After leaving Esperance we headed north to Kalgoorlie and through the Northern Goldfields to Mullewa (wildflower country in the spring!) The scenery was in stark contrast to the beautiful oceans and white beaches we had left behind! Mostly brown, dry, fly infested territory inhabited by miners, and their families -if they were lucky - and great, big open pits scoured into the earth for the collection of gold and other resources.
The superpit in Kalgoorlie was a sight to behold! Kalgoorlie itself is a fairly big city with a population of over 30,000. This was where I noticed the sculpture done by the father of my special friend, Trish. She always speaks of him with great fondness as do the words on the plaque.
The small towns along the way - Menzies, Leonora, Mt Magnet, Leinster - survive mostly on passing visitors and FIFO miners using a petrol station, or a pub in one last remaining hotel from the early days of the goldrush. (If you're interested, the petrol station and roadhouse in Menzies is up for sale!)
In so many ways I was reminded of my early childhood growing up on Crown Mines - climbing the stone dumps and mine dumps and living in a small house constructed of corrugated iron!
It was very interesting driving through the ghost town of Gwalia which was once a thriving mining community.
Apart from a few caravans the only traffic on the roads were mining vehicles and abnormal loads of HUGE mining gear being transported to dig out some more precious resources!
