Dumptrucks, Diggers & Gold – Why Kalgoorlie is the Ultimate Boys Town

Explore Australia

Mar 20

Drive into Kalgoorlie from the East and you can almost taste gold in the air

– the roads get bigger and wider, the traffic larger and heavier and mine sites become liberally scattered on the side of the road amongst the desert mulga and salt lakes. Mining operations appear to be ticking along here bigtime.

**Every where you look there’s evidence of mining operations around Kalgoorlie**

As we drove past road train after road train hauling heavy vehicle loads and lugging massive machinery parts, I watched with interest as my son’s eyes grew larger and larger. He may be entering his teen years but you can’t take his fascination with heavy construction out of him.

**The Heritage listed buildings stand out**

And when you enter the town of Kalgoorlie, sitting on the edge of the Kalgoorlie Super Pit, and see pubs on every corner, drill stores and fossicking shops, buildings built during the gold-mining boom along with their upmarket retail stores you start to realise this looks more and more like a big boy’s playground.

SO, Here’s my Ultimate Play list for the boys (and those that love boy stuff) in your family:

The Streets of Kalgoorlie

Explore the Township with its wide streets and heritage listed frontages.

**The wide road & street frontage date back to the gold rush days**

Most of the shops, government buildings and grand hotels date back to the gold-rush era of the early 1900’s. Of special note is the Palace Hotel and its Balcony Bar and Restaurant – Although its not family friendly below (they run a skimpy bar) it’s worth a visit to the Balcony Bar – its dripping in style and antiquity and you feel like you’re back in the gold days when you enter the big stairwell. Make sure you stop and look for former US President Hoover’s poem on the wall to an ex-barmaid.

**Feel how heavy a real gold nugget is**

Don’t forget to check out the shop interiors as little has changed, plus a gold fossicking shop like Natural Gold Nuggets and Jewellery that have some real gold nuggets on display. Feel the weight of real gold and marvel at the nugget’s natural colour and their different shapes and sizes.

Kalgoorlie Super Pit

To truly appreciate the depth of operation in this region you have to pay a visit to the Kalgoorlie Super Pit, Australia's largest gold-producing mine. Easy access is via the town’s lookout – where it appears that half the town is made up of this big hole (see facts at the end of this article).

Sunset rocks at this place and you’ll notice around the town some information on when the next blast is happening, which can be viewed from the lookout.

**The Kalgoorlie Super Pit is truly impressive**

If you want to get closer to the action and feel the earth move when the big loaders trundle past hop on the tour with Kalgoorlie Tours & Charters . It's a great way to get a feel of the size and power involved as you're driven around the pit to lookouts, past the processing plant and through the truck bays.

**Its hard to even see the bottom of the Super Pit**

This tour is best suited for older kids who really need to know ALL the facts plus see it for themselves, up close and personal. Check out our 10 fast facts at the end of this article.....

Hannans North Tourist Mine

Great interactive space for kids to get a handle on this ‘mining’ thing. Historic mining huts are scattered around Hannans, mine headshafts, Banker saloons, a shantytown and all the bits and bobs that make a mining town tick.

Our kids loved the fact you could climb onto a 113-tonne Caterpiller793C haul truck, play a game of two-up (player, coins and even $$$$ provided) and learn about Paddy Hannan in person – he comes to life to tell you about his story and how he discovered gold in this region.

**Kids loved getting up close to the equipment at Hannans North Tourist Mine**

Panning for gold was also another highlight and the kids showed us they hadn’t lost their touch after their last experience at Charters Towers.

Gwalia Ghost Town

It's out of Town BUT worth a visit and its claim to fame is that it was US President Herbert Hoover’s old stomping grounds (he managed the local mine before he went on to become President). Now it’s an old mining town that became deserted when the pit refused to update the living conditions of miners.

**Imagine coming home to this after a hard day of mining**

When you walk around Gwalia you can understand why the residents weren’t overly happy. Living conditions are simple with dirt floors and hessian walls and corrugated roofs for protection. Now residents in the region have adopted the houses and are doing simple renovations to help remember the past.

**Living was simple for some of the miners**

Lake Ballard

This is a unique opportunity to camp next to a world-recognised art installation. Weird alien like figures dot the lake and provide a reason to walk out and inspect the landscape further. Tracks to and from the figures are scattered throughout on the salt pan crust.

Don’t miss an opportunity to take a quick side tour to the Menzie’s Pioneer cemetery where ‘tin’ headstones take the place of the real thing and read how tough the pioneers had it back then.

Kalgoorlie - Menzie Cemetery @adventuremumma

Ultimately Kalgoorlie will not only cater for the boys but it will entertain all your family. It's a regional city that caters for miners but easily has plenty to suit those travellers that are prepared to venture out to the Goldfields capital. We loved it.........

10 Fast Facts on the Kalgoorlie Super Pit

Gold was first discovered in 1893 by Paddy Hannan.
The richest square mile on earth (the Golden Mile) was pegged out a few years later.
In 120 years there have been over 80 mining operations exploiting the Golden Mile.
Alan Bond was one of the brains behind forming a single large-scale operation that became the Kalgoorlie Super Pit.
The Kalgoorlie Super Pit is made up of 260 individual mining leases joined together.
The Kalgoorlie Super Pit produces about 60 kilograms of gold a day.
The operation runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Truck tyres weigh around 5 tonnes & it takes 45-mins to change a tyre.
Each month the operation uses 5-6 million litres of diesel.
In 2029 the Kalgoorlie Super Pit will be 3.9 kms long, 1.6km wide & 700m deep.

Have you been to Kalgoorlie yet? What are your thoughts on the Kalgoorlie Super Pit?

Please Note: We received our tours complimentary BUT all views, opinions and photos in this article are 100% my own.