Day 96 - 97 19th May - 20th May 2012

Day 96 Saturday 19^th May

Left our free campsite about 8.00AM. We were sharing this campsite with our golfing buddy from Wheelers Hill. We decided to get together and socialize. We had met numerous times on the golf holes along the Nullarbor and never introduced each other.  It was very good to have a chat with them as they put us onto 4-5 really good spots to visit. They had done a similar trip before. 

We all headed off to Kalgoorlie. Vania and I had booked to play the last 2 holes of NL’s at 12.50PM. The other couple were going to wait till Monday before he played. Trying to find accommodation (ie available caravan parks in Kalgoorlie turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. Fundamentally the caravan park offices are not open on Saturday’s and Sundays. However, I managed to get us into a caravan park for potentially the weekend. Quite a lot of stress however.

Got all dressed up to play golf. Felt very, very strange with long pants and a collared shirt.  We headed off and the Kalgoorlie golf course was absolutely superb. Graham Marsh has just redesigned it and they have spent $23M in doing it up.  Upon completion of the golf we headed off to get our cards stamped and to get our certificates confirming we had completed the longest links course in the world. Vania and I had our certificates laminated with our cards on the back as well. Great  to have but I won’t be bragging about the scores. In the afternoon we saw some sights around Kalgoorlie. The “super pit” where they do mining was a fantastic sight. They estimate it will be 8.6K’s long by about 1.6k’s wide and about 1K deep when all done. It is HUGE,

Vania and I had our compulsory afternoon drinks and then had Chinese. Very , very nice. The “flied lice” was great. On the way back to the caravan park we went past the “red light” district of Kalgoorlie and Vania insisted on getting out and going over to have a chat with the “girls”. She was told in no uncertain manner that they were working and to come back Sunday for a tour at 3.00PM. Hmm, very interesting.

OK that’s it from me again. Take care out in blog land. Cheers from Vania and Oscar.

Hole 17 of the NL's course

Pleasant change to play on a proper golf course. Didn't help the scoreing

Last hole (or first depending on which direction one is playing) of the NL's course
PS I think I stuffed up with one or two of the holes

Graham Marsh designed the Kalgoorlie golf course. They spent approx 23M on it recently

Always need our "Arty Farty" photos.

One of 3 pubs on the corner. Fantastic building.

View of Kalgoorlie from Mt. Charlotte lookout.

Another "Arty Farty"

I'm inside one of the dregers. These mining machinery are enormous and expensive. The largest one used in this mine is $10M and takes 11,000 litres of diesel (hate to fill that tank)

The Super Pit in Kalgoorlie. Believe me it is HIGE.

Write up about the various pieces of machinery used inthe "Super Pit"

This what I call serious "rubber". The biggest one in this photo is 4.5 feet wide, ie road surface width.

Mine museum in Kalgoorlie. Somebody was actually having there wedding here when I took this photo.

HUGE trucks in the "super pit" One going up loaded with ore and another coming backl down

Day 97 Sunday 20^th May

Happy anniversary to Vania, Tyron and Clint. Today marks 12 years when these 3 lovely people arrived in Australia from South Africa.

OK, niceties out of the way. Had planned to go to Boulder (sister town to Kalgoorlie, similar to Albury / Wodonga) market this morning and go for a walk around Hammond Park in Kalgoorlie. But no, instead headed off to Lake Ballard, approximately 124k’s on bitumen and then another 51k’s on dirt road, north of Kalgoorlie.  Lake Ballard, don’t know why they really call them lakes as they have  “minimal” water, is known for its 51 steel statues spread out in the “lake”.  Fantastic spot and very unique. A sacred place where “art” and the “outback” meet.  There is camping facilities out at Lake Ballard i.e. toilets, BBQ facilities, water and even a toilet “dump” point. Vania was very impressed how civilised this country is. Spent about an hour looking round and climbing a hill on the lake. Had a wonderful time.

On the way back to Kalgoorlie we stopped at Menzie pub and had a compulsory drink. Don’t know about Vania but I will have to go to AA after this trip. Menzie has some steel art work throughout the town.  Vania and I decided to move out of the Goldminers caravan park in Kalgoorlie and head towards Perth. We both prefer to do the “free” camping to staying in caravan parks.  Since it was late already I believe we set a new record for packing up camp.

Found a great “free” camping spot only 12K’s out of Kalgoorlie. Set up camp and looking forward to a much quieter and relaxing night. It is absolutely wonderful to look at the beautiful sunset and sunrises plus the peace and quiet. The night sky at night is covered with millions of stars. Truly wonderful.

Onwards to Perth tomorrow. We are going to spend some time in Coolgardie in the morning. Cheers to all.

Standing on a dry salt lake on the wat to Lake Ballard.

Vania spotted these footprints of the dry salt lake "monster"

Birds nest (probably swallow) behind the loo door.

Some considerate person wrote this on the door to the loo.

One of 51 iron statues on Lake Ballard. They are human size.

And another.

Yet another.

View from top of "hill" in Lake Ballard. There actually was some water in the lake. Extremely salty.

Solitary tree on the "hill" at Lake Ballard.

This is the "hill". There is actually a person on the very top.

Another one of the iron statues.

Perimeter of the "hill", showing the almost white soil.

This is a serious official sign. Picuture a "truckie" dusting his tyres. Highly unlikely

This servo had number plates and road signs all over it. It is up for sale or lease if anybody is interested. It is in Menzie.

One of many "art" works in Menzie. This lady and her caption caught my eye.

Hmm, this is the caption.

Ho hum, another beautiful sunset at another "free" camp.

Vania LOVES her sunsets and sunrises. The colours are absolutely stunning.

Just another "idiot" on top of the hill.