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Day 15 - Eyre Telegraph Station Access Rd. -> Fraser Range Station
Today 355kms / Total 4059kms
After spending the night under the old microwave tower, we got ready for the next leg to the Fraser Range Sheep Station (For the benefit of overseas readers, we refer to farms or ranches as 'stations'. It has nothing to do with trains.). As I was turning around in a rather confined space, a tree jumped out of nowhere and hit the back of the van (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!).
Oh, bother... (other @#$%^&* remarks deleted)
So slight was the knock, that I didn't even know it had happened until I looked in the mirror and saw the side light waving in the breeze. We pulled up and Ace Mechanic and DIY Specialist Peter managed to knock most of it back into shape using a block of wood and a large rubber mallet, and then apply about 5 gallons of silicon sealant to waterproof the whole thing. Would you believe that the side light bulb was unbroken and still worked, albeit without any lens! The finished job will (should?) serve until we get home as I suspect that we'd be without the van for a fortnight if we were to have it repaired in WA.
The next stop was the Caiguna Roadhouse for a cup of much needed coffee. This is pretty typical of the roadhouses across the Nullarbor.
This is just about all of Caiguna.
This is the sort of heavy vehicle best encountered at fuel stops! This is called a B-Triple, is 33.5m (110') long and can weigh up to 115 tonnes.
Despite the shape of the logo, this unit is not operated by the London Underground.
Caiguna's main claim to fame is that it's at the eastern end of Australia's longest straight stretch of road.
It just seems to go on for ever...
We finally reached Fraser Range Station and set up the van for the night. Fraser Range Station was the first station settled on the Nullarbor in 1872. It was so remote that supplies only came in once per year, usually just before shearing. It came in a wagon pulled by 16 camels.
The station covers 437,000 acres (682 sq miles or 1768 sq kms) and the distance between the northern and southern boundaries is 160 kms (100 miles). To give some idea of the harshness of the country being farmed, the Pastoral Lands Board has determined that the stocking rate for the property is 1 sheep per 27 acres! The average rainfall is 300mm (~12") per year.
Past and present owners have developed part of the station into a caravan and cabin park. There are some beautiful gardens around the cabins.
The chairs outside the converted shearers' quarters are from railway carriages and are over 100 years old.
Day 16 - Fraser Range Station -> Kalgoorlie
Today 240kms / Total 4299kms
A moderately short travel day today, with a small excursions into Norseman for morning tea, and Kambalda for lunch at the lookout.
Norseman is considered the western end of the Nullarbor Plain and has a history of gold mining. It is named after the horse who turned over a piece of gold-bearing quartz that started the gold rush here. There is a statue of the horse in the middle of town.
Statue of 'Norseman', the horse, depicted finding gold with its hoof. Seems we've lost the knack of training gold-detecting horses these days.
One of the more imaginatively decorated roundabouts is in the main street and features a camel train made of corrugated iron negotiating the centre of the roundabout. We couldn't find any plaque indicating who had designed it, but it certainly gives an indication of the pioneers' method of transport.
The highest point in Kambalda is Red Hill (how many Red Hills are there in Australia?) which has a magnificent view over Lake Lefroy. As with most lakes in WA, this is another salt lake. It is popular with land yacht racing enthusiasts as it is large (510 sq kms) and has an excellent surface.
Lake Lefroy, Kambalda from Red Hill.
After a pleasant lunch, we continued on to Kalgoorlie and a few days in a caravan park.
Day 17 - Kalgoorlie
Today 60kms / Total 4359kms
The first item on the agenda today was to see if we could find out when the Super Pit was going to blast. A call to the Tourist Info office wasn't enlightening, but the person there said that the times were on a board at the Super Pit Lookout. As it turned out, we couldn't find the blasting times anywhere, but looking into the Super Pit was awe-inspiring enough! There seem to be insufficient superlatives to do this hole in the ground justice.
Here is one of the Cat 793C Dump Trucks that are used to bring both ore and rock out of the pit.
The trucks carry 220 tonnes of rock/ore, burn 185lt of fuel per hour and cost $43,000,000 each. There are more than 40 of these working in the Super Pit.
The driver sits 5 metres off the ground in an air-conditioned cab, but there's plenty of room upstairs to have friends around.
To put this all in perspective, here's another picture of the same truck on its way out of the pit.
The truck in the first photo is the lead vehicle of the pair on the right. The same type of trucks are in the centre of the photo at the bottom of the mine. This is a BIG hole!
The Super Pit (officially the Fimiston Open Pit) is the largest open cut gold mine in Australia. When completed it will be some 3.8 kilometres long, 1.35km wide and go down to a depth of more than 500 metres. Currently the open pit operation moves around 85 million tonnes of material per year making it the single largest open pit operation of any commodity in Australia. It works 24 x 7 x 365.
The shovels that load the trucks have a bucket that holds either 60 tonnes...
... or 2 lovely ladies.
The next stop on the day's tour of Kalgoorlie was the Miners' Hall of Fame. This museum is set on Paddy Hannan's original gold claim.
There are quite a few original old buildings and pit heads on site.
This is one of two museums in Kalgoorlie, both based on mining. This one has working demonstrations of an underground mine, old machinery and pouring molten gold from a crucible.
A gold* ingot, fresh out of the mould.
* Well, it's got some gold in it, as well as silver, and a heap of other minerals, but at least it LOOKS like gold! The chap doing the demonstration indicated that had it been pure gold, there would have been armed guards and steel bars between us and the ingot.
Pam wonders if she can make a break for it with the ingot, then remembers it's not worth as much as she thought. :-)
Other displays include both modern and old-time prospectors and their equipment.
Mining magnate Lang Hancock's Auster, named after his wife, Hope.
Old Toyotas never die. They just get put in museums. WA Prospector's Land Cruiser from the '80s.
One of the higher points of Kalgoorlie is Mt Charlotte. It gives a great view of the town.
On the top of the hill is the town's water supply. Being built in the middle of some very arid countryside, water has always been a problem for, first the miners, and then the other settlers who followed. The problem was solved in 1895 by C Y O'Conner when he instigated a pipeline from Perth to supply the gold fields with water. When built, it was the world's longest fresh water pipeline, took 8 years to complete (1895-1903), had 8 steam-powered pumping stations and 560kms of pipeline to supply 23,000 kilolitres (more than 5 million Imp Gallons) daily. Never had so much fresh water been pumped so far.
Day 18 - Kalgoorlie
Today 0kms / Total 4359kms
Rest day. Nothing happened!
Day 19 - Kalgoorlie - Esperance
Today 420kms / Total 4779kms
Sad day again today as we part company with Peter and Pam (again). They're heading north from Kalgoorlie while we go off to explore the South West of Western Australia. They did this part of WA last year and want to explore further afield. We hope to meet up with them again somewhere in the north of WA in about 6 to 8 weeks.
Esperance is a lovely little town on the western edge of the Great Australian Bight. We checked into a delightfully located caravan park (across the road from the beach) and proceeded to do a little exploring before having a delicious fish and chip dinner overlooking the water,
Esperance harbour, marina in the foreground and the old Tanker Jetty in the distance (home of Sammy the Sea Lion - see below)
Looking out to sea from the headland at Esperance.
Day 20 - Esperance (Cape Le Grand Nat Pk)
Today 120kms / Total 4900kms
One of the places we were looking forward to seeing on the south coast of WA was Cape Le Grand National Park. It has granite headlands and white sand beaches and looks spectacular in the tourist photos, so we wanted to see if it lived up to its reputation.
I think I'll just put a few photos in here and let you decide.
Cape Le Grand beach, Cape Le Grand Nat Pk
Lucky Bay, Cape Le Grand Nat Pk.
Lucky Bay was named by Matthew Flinders when he entered it on Jan 9th, 1802 during his circumnavigation of Australia.
Thistle Cove, Cape Le Grand Nat Pk.
Thistle Cove beach, Cape Le Grand Nat Pk.
Note that they're all totally overrun with pollution, people, rotten weather etc...
While it's not the wildflower season (that's spring), there was still a lot to see.
A beautiful Honeysuckle to tempt all the Honeyeaters.
There were numerous Banksias, and of course if you have Banksias, you have...
... Big Bad Banksia Men!!
(If you weren't brought up on 'Snugglepot and Cuddlepie', click here for more on the Big Bad Banksia Men.)
The beach is very flat and firm between Cape Le Grand Nat Pk and a creek just short of Esperance. The locals use it when the tide is right as it saves about 20kms getting to the National Park. There is so much traffic this way that the National Park has an entry booth as you come off the sand into the car park to collect the park entry fee! We talked to a local who had just arrived via the beach and ascertained that it was very hard and the tide was on its way out, so we decided to go home that way.
It was a far better surface than the dirt roads in the area!
Needless to say, The Beast got a bit of TLC when we got back to the caravan park to get rid of any remaining sand and salt in its undercarriage.
It was just a perfect day out!
Day 21 - Esperance
Today 20kms / Total 4920kms
Not much today as we're getting ready for a couple of days of bush camping. Just supermarket shopping, refuelling, etc.
We did, however, get to see Sammy the Sea Lion this morning! There are two Sammys in Esperance. One is a bronze statue at the foot of the old Tanker Jetty. This status was cast in 1992.
Sammy in 1992 - very dapper!
A rather more rotund Sammy in 2011. Has success gone to his head?
Sammy basically sits around under the jetty and waits for fishermen to throw him leftover fish. What a life!
Esperance (like Sammy) really seems to be laid-back.
Wonder where the disgruntled, agitated or upset staff park their cars?
(CALM = WA Dept. of Conservation And Land Management)
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