Day 105: Mon 01 Jul 24 - Kalgoorlie

Mon 01 Jul 24 - Kalgoorlie 

6 feeling like 2 Deg this morning, cloudy with no wind reaching a very modest 14 Deg. We were just grateful that it didn't rain today. At 7:00pm with a cloudless sky, it's shaping up to be another cold night.

The highlight of our day was a Guided Tour of the Kalgoorlie Town Hall at 10:30. Kalgoorlie and Boulder had a complicated beginning as separate towns before they eventually merged and became the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in 1989. A local historian took our small group for a very informative and interesting tour. There is too much to recall so I've added an extract from the brochure and a link to a website if you want to read more. 

Copied from the Tour Brochure: The Kalgoorlie Town Hall, an impressive heritage listed building, is one of the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s major landmarks. With its grand façade and rich interior decoration, it reflects the town’s immense wealth and civic pride of community thriving on the 1900’s gold boom.

Built as a state-of-the-art theatre in 1908, the Federation Free Classical style building has many beautiful architectural features such as ornate pressed metal ceilings, chandeliers, sweeping staircase, fly tower with original theatre rigging, backstage area with 11 dressing rooms. Costing almost £20,000 to construct, the Kalgoorlie Town Hall was officially opened on 8th November 1908.

The upstairs foyer is home to the Sporting Hall of Fame, where photographs of Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s sporting heroes are on display, alongside artefacts and memorabilia of events and important occasions in the history of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. The Council Chambers and Mayor’s Parlour on the first floor contains many objects, photographs and paintings of historic value, and to this day continues to host the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Council meetings.

A familiar sight for visitors to Kalgoorlie-Boulder is the commemorative statue of Paddy Hannan, an Irish prospector who is credited with discovering the first gold in Kalgoorlie that started one of the greatest gold rushes in Australia’s history. The original statue was erected in 1929 and has since been refurbished and relocated inside the foyer of the hall where it can be viewed during guided tours. The more durable replica of Paddy Hannan was erected in 1983 and awaits you to take his photo and even refresh yourself with a drink from his water bag.

Town Hall History:  Kalgoorlie Town Hall History

After our tour, we walked up Hannan Street to the Dome Cafe for a late morning (almost lunchtime) brew. We leave to start our trip back across the Nullarbor tomorrow, so we stopped at IGA on the way back to the van to buy a few supplies, then Noel did some washing and cleaning, while I topped up with water, did some pre-departure checks on the car and van, then refuelled. On the way to refuel, I took a detour via the Super Pit Lookout for one more look, for no other reason than to remind myself of the massive scale of this mining operation. The remainder of our day was relaxing and disappeared quickly. Tomorrow night we plan to free camp somewhere along the Nullarbor, so we may not be contactable.  

Kalgoorlie Town hall

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - Staircase

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - Ornate Pressed Metal Ceiling 

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - Council Chambers (Used since 1908)

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - Council Chambers (New Mayor - shortlived though as she is leaving town tomorrow)

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - Ornate Pressed Metal Ceiling

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - Council Chambers

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - Sporting Hall of Fame

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - The Main Hall Dress Circle. The Seats are iron framed theatre chairs upholstered in red velvet (also still used)

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - The Main Hall

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - Upstairs foyer and staircase

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - Upstairs foyer (Sporting Hall of Fame) and staircase

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - Sweeping Staircase

Paddy Hannan, the Irish Prospector credited with discovering the first gold in Kalgoorlie and starting the gold rush 

Kalgoorlie - Hannan Street

Kalgoorlie - Hannan Street. Kalgoorlie Courthouse


Another quick visit to the Super Pit Lookout

Another quick visit to the Super Pit Lookout

Another quick visit to the Super Pit Lookout

Another quick visit to the Super Pit Lookout

Our Parking spot for the past few days - complete with lightpole in the middle 🤷🤷 .

Our Parking spot for the past few days - complete with lightpole in the middle, and a fence across the front just for that extra challenge.


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