Kalgoorlie - Day 12

Mackenzie -  We got ready then we went to the museum, its a museum about this area and mining.  It has got a elevator and you go up to the top and look at the whole town.  It has lots of old animals and lots of gold.  Then we drove down to the Broad Arrow Tavern, we had chips and played in the playground.  We wrote our names on the wall, you are allowed to write your names on the pub walls and roof.  We drove back into town and went to IGA to get dinner and every time we stop the car Bentley barks so we got him a thunder shirt.  We went back to the caravan park and went in the pool for a while.  We had faijitas for tea and a donut.

                                                 me with a dingo - the dingo is stuffed

                                                 I wrote my name on the wall at the pub

Fletcher:  We had a nice day today.  It started off when we went to the museum, we went on the big mining shaft right at the front of the museum, you can see all of Kalgoorlie from the top.  The 1st floor is about animals, there are a lot of extinct animals in the museum that are stuffed and a lot of information about them too.  The second floor is about how people used to live and the 3rd floor is the vault that keeps all the gold.  In the back yard of the museum there is a cottage.  There is a lot of old stuff in the cottage and that house is how people used to live.  There is also a police cart and there is a very posh office, one office represents the area Perth and the other represents Kalgoorlie.  We also saw Mulga Bills bike that he made.  The next thing we did was a little drive around.  For lunch we went to a pub called the Broad Arrow tavern, the chips were nice.  Then we had a little drive and took a photo of my Auntie Janes old house.  Then we came back to the caravan park and had a swim.

                                                      up the top of the mine museum

                                                          Kalgoorlie from up high

                                                          Mulga Bills Bike that he made

We had a great day today.  We went to the museum for what we thought would be a quick look but we spent hours there.  Such an interesting place.  We took it in turns of minding Bentley in the beautiful gardens of the museum, there were little tracks, manicured grass and lots of seats and picnic tables.  The kids explained the museum pretty well I think, it was 33 metres tall and the glass lift took you probably 3 quarters of the way up with an amazing view of Kalgoorlie.  I even went up, my fear of heights isn't getting any better but I hold on at all times and feel a little secure.  The cottages out the back are all donated to the museum and are filled with furniture from the appropriate time, the kids were shocked to see an outside laundry and horrified to see the outside toilet.  There was a camp style setup that reminded us all of the bases at Harkaway Primary so Fletcher was in his element and was studying it hard for ideas.  We drove out to the Broad Arrow Tavern which was a sight to see,  there were names on every inch of the walls, ceilings, chairs, tables, bar, well you name it if it stood still long enough it had graffiti on it.  We all had a turn of writing our names on it and watched people returning and searching for where they wrote their names last time.  We had brought bread & packed the car fridge with cold meat but by the time we got out to the tavern we had decided a big bowl of chips to share sounded more exciting.  The Broady Burger is what they are famous for and the group that came in while we were there all ordered a burger!  We had a drive around town and found one of the houses that Jane had lived in.  We have met a lot of really nice people so far and today was no different, a young couple at the pool who set off 3 weeks ago from Echuca, his work contract as an electrician had come to an end and she wasn't 100% happy in her role. So a month ago they made the decision to pack up and go, towing a trailer with his tools and they are sleeping in a tent!  They hope to get work along the way and intend to be away 12 months but think it may be indefinitely if they find work.  I'm thinking 12 months in a tent is waaaaaay to long.  We got our Bentley a thunder shirt today, something we had seen on Dr Harry some time ago and the pet shop suggested it today to help with his anxiety.  It is made from t-shirt material and fits snuggly to his body on his pressure points to help with a lot of things like, fear of thunder, separation anxiety, barking, car & travel anxiety, excitability- ok I wont go on but as you can see our boy ticks all the boxes.  So fingers crossed he will relax a bit, if not it has a 100% satisfaction guarantee.  Daniel took us on a drive around the industrial estate and he was so blown away with all the trucks and machinery, taking countless photos of their yards.  We also went to see Cameron's old work.  Dan is loving the road train  country but feels like he just isn't getting enough photo opportunities, the trucks are continually working so there are very few that are pulled up in stops or yards for him to get photos of. We pulled over on the highway and I tried to get a photo of one driving but it is near impossible to fit all the trailers in the photo, I got the trailers in just not the prime mover - fail ! But Dan likes it and wants it on the blog?!

                              Looking up at Ivanhoe headframe, from the viewing platform

                                       British Arms Hotel - the most narrow pub in Australia

                                       The 2 Up shed north of Kalgoorlie - come in spinner

The kids new base

                                               My attempt at a "triple" on the move

The Broad Arrow Tavern