Kalgoorlie.... we didn't know what to expect, but we knew we were looking forward to catching up with Brendan, Shelley and little Caiden.

As we pulled into Boulder we were greeted by what looked to be a prison... we later found out it was undergoing renovations to transform it into a max security. (We were both intrigued by prisons after watching 'Orange is the New Black!!')

A minute or so later we were greeted by three smiling faces, we were just so excited to see some familiar faces...(a change from the Grey Nomads!) A chance to celebrate birthdays and engagements with dear friends!

After we had a grand tour of their palace, we were shown our room.... A bed, A real bed!

Tara and Caiden instantly became the best of friends...clucky indeed!?

Brendan was very keen to show us what Kalgoorlie is all about... GOLD! More so mining... so off we went to check out the Super Pit, where they both worked. Brendan- a loader and dozer driver and Shelley- a dump truck driver.

The term 'SuperPit' was an understatement. From the lookout the 'SuperPi't was massive. Machinery that towers over a human standing next to them, looked like tiny dots in a huge pit. Then came the blast...to us it seemed pretty big and loud, but Brendan said it was rather small compared to the normal blasts which rock the town.

After the SuperPit blasts, Brendan took us to the top of a lookout just out of town to show off the whole of Kalgoorlie/Boulder at sunset. As we climbed the steep rocky incline in 4WD we could see what looked to be moulten lava pouring over a hill... one of the processes used by the Nickel smelter. The orange glow was amazing to watch.

The days after were made up of tours around the town, including the old 2UP sheds in the middle of nowhere...which are still up and about every Sunday!

We spent a day travelling out to the Orabanda Pub, a historic old pub literally in the middle of nowhere and featured in the great mint swindle which we watched that night. After Orabanda, we went off to the Broad Arrow pub, an iconic pub made up of walls covered in peoples names. We had to add ours as a keepsake.

We enjoyed our first meal out as we made our way back into town... and then the boys were keen on visiting a few of the pubs.... there are around 21 choices in Kalgoorlie/Boulder to choose from. Brendan said we had to visit the exchange to see what the 'skimpies' were all about. Tristan was finding hard to keep up with Brendan... lets just say he's still recovering!!

After a fews days to relax and spend some quality time with friends and even some time to fit Judy's solar panel, it was time to say farewell.

It was hard to say goodbye to a real bed and even harder to say goodbye to dear friends... but we knew we had to get on our way... Esperance bound.

A huge thank-you to Brendan, Shelley and Caiden for showing us Kalgoorlie and for being the perfect hosts!

Thanks Kalgoorlie xx