Saturday 3rd June, 2017

An unusual tour to say the least! Everyone was recommending it as a "must do" in Kalgoorlie so we had to do it. When I rang to book in, a very soft, breathy voice answered the phone, didn't take any details and told us the date of time of the tour. I was very dubious about what we would encounter!

Now this was a first for both of us - or so Kev told me, and it was really interesting to learn the history of Australia's oldest brothel called Questa Casa on Hay Street Kalgoorlie.

The Questa Casa is one of the worlds oldest working brothels, and is known for it famous starting stalls. Behind the pink "starting door" is an area where the customer can view the girl behind the door, and likewise for the girl, to pick and choose her clients. If a starting door was open, it was open for business so to speak.

The Madam, as she was known, was just so very interesting, as was her story about how her purchase of the Brothel came about and her eventual move to Kalgoorlie.

We viewed all the bedrooms, the S&M room, and heard lots of hair raising stories. I will not go into too much detail, but suffice to say that it was set up as a necessity for the many miners in the town, and the girls who worked there lived by very strict rules indeed. The workers were not to go to any other location to work eg a hotel; they had to go out during the day in pairs, and their safety and well being was paramount at all times. The brothel was supervised by the local detective chief and according to the current owner, there was never a hint of corruption.

Initially there were many brothels set up in and around Kalgoorlie, but as the town thrived and families moved in, the council felt it would be best to move all the brothels out of the main part of the town, so they all moved into Hay Street, and this is the only one remaining. Suffice to say,it is now almost in the centre of town, nor far from the Woolies complex.

A bit of fun, but also a lot of history of this seemingly vital industry!