Day 2 – Northam to Kalgoorlie

Cunderdin, Bruce Rock, Hyden – Wave Rock, Southern Cross, Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie

This morning don’t miss your photo opportunity on Australia’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge when you take an early morning work over the Suspension Bridge close by to our accommodation.

Today we head east on the Great Eastern Highway to Cunderdin.

Visit Cunderdin Museum. Arguably the central attraction in the Cunderdin Shire. Historic No.3 Steam Pumping Station for the Mundaring to Kalgoorlie Pipe Line built at the turn of the century. The project was commissioned in 1896 and was completed in 1903.

Bruce Rock has a Centenary Mosaic Pathway. The pathway contains over 300 mosaic slabs which show farms, buildings, churches, sporting groups, shops and families from the early days.

At Hyden visit Wave Rock that was formed before the age of dinosaurs, about 2.7 billion years ago. It is one of the oldest rocks in the world.

Wave Rock is an ancient granite formation that has been exposed to weathering processes for over 60 million years. It is about 15 metres high and about 110 metres long.

Visit Hippo’s Yawn Cave and after lunch, we visit The Humps, as well as visit Mulka’s cave. The name Mulka comes from an Aboriginal legend associated with the cave. Also at The Humps are Gnamma Holes, water holes in the granite rocks that were used by the Aborigines when passing through the area. Indeed, Mulka’s cave is a significant Aboriginal rock art gallery

Continue on to Southern Cross, Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie our overnight stay for the next two nights.

At the end of each day immerse yourself in the simplistic beauty of country gold rush living with all the touches you’d expect of a luxury resort hotel at Rydges Kalgoorlie

Accommodation: The Rydges Hotel, Kalgoorlie

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Day 3 – Day Touring from Kalgoorlie

Super Pit, Two up School, Menzies, Lake Ballard, Leonora, Gwalia, Kookynie

This morning visit the Super Pit. The Super Pit produces up to 850,000 ounces of gold every year and its operation far outweighs any other mining centre in Australia. The Super Pit is the biggest gold open pit mine in the country.

Be amazed by the size of the 793 dump trucks descending and ascending the gold pit.

Early start this morning head north to Snake Hill at Lake Ballard to see sculptures by world renowned artist Antony Gormley.

One of the most intriguing things to do in Kalgoorlie is to pay a visit to an old rusty shed that is surrounded by nothing more than red rocks and a few old beer bottles and surrounded by Goldfields blackbutt woodlands.

This is no ordinary rusty, outback shed. This is The School of Two Up, and one of only two venues in the entire country where the Aussie gambling game of Two Up can be legally played all year round.

Lake Ballard. In Side Australia Art Instillation is at one of Western Australia’s most unusual and remote cultural attractions – Inside Australia. The artwork is a collection of 50 black steel sculptures standing over 10 square kilometres of the white salt plain of Lake Ballard near the town of Menzies. Each sculpture represents one of the 131 local residents, whose bodies were scanned for casts.

Enjoy coffee at Menzies local café Achievable Outback

Leonora is the largest commercial centre north. Discovered and named in 1869 by the great pioneer of Western Australia, John Forrest, it has a picturesque main street and many historic buildings. Surrounding the town are old gold mining centres and cemeteries that are popular with visitors interested in Australian gold rush history and genealogy.

The Gwalia Museum is located in former office of the original Sons of Gwalia goldmine. It is well worth a visit before wandering through the deserted homes in the ghost town of Gwalia. The Gwalia has been well preserved and offers an eerie insight into the lives of the former mining community’s residents.

Visit Hoover House originally built in 1898 as a home for the mine manager now a Band Breakfast. Herbert Hoover who commissioned the house later became 31st President of USA.

Kookynie attracts people for miles around because of its unique character. It is virtually a ghost town.  Australian and overseas tourists just love visiting its famous quintessential outback pub the Kookynie Grand Hotel built in 1902.  Enjoy a refreshing drink before we head back to Kalgoorlie.

Take a stroll down Hannan Street. Hannan Street is the main drag in Kalgoorlie. It is named for the city’s prospecting founder Paddy Hannan, who first discovered gold on The Golden Mile.

Hannan Street is as historic as it gets in Kalgoorlie, and walking down here gives you an insight into the old Wild West days, as many of the frontier style hotels and buildings are still standing today.

Dinner this evening at renowned Palace Hotel’s Balcony Restaurant.

Accommodation: The Rydges Hotel, Kalgoorlie

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Day 4 – Kalgoorlie to Perth

Coolgardie, Southern Cross, Merredin, Northam

This morning visit The Mount Charlotte Water Reservoir and Lookout. Mt Charlotte Water Reservoir is where the water from Mundaring Weir arrives and is distributed all over Kalgoorlie and further afield. The hill top provides spectacular views over Kalgoorlie, but it also provides a glimpse of the pipeline that allows Kalgoorlie to exist where it does.

Coolgardie is known to most Western Australians as a tourist town and a ghost town; it was once the third largest town in Western Australia. At this time, mining of alluvial gold was a major industry which was short lived. Coolgardie is also known as the Mother of Western Australia’s goldfields

Southern Cross is the major town centre of the Shire of Yilgarn is known by many as the Gateway to the Wheatbelt and the Goldfields. The name ‘Yilgarn’ is Aboriginal for ‘white stone’ or ‘quartz’.

Visit the Yilgarn History Museum the earliest Registrar’s Office in Western Australia and the courthouse, now the Museum, built in 1892.

No 5 Pump Station. Looking around this site you will see many reminders of the lively community which developed around the No 5 Pump Station. The remnants of the gardens and fruit trees for which Yerbillon was once famous can still be seen scattered across the landscape.

Each of the Pump Stations there was a vibrant community of workers, their wives and children, and often a teacher, all of whom established homes and gardens. Each pump station was like an oasis in the low rainfall region.

Merredin is the largest regional town in the Central Eastern Wheatbelt. It is home to many charming historic buildings including the town hall and Cummins Theatre. Enjoy a private tour with tea to hear the amazing history

Merredin is on the PUBLIC Silos Art Trail take out your camera to take some spectacular photos of this art work. Kyle Hughes-Odgers completed artworks across four 35-metre high silos outside the Wheatbelt town of Merredin in August 2017.

At Northam take a break before returning to Perth.

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