info on the Museum….

Gwalia Ghost Town & Museum
Visitors can explore over a dozen buildings in the Gwalia ghost town, including miners’ cottages, single men’s camps, Patroni’s Guest House and Mazza’s Store. Up on the hill in the Mine Precinct, there are the Mine Manager’s House (now Hoover House Bed & Breakfast), the Assay Office, the headframe and winder and many fascinating outdoor exhibits. Highlights include ‘Midland’, one of three steam engines that worked on the wood lines supplying the Sons of Gwalia mine with timber and fuel.

Hoover House B&B and Function Venue
Once the grand home of the managers of the Sons of Gwalia Gold Mine, Hoover House is a luxury Bed and Breakfast and function venue near the historical settlement of Gwalia.
The house was designed in 1897 by the mine’s manager, Herbert Hoover, who later became the 31st President of the United States of America.
The building has been completely renovated and today B&B guests can enjoy Hoover’s legacy – three magnificent bedrooms now opulently decorated in period style, the grand dining room where mining deals were once negotiated, and the tranquil views over the spectacular Goldfields landscape from the wide veranda's.
Guests can enjoy sitting on the veranda's or the wide green front lawn overlooking the modern open pit mine, for gold is still mined at Gwalia. As night falls and the stars emerge, the peaceful ambience on the back verandas overlooking Mt Leonora has to be experienced – you might even see a kangaroo!
Book Online
We came back to town for fuel…….but after this morning trying to find a battery, but alas…. no battery 😢😢😢 but did a bonus on the wine…I bought 3 bottle, the owner gave me the last low alcohol one she wanted to get rid of any more bottles pink…said she couldn’t sell them 🤔🤔🤔… what a bonus…

Off we set to Laverton to the Van Park there to meet up with Sheryl and David….all good got a spot near them, Bill next door…had a chat then all headed to the pub for dinner….the dinner was good, the pub pumping…even a bus load of tourist came in…

It turned really cold sadly to lots of layers climbed into bed…within an hour John was shaking uncontrollably, he had rigours, temp was continually going up…then he started to vomit I gave 3 Panadol and an Ondansetron wafer which did do the trick he did eventually go to sleep, but his temp took hours to come down...like I said to him he would end up with bad sweating and yep he did…I feel it was food poisoning…sadly he seems to be the one to get it…my gut was upset for ages from the Creamy Garlic Prawns, but not like him….I didn’t get to sleep until after 1am…another big night…Read more