I haven't been able to post anything for a few days as my telstra modem stopped working and my mobile phone is optus and there simply isn't any optus service once you get about 100Km from the coast, It didn't work at Ceduna either, but it's working here at Peterborough!! So catch up time.....

I got up at Leonora on the 9th and left my room to carry my stuff to my car. Sitting outside the unit next to mine was an elderly Aboriginal chap smoking a cigar!! The things you see, I said Hi as I walked past, he said nothing. I had to make 3 trips (all my make up luggage!) and after returning the key to reception I headed for my car and as I walked past he said "You prospecting?" "No" I replied... He said "thought you might be one of them, coming from QLD. Which bit you live in?" "Toowoomba" I replied. " Ahh.. Gaibal country. What you doin here then?" "I've just been visiting West Australia, something I've wanted to do for some time. I was going to either continue north or head inland to Yulara, but can't do either cos of the rain. Looks like I'll have to head back across the Nullabor."  "Smart move" he said, "You wanna see one of the old holes before you go? not far. Can't take pictures though, sacred land, but I can show you." So at this point I have visions of Wolff Creek screening in my head and I'm already planning my escape (Wolff Creek an Australian scary movie based loosely around some outback tourists that disappeared.).... "Sure thing I said." So He opens the door on his unit and yells to someone inside that he's not working today.... some muffled obscenities are returned. We jump in his ute and head east out of town about 5kms then turn off south into the bush. He proceeds up a barely visible track about 100M and stops. " gotta walk now, watch out for snakes." I follow him about another 100M and he stops and says "Where's the ute and where's the highway?" I look around and can see nothing but the scrub. I have been keeping a close eye on the sun since we left the highway, part of my Wolff Creek escape plan, and I point where I recon the vehicle and highway are. He says " good job, you'd probly last a day here." then he turns and continues. We arrive at an old broken down winch rig and a hole in the ground beside a reasonable size hill of dirt dug from the ground. He says "this one was dug in the early 1900's by some b..stard who never checked with anyone, this is Njakijaki land and this spot" he points all around " is site of my peoples beginnings. That's why you can't take pictures, and I can bring you here because I'm an elder. Oh, and that's why I can take the day off work." he laughs at his own wit, I am bemused also. "There's lots of these holes all over the country out here, too many people wanting to get rich." We leave the spot and head back to town. On the way I ask a million questions and this is the gist of it...His name is Harold, He's been working in the gold mines his whole life, drives a truck, and he takes every chance he can to show people like me the spot desecrated by greedy white men and asks us to tell everyone what a mess we've made of his and other peoples country, not that he minds the minerals being mined, just the rampant destruction of property and the lack of caring. He explains that he sees the prospectors come every year and watches most of them leave with little or no wealth, and that's all but the dozen or so that never return from the bush. Whilst out there off the road I could imagine getting lost out there and just never finding my way out, once in the scrub it all looks the same in every direction...SO here I am passing on the message from Harold as per his wishes..... Be satisfied with what you've got, it's plenty and you don't need more! And leave the country alone!

I continue South towards Kalgoorlie. I can go north as far as Meekathara, but beyond that it's trucks only. Going east for Alice Springs is also out as the road is closed just beyond Laverton. The north west has had between 1-300mm of rain in the last week.

Not far south I come across Lake Raeside, which the highway cuts right through the middle of! The sign basically tells how cyclone Bobby flooded this lake in 1995 and isolated a huge area so when it dried out they built this new road and bridge. So it seems it's more sensible and more budgetarially compliant to build a road through the middle of a dry lake than to go around it, even though the government knows these dry lakes do get wet, and stay wet for some time, hence the name "lake". Ahh government sensibilities!

At Menzies I saw, and photographed this shed covered in number plates!

Lake Googarrie, also normally dry, so I took pictures of it with water on board as I drove along the road through the middle of the dry lake.

A gold mining plant on the side of the highway...

Near this roaster the smell reminded me of an abattoir. A roaster is where the crushed up gold ore is processed and the gold removed. This one is not far from Kalgoorlie and processes most of the ore in this region. From here the gold is transferred to the mint in Perth.

Below are a few shots of the pollution emanating from the chimney at the roaster and falling back to earth some Km away, I have no idea what is in the smoke but everything in this area as I approach Kalgoorlie is covered in a light brown dust...

I arrive at Kalgoorlie!

This intersection in the middle of town is apparently where Patrick Hannan allegedly found the first gold in the Kalgoorlie area.

In 1995 a project which was begun by Allan Bond was finished and "The Super Pit" was commenced. Bonds idea was to buy up all the leases on the "Golden Mile" and develop one big open cut mine, making its extraction far more efficient and effective. Bond ran into trouble (being tried and sent to jail) and eventually a conglomerate of business men finished what he started and set up the Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines which developed the Super Pit.This is Australia's largest open cut mine, it is 2 Km by 1.3 Km and currently is 500M deep! 

You can't see the bottom from the viewing platform.

This picture shows what it looked like prior to the super pit, although this is an old photo the story board said it didn't look much different in 1995 prior to the super pit commencing. You can book tours and go down in the pit in one of the big trucks, they are booked up months in advance, have to remember that next time I'm over... book ahead!! It'd be cool to go down the bottom. I heard a guy in town saying they go 12Kmh max and it takes 45 minutes to get to the bottom. That'd be Great!

The view of Kalgoorlie-Boulder from the wall of the super pit.

Along the road I came across various pieces of art, here is a toilet on the top of a hill...

This is more common, various articles hanging from the branches of a tree.....

A flower.....in the wild...... a wildflower!

Some of the amazing ghost gums along the roads over here, the picture doesn't do them justice, the colours were incredible from bright orangy-red through to brilliant gold...

My cars shadow as I once again head east across the Nullabor....

The rain has been a considerable determinant in my decisions throughout this trip so far. I'm hoping that might change and I can go north from Wirrula..... 

857Km