Western Australia Attractions

Boulder Boulder, now amalgamated with Kalgoorlie, grew out of the encampment set up by gold prospectors near the mines. The main problem, the lack of water, was solved by the construction of a pipeline and pumping stations bringing supplies from Mundaring Weir, near Perth, at the beginning of the 20th C. This bold project was initiated and promoted by CY O'Connor, who had previously built Fremantle's artificial harbor - though he committed suicide before the work was completed.

Coolgardie After Arthur Bayley and William Ford found great quantities of gold nuggets here in 1892 Coolgardie grew from nothing into a town which by 1900 had a population of 15,000, with 23 hotels, six banks and several daily papers. But the superficial deposits of gold were quickly exhausted, the prospectors moved on and many of the town's buildings fell into ruin. Tourism has given a fresh lease of life to what had become an almost dead town. Coolgardie now has a population of just under 1000.

Coolgardie lies 560km east of Perth in a semi-arid plain. In the early days of the settlement life in this hot, dry region was inconceivably hard, and many died of disease.

There is an exhibition on the history of the goldfields in the largest building in the town, an imposing stone structure in Bayley Street erected by the government in 1898, with shady arcades, balconies and stucco decoration (open daily; tourist office).

Warden Finnerty's House (Lot 2048, off Hunt Street), built in 1895 as the residence of the mine inspector, with a wide overhanging roof and a verandah running round the house, has been restored by the National Trust. The handsome railroad station (1896) is now a museum.

Eucla Eucla (pop. under 200) is a tiny outpost of civilization in the solitude of the Nullarbor Plain.

From the hill there are views of the ruins of the old telegraph repeater station and settlement, now almost covered by sand, and the Southern Ocean. Eucla lost its function with the opening of the transcontinental telephone line along the Indian-Pacific railroad line, 100km north. From the Eucla motel and roadhouse there is a rough track to the remains of the telegraph station.

Kalgoorlie Although Western Australia's gold boom began in the far north, round Halls Creek, in 1885, the main goldfields lay in the barren regions 500-600km east of Perth. It was here, round Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie, that the gold rush reached its peak. In this desolate waste the first nuggets of gold were found in 1893 by an Irishman named Paddy Hannan, and the rich deposits of gold in the famous Golden Mile were a magnet for many thousands of prospectors. In 1896 Kalgoorlie, which had grown from nothing, was declared a town, and in the following year it was linked with Perth by a new railroad line. After the superficial deposits were worked out the extraction of gold continued in deep mines. A further boost was given to Kalgoorlie's economy by the discovery of rich deposits of nickel at Kambalda, to the south of the town. This and the constant influx of visitors have prevented Kalgoorlie from becoming a ghost town: it now has a population of over 25,000.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder The goldfields region is remote, wild, hot, dry and thinly populated. If you intend to leave the main road it is essential to take plenty of water, food and fuel. Before setting out you should check on the condition of the roads and tracks. There are information bureau in Kalgoorlie and Boulder.

Particular care is required in abandoned mining areas. The workings are mostly unsafe and unfenced.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder is easily reached from Perth and also from Norseman, where the Eyre Highway ends after crossing the Nullarbor Plain.

A variety of excursions to the goldfields are on offer. An interesting possibility is a package covering a trip on the Prospector tourist train from East Perth Terminal combined with a coach tour to the gold mines, most of them now abandoned.

From Kalgoorlie-Boulder there are day trips to various (partly abandoned) gold-mining towns within easy reach - Coolgardie, Broad Arrow, Ora Banda, Kookynie, Leonora.

Laverton Laverton (pop. 1140) is an old gold-digging town which has been given a fresh lease of life by the Windarra nickel mine and modern gold-mining operations. From Mount Windarra there is a good view of the opencast nickel mine.

From Laverton there are tracks (part of the Gunbarrel Highway; sometimes in poor condition) through a desert-like landscape and Aboriginal territory (permit required) to Ayers Rock and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The route is suitable only for all-terrain vehicles, and proper preparation and equipment are essential. All supplies and water must be taken, since they are not available en route. The total distance from Perth via Kalgoorlie, Laverton, Warburton (filling station), Giles, Docker River (filling station) and Ayers Rock to Alice Springs is 2500km.

Leonora Leonora (pop. 1000) and the neighboring settlement of Gwalia flourished as gold-mining towns at the end of the 19th C, and the productive Sons of Gwalia gold mine closed down only in 1963. The two towns were given a fresh lease of life when nickel and gold mines were opened up at Leinster, to the north, and Laverton to the east.

The country round Leonora is flat and covered with mulga scrub, but when rain falls in spring (August and early September) there is a profusion of wild flowers. Everywhere there are remains of old mining operations.

Leonora has preserved something of the atmosphere of a gold-mining town of around 1900. Its most notable buildings are the Gwalia State Hotel (1902-3), now the offices of the Western Mining Corporation, and the Gwalia Historical Gallery, in the former offices of the Sons of Gwalia Mine (1898), in which the future U.S. President Hoover worked for a time (at the south end of Gwalia).

In Tower Street are the Grand Hotel, the Post Office and the White House Hotel.

Norseman Norseman (pop. 1900) is the last place of any size before the journey over the long and featureless Nullarbor Plain to South Australia.

The huge spoil heaps which dominate the townscape recall the great days of the early finds of gold. The gold-bearing quartz reef is still being mined, and there are frequently fossickers at work in the area; permits can be obtained from the Norseman tourist bureau.

The Historical and Geological Museum, housed in the former School of Mines in Battery Road, has an interesting collection of mining equipment and old photographs. The little post office dates from 1896. In the main street is a monument to Norseman, a horse which, pawing the ground, brought to light a nugget of gold, thus sparking off the gold boom and giving the town its name. There are conducted tours of the opencast workings by previous appointment.

In the surrounding area are remains of old mine workings and numerous salt lakes.

Nullarbor / Eyre Highway The Eyre Highway, the only east-west road in the south of Australia, runs across the Nullarbor Plain between South and Western Australia. At Ceduna, in the northwest of the Eyre Peninsula (South Australia), it comes close to the Southern Ocean and then runs almost due west for almost 1000km. Here begins the Nullarbor (from Latin nullus arbor, no trees), an endless bare and almost treeless expanse of salt scrub vegetation. Geologically the plain consists of sediment deposited on the bottom of an ancient sea which was later raised, to become a hot and arid desert landscape.

At various points along the course of the Eyre Highway side roads go off to the rocky coast on the stormy Southern Ocean, with its bizarrely shaped limestone cliffs, karstic formations and overhanging rock faces. In addition to the magnificent views of coastal scenery, travelers between June and October may be lucky enough to observe whales passing on their annual migration.

In 1841 John Eyre became the first European to cross the Nullarbor along the Great Australian Bight from Adelaide to Albany. Nowadays, 150 years later, the long, monotonous journey holds no terrors for travelers on the well engineered highway with its filling stations, rest areas and overnight stopovers. The distance from the South Australian border to Norseman, the end of the Eyre Highway, is 725km.

The transcontinental railroad runs parallel to the Eyre Highway some 100km north, cutting across the empty waste in a dead straight line for 480km. A telegraph line was laid along the edge of the Nullarbor Plain in 1877 from Albany to Eucla, linked by way of Port Augusta with the overland telegraph line to Adelaide in the east and Darwin in the north.

Time zones

Travelers from west to east must put the clock forward twice by 45 minutes each time, changing to Western Australian Central Time at Caiguna and to South Australian Standard Time at the state border to the east of Eucla.

Stopovers on Eyre Highway

The first place with a rest area, filling station and overnight accommodation on the journey eastward from Norseman is Balladonia (190km), amid the gentle hills of the Fraser Range. The stone fences built by the early settlers can still be seen. 28km east of the motel and caravan park, beyond the ruins of the old telegraph station, is the Balladonia Station Homestead (1822). Beyond this is a 145km stretch of dead straight road to Caiguna (182km from Balladonia). Between Balladonia and Caiguna are rock pools - natural waterholes - at which the camel trains of the 1890s used to halt. At the roadhouse sightseeing flights over the coast are on offer. The next possible stopover is Cocklebiddy, 66km from Caiguna. Behind the roadhouse can be seen the ruins of a mission station for the Aborigines. To the northeast are interesting caves; on the coast to the south is a bird-watching station. 91km east of Cocklebiddy is Madura, founded in 1876, with the hills of the Hampton Tableland in the background. At Mundrabilla, 114km east of Madura, is a bird sanctuary. 68km east of Mundrabilla, only 12km short of the South Australian border, is Eucla, with a police station and a medical post. To the south of the settlement are the ruins of the old telegraph station, now almost completely buried by the sand dunes, which are a favorite subject with photographers. Beyond the state boundary the Eyre Highway continues for another 480km over the Nullarbor.

On the South Australian section of the highway are five lookouts with impressive views of grand coastal scenery.

Mandurah Mandurah (pop. 18,020) is an increasingly popular holiday resort and residential town for commuters to Perth. The sheltered waters of Peel Inlet, into which the rivers Harvey, Serpentine and Murray flow, and the more open waters of the Indian Ocean offer excellent conditions for sailing, boating, swimming and fishing. Early reservation is therefore advisable, particularly during the holiday season.

There are few remains of the difficult early days of the town. Hall's Cottage, in Leighton Road, was built in 1835 by one of the first settlers. Christ Church in Sholl Street has fine carving in the interior.

Pinjarra Pinjarra (pop. 1590) lies in an area which was settled at a very early stage. It is easily reached on the South Western Highway or on the scenic Old Coast Road from Fremantle. The large Alcoa alumina refinery is the mainstay of the town's economy and has brought an increase in population.

Among buildings preserved from the early days of the settlement are two old settlers' houses (open weekdays; occupied by a library and an art society) on the South Western Highway, Edenvale (c 1888) and Liveringa (c 1848), and St John's Church (Anglican; c 1845), a plain brick building at the corner of the South Western Highway and Henry Street.