Kalgoorlie - Day 1 - Ruby Tourist Tram & Museum of the Goldfields

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This morning, we started at the Kalgoorlie Town Hall where the Visitor Centre is located. We were just in time to book onto the 9.30am Ruby Tourist Tram which is actually more of a bus. This tourist service nearly folded last year until the council stepped in to save it. After running it for eight months, replacing the tram/bus and hiring a driver they have handed it over to the Visitor Centre to manage and run.

Our driver, Greg, then drove us around to a number of places of interest around Kalgoorlie and Boulder … with a drone in tow. As part of his introduction, he warned us that some filming was happening today for promotional purposes. Sure enough, as we set of down Hannan Street, we could see the drone buzzing along with us.

Our first stop was at the Mount Charlotte Lookout where we had a 360° view over Kalgoorlie. As this is the site of the original Mount Charlotte Reservoir at the end of the water pipeline from the Mundaring Weir some 560-kilometres away Greg told us a little about the Engineer-in-Chief for the project, C. Y. (Charles Yelverton) O’Connor who assured a water supply to the eastern goldfields with his bold plan to build a reservoir near Perth and then pipe the water into the desert. Finished in 1903 it was only in 2009 that it was recognized as an international historic civil engineering landmark – only the third in Australia behind the Snowy River Scheme and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

From one engineering wonder to another our next stop was at the Kalgoorlie Super Pit Lookout. Patrick (Paddy) Hannan and Thomas Flanagan discovered gold on the slopes of Mount Charlotte in June 1893 triggering Australia’s last and richest gold rush. Known as the Golden Mile, this area is still mined to this day. Could Paddy and Tom ever have envisaged the ginormous hole in the ground that their find would lead to?? The mines of Kalgoorlie-Boulder have produced over 60 million ounces of gold making it one of the richest gold producing areas in the world.

Our next stop was intended to part us from our cash! Hmmn, it felt a little bit like we were in Bangkok being taken to a cousin's silk shop??! Chunky Timbers is the timber working studio of Kim ‘Chunky’ Gent. It’s a pretty chaotic looking workshop which we were invited to take a look around. There’s no OH&S here he said, just common sense. If it’s on the ground step over it, if it’s in the way go around it!! He produces beautiful pieces from timber that would otherwise be discarded. Having a great appreciation for timber we could not resist making a purchase.

Then we drove down to Boulder which is really just a suburb of Kalgoorlie these days. We stopped at the Boulder Town Hall where the custodian/volunteer told us about the important community role the town hall played in the early days. Next, we called in at the Signpost Racing Museum at the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Racing Club.

On the way to our final stop on the tour we drove down the infamous Hay Street which was once the red-light district of Kalgoorlie. Greg pointed out Questa Casa at 133 Hay Street telling us that the madam runs an interesting and entertaining tour each afternoon at 3.00pm telling visitors about the history of the ladies of the night in Kalgoorlie.

Our final stop was the Museum of the Goldfields where we were taken on a short tour of The Vault which houses a glittering collection of specimens (representing half the State’s gold collection!) that tell the history of gold discovery, gold mining, gold thieving and gold working.

Greg returned us to the Kalgoorlie Town Hall in time for lunch. We ventured just along Hannan Street to Café 312 for a quick meal before heading back to the Museum of the Goldfields for a more thorough visit. On our return visit we had time to view the exhibition ‘Fathoming the Abrolhos’ a photography exhibition by Graeme Gunness showcasing the diverse beauty of the Houtman Abrolhos islands located off the coast of Geraldton. The vibrancy of the marine plants and animals could give the Great Barrier Reef a run for its money.

We watched a fascinating DVD about Charles O’Connor and the first premier of WA, John Forrest. It provided us with more information about the incredible engineering feat to bring water to Coolgardie/Kalgoorlie/Boulder and the relationship between this huge infrastructure project and WA’s position on joining the Federation. It is sometimes said that Charles O’Connor was one of Australia’s first public figures to be a victim of trial by media. The Perth-based media became very strident in its criticism of the pipeline project and eventually it all became too much for Charles and he took his own life before the project was completed. Very sad indeed.

With closing time for the museum rapidly approaching we took the lift up the Ivanhoe Headframe. Standing 39-metres high the Headframe was originally part of the Big Bell Mine in Cue before it was moved to the Ivanhoe mine in Kalgoorlie. Its final move has seen it become a permanent exhibit here at the museum.

It was another beautiful afternoon in Kalgoorlie, perfect for a walk along both sides of Hannan Street admiring the lovely Federation era buildings. Greg had told us about the spectacular staircase in the York Hotel, so we brazenly walked in to check it out without even buying a drink! The pubs that remain on Hannan Street and elsewhere in Kalgoorlie are but a few of the hotels that once graced the streets here.

Back at Rydges Bernie, Cathy and Steve swam again in the pool. Tracey chickened out, since it’s only mid-20s not 40 degrees!

Feeling a little guilty about our tourist invasion of the York Hotel earlier in the day we returned there for dinner. They were very reasonable about us going in to take photos of their wonderful staircase it seemed the right thing to do to go and spend some $$ there. We were rewarded with a great selection of menu items, and all enjoyed our meals.



Steps: 12,085 (8.04kms)

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