DAY 1 PERTH-COOLGARDIE

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Heavy, rain laden cloud covered the city of Perth as we eagerly ‘hit-the-road’, with destination, “Big Red Bash” at Birdsville, 12km over the South Australian border in Queensland. The Prado purred along beautifully as it towed our XTRK, our home for the majority of the next 50 days. Having spent 4 years (Andrew), 2 years (Jane) teaching in the Goldfields (Kalgoorlie-Boulder) we had travelled Great Eastern Highway on numerous occasions, hence our first stop, Coolgardie, was not new to us. We caught up with Steve W, a close friend of a close friend, meeting him for the first time, even though we knew much about each other from our joint friend, Glenn C. Steve had a room made up for us and spent the afternoon and evening conversing over a range of topics while at the same time feeding our faces with a beautiful meal prepared by Steve and Jane. Well, someone has to supervise if one is wondering what my role was. I did do the clearing, washing up and drying up but before those onerous tasks I did have a double serving (six scoops) of icecream. Steve proved to be a wonderful person. He works with Indigenous students from far flung places teaching music and other essentials. He is making a huge difference as he understands the importance of relationship. The ease at which we ‘clicked’ is testament to his sincere nature. A new friend for life.

Coolgardie was founded in 1892 and is a small town approximately 560kms east of Perth. About 850-900 people live there. It is mainly a tourist town even though there are a smattering of small mining developments in the vicinity. it was once the third largest town in WA. due to the mining of alluvial gold. Many miners suffered under the harsh conditions and even though a few made their fortune most left poorer than they had started. Gold was discovered in the area known as Fly Flat by prospector Arthur Bayley and William Ford. Coolgardie’s value in the late 1890s was so very significant that it was used as leverage to force W.A. to join the Federation. Many of the buildings have been retained, which aided tourism no end.

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Comments

[Cap]

Magic
Magic that the Woodsey/Belotti connection has now happened face to face/heart to heart/hbd to mouth.

[Pat]

Received and appreciated.
Enjoy the trip including any detours. X