I love all things that is unusual and strange. Especially to places where its not known to many people. One of my dream destination is going to the city called Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), heard of that place before?? Perhaps, thats the very thing that makes me a freak!! Going to Kalgoorlie is probably one of the most randoms things I ever done. Probably not your usual tourist destination.
We took the Transwa Prospector train for an arduous 7 hours journey. Thank God that the seats are comfortable with plenty of leg spaces. The train itself is a tourist attraction. We passed through different landscapes ranging from the wheatbelts to outback forests. During the trip, the soil in the ground changes from brown (Perth) to red when the train reaches Kalgoorlie.
All of us living in Perth are blessed with clean and well-maintained streets. After travelling 7 hours by train from Perth, you will be greeted with flies and really unclean taxis. My first trip to the hotel from Kalgoorlie is riding a really dirty cab. When I sit down on the furry chair, something watery touched my t-shirt. I am wondering what is the 'watery thing'. Come on, Australia is supposed to be a 1st world country!!
I reached the hotel, a 'character' hotel which is supposedly to be President Hoover's (USA) favorite hotel. The word 'character' is actually a pleasant way to say an old property in Australia. The hotel is at least a century old and looks pretty haunted to me. I can hear drilling noises and the door is moving at certain times. Could it be the restless spirits of fallen miners lurking inside? It is called located right in the middle of the city. Historical building aficionados would definitely love this place. There is a big and elaborate mirror donated by President Hoover near the reception.
The 1st day is searching for a car to travel around the area the next day while being furiously attacked by flies. The temperature was around 30C during that day and it was stifling hot. However, our adventure looking for car was fruitless because they did not accept Indonesian license. They only accept International Driving License. So we ended up booking a tour for the next day. Really wish we got a car so that we can travel to Coolgardie, a nearby Ghost Town.
We became miners on the second day on a tour bus. We were the youngest group of tourists in the bus. It seems that Kalgoorlie only attracts the old while forgets about the young. The young tourists who came to Kalgoorlie are usually school children from Perth getting drunk in the hotels!! There are no dance clubs in the city, traditional bars catering mainly to miners are plenty. One of the bars in my hotel looked pretty hip actually. Lets not digress further. We went to many places in the city and its good that we are on a tour bus to understand the city better. It still costs a fortune though.
Our first stop is the Royal Flying Doctor Headquarters, it is used to help patients in the remote parts of Australia. We visited the famous KPMG Superpit Mine in Kalgoorlie. It was basically a whole carved artificially by giant tractors and bulldozers which looks like ants when viewed from the top. It was an amazing sight, you should never count yourself being to Kalgoorlie unless you visit the mine. We got trivial facts about buildings in Kalgoorlie which are not really important unless you are a history buff. There is even an school catering to aboriginal children and they still eat grubs in school trips. At last, we took a photo top at President Hoover's house. It was just an ordinary house with 'character' and nothing special about it.
In Boulder, a town minutes away from Kalgoorlie is the town hall. The town hall had faux curtain which was actually painted by hand. it was said to be the biggest of its kind. Kalgoorlie 'scores' point for that piece of art. It was an entertainment center where theater predominates the scene in the bygone eras. The town hall hosted an AC/DC concert many years ago. It is depicted on the posters inside. Can't be bothered to take photo of that poster, only AC/DC or 'Bogan-Rock' fans will be interested. Kalgoorlie is also famous for its brothels, a place where the rich miners relieve their 'lack' of love. It should be noted that the city have an unproportionate number of males compared to females.
The last place that we visited is the old Hannans tourist mine. It is basically a disused mine that is not profitable and big enough. The place have a 'wild wild west' feel and a photogenic place. I actually recommended my brother to make a movie there. It seems like a place where the Americans dump their Hollywood props. Everything there is old, weathered and rusty, but thats what makes it a beautiful place. We took the underground mines tour but I am too tired to listed to the tour guide. The tour guide had an 'outback' Australian Accent which is simply incomprehensible for me.
Overall, Kalgoorlie is still a great place to visit. I wish I have more time to visit Lake Ballard. It is a hidden destination worth discovering. It is a place where photographers and film directors would like to visit. The place itself is like a giant prop to me with all the 'wild wild west' style houses and mines. Historians and avid travellers would love it as well. However, if you want to find something luxurious there, you found the wrong place buddy, its an OUTBACK TOWN!!! A REAL OUTBACK TOWN!! A place with all the Australian stereotypes only without the kangaroos.