Day 10 - Kalgoorlie rest day
This is our half lap of Oz, or when we get sick of each other - which ever comes first…
Temperature: 23C
Kms travelled: very few
Our last day of playing tourists in Kalgoorlie. We started our day trying to find a laundromat in town. How can it be that a town with a population of 30,000 only has one laundromat 😳😳 The first one we found was a little under loved, so we headed to the second one on my list which we couldn’t find for trying.
Despite saying it was open on the website, the neighbours to.d us it burnt down several years ago and the owner has since passed away. So we went back to the dodgy one, which had just as many machines out of order as were working. But we got the job done…
We have a washing machine in the van - 3.5kg - but the free RV park we’re staying in restricts the hanging of washing and the use of generators - so the laundromat it was. The old guy across from us in the park is obviously a rebel in disguise - he has a clothesline full of washing and the generator running. I’m sure Pete is taking notes…sigh…
We visited the North Hannan Tourist Mine today which was interesting, to walk around and see how a mine site ran. The sheer size of the machinery is eye opening, you can see how small Pete looks standing between the tyres. The third photo is the hotel and the fourth picture the dynamite shed.
The last picture is a Ute that has been run over by one of those trucks - used as a safety reminder that they can’t see you…and won’t feel it when they run over you
We stopped at Hammond Park for a picnic lunch - this is how you get your hubby to have a picnic lunch in the park - go travelling. This park is lovely, with a replica Bavarian castle in the centre, a lake and waterfall, plenty of green, green grass, playgrounds and birdlife.
Plus they have beautiful birds in cages - not sure I’m keen on that idea, however there’s a caretaker on site and the cages are large and spotlessly clean, so the best of what it can be I guess.
We finally got to see the blast at the super pit this afternoon, a couple of pops, then a percussion of multiple pops and you feel the earth move under your feet. It was good to witness and then watch one of the dump trucks empty a load - with a much deeper appreciation on how big that truck is to manoeuvre on top of a massive pile of processed rock.
The super pit blast looks so small and insignificant from a distance, but then you see the landslide of rock that is the result. This super pit is 650 metres deep, you can’t see the bottom it’s that deep, and with another 150 metres to go for this stage.
Well we’re off to dinner tonight with my school friend Larissa and her husband before we start heading for the warmer weather tomorrow - it’s going to be 6C overnight tonight which certainly makes me happy I nagged Pete to put the diesel heater in the van before we left home.
Keep smiling, Fi 🌻
Oh and these words below which I shared on my Facebook page earlier today and which need another share here - because they seem so relevant. Not sure whose words they were originally so unfortunately can’t attribute them to the creator.
In the blink of an eye another day is gone,
In the blink of an eye another week is gone.
In the blink of an eye another month is gone,
In the blink of an eye another year is gone.
And in the blink of an eye I'll be gone too,
And not just me but also you.
So maybe we should be wishin' and hopin',
That we could just keep our eyes open.
And see and appreciate all that we can see,
And learn how we can be, the best that we can be,
Before it's too late,
Time flies, so let's not wait.
Whether we have just one life or many, one thing is true,
We should try to enjoy every moment we can; it's the wisest thing to do.