Not just Kalgoorlie, nowadays it's Kalgoorlie-Boulder, with a current population of 36,000. Boulder had been a seperate town, but the Magic Mile of gold reef was under one side, so that side got shifted to the Kalgoorlie side as the super-pit grew, and they eventually joined together. Water It's still hard to believe that a town of 30,000 could exist without a good water supply in the 1890s. It did lead to typhoid and other disease. There was a government well...

Our new neighbour says that our little swooping birds are Noisy Miners, vs. Indian or Bell Mynahs. According to our bird book the noisy miners are endemic and are far worse at displacing other birds with their aggressive, communal behaviour, than the Indian Mynahs which are far better known. Sun 27 Oct Museum Markets. The advertising was deceptive for the farmers markets yesterday and we missed it. Back to Twilight Cove in the afternoon for a swim, snorkel, and...

Sat 25 Oct Port Esperance Each Saturday afternoon there's a public bus tour of the port. The coach is owned by the Junior Fire Fighters (who knew that was a thing?) and the commentary done by a member of Apex. Both charities are paid by the port for doing it, plus our donations. They're not officially allowed to charge without a taxi licence. Rail and Shipping (O.K, I only included the trains for Jono, but they're pretty special) - Mineral Resources Iron or...

Hopetoun has 2 wind turbines. We'd been hoping that it was going to be calm and warm for our return to the coast, but not so much. Explored Culham Inlet and the Fitzgerald River National Park. Culham Inlet is yet another one of those amazing Aussie estuaries which can go years and years without breaking through to the sea. It's a hard concept for Kiwis to get their heads around - I guess Lake Ellesmere is a comparison, with less fresh coming in. The cliffs and ...

Hyden/Wave Rock Named after a young sandalwood collector who camped nearby. His name was Hyde - the "N" on the end was a mis-print when it got on the Lands and Survey map. Prior to 1963 Wave Rock wasn't recognised as an attraction - it was just a useful catchment area for the water supply for the small township of Hyden. A low stone wall had been built around the rim of the rock channeled rainwater into a dam originally built in 1928 and supplied one "come and...