Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5pm. The
Coolgardie Tourist Bureau,
68 Bayley St., Coolgardie, WA 6429
(
&
08/9026 6090
), is open daily from 9am to 5pm.
GETTING AROUND
Avis
(
&
08/9021 1722
),
Budget
(
&
08/9093 2300
),
Hertz
(
&
08/9093 2211
), and
Thrifty
(
&
08/9021 4722
) have offices in
Kalgoorlie.
Local tour operators will take you prospecting in outlying regions, as well as
offering coach, four-wheel-drive, and four-wheel-drive bush tours of Kalgoorlie,
Coolgardie, and outlying ghost towns. Tours range from half a day to several days.
WHAT TO SEE & DO
As you might guess, gold is a common thread running through many of the
town's attractions. One of the best is the
Mining Hall of Fame
(
&
08/9026
2700;
www.mininghall.com), Broad Arrow Road, 6km (3
3
⁄
4
miles) north of the
Tourist Centre on the Goldfields Highway. Opened in late 2001, it has five
interactive galleries focusing on mining's modern high-tech face. Find out how
prospecting is done, how the business of mining is conducted, go underground
in an old mine, pan for gold, watch a gold pour, see a video in a re-created
miner's tent, and pore over an extensive collection of mining memorabilia,
machinery, and huts in a miners' village. It's open daily from 9am to 4:30pm,
except Christmas, Boxing Day (Dec 26) and New Year's Day. Admission A$12
(US$7.80) adults, A$10 (US$6.50) seniors and students, A$6 (US$3.90) chil-
dren, and A$35 (US$23) families for aboveground activities only; if you want
to join the underground tour too, the prices are A$20 (US$13) adults, A$15
(US$9.75) seniors and students, A$10 (US$6.50) children, and A$50 (US$33)
families. Underground tours and gold panning are run four times a day, more
often in WA school holidays. Allow half a day to see everything. The complex is
still a work-in-progress with new attractions, including a Chinese garden and
more galleries to open during 2003.
The
WA Museum Kalgoorlie-Boulder,
17 Hannan St. (
&
08/9021 8533
),
is worth a look for the first 400-ounce gold bar minted in town, nuggets and
jewelry, and historical displays. It is open daily from 10am to 4:30pm, closed
Christmas and Good Friday. Admission is free (donation requested). Tours are
at 11am and 2:30pm. Allow an hour.
Don't leave town without ogling the
Super Pit
open-cut mine—it makes
giant dump trucks look like ants. The lookout is at Outram Street in Boulder,
off the Goldfields Highway. It's open daily from about 6am to about 7pm. A
blast takes place daily; check the time with the visitor center. Entry is free.
Another reminder of the days when miners spent their spare time trying for
riches of another kind by indulging in two-up (a simple game involving betting
on a penny landing heads or tails) can be found about 12km (7
1
⁄
2
miles) north
of Boulder on the Goldfields Highway. The original shanty that housed the
Bush Two-Up School
still stands, but if you want to try your hand, the only
place to do it is at Sheffields restaurant in the
Recreation Hotel,
140 Burt St.,
Boulder (
&
08/9093 3467
), which runs two-up games on Wednesday and Sun-
day at 3pm. You must be 18 or over to play.
The
Royal Flying Doctor Service
(
&
08/9093 7500
) base at Kalgoorlie-Boul-
der Airport is open for visitors to browse memorabilia, see a video, and look over
an aircraft if one is in. It is open Monday through Friday from 11am to 3pm.
Admission is A$2 (US$1.30) adults, free for children under 6. Allow 45 minutes.
Full-blood Aboriginal Geoffrey Stokes of
Yamatji Bitja Aboriginal Bush
Tours
(
&
08/9093 3745
or 0407/378 602) grew up the Aboriginal way in
