Day 20:

What a delightfully quiet evening although we do hear a gentle hum of traffic from the mines but it is constant so no problem at all. We have divested the bed of our quilt, being very brave as we have been up to 2 quilts and a blanket up to a week ago. Our tour commenced at 9 and we were on a bus for the next hour and half within the mine. Great tour guide, very informative about all the goings on around the mine site. Massive again and a bit sad really. They started with a mountain at 805 m above sea level and now is 135 below. They pump out 46 million litres of water each week and when the mine is finished in 25 - 50 years time when they predict they will have cleared out all the iron ore they will fill in as much as possible then let the water takeover. So, Mt Whaleback will become Lake Whaleback. The town is quite green and actually has a greenish golfcourse. On our return we were given scones and coffee. The scones could have filled holes in the bottom of the mine as far as I am concerned, hard as but the mouth of the south polished off both servings.

We spent the afternoon visiting Opthalmia Dam which is the towns water supply, really lovely to see water again, amazing spot in what is such a dry dusty part of the country. Also the Radio Tower lookout that showed the town and its surrounds. We have had to buy water to travel with as not always safe to drink what is on offer in town even though it is boiled and filtered. Photos taken with my new Tonka toy, thought we could use it for rubbish runs to the tip, willing to share with any close neighbour, Gretina.