Day 43. Kalgoorlie

Gold Fever!

"Can we go look for Gold dad? The suns up!" That's how I was woken up this morning, thanks to Scarlett and her 'Gold Fever'. This kid already has a huge fascination with rocks, and Kalgoorlie has opened up a whole new side of Scarlett that both Bec and I have never seen before. It's like a drug and Scarlett has to have it!

First up, we went shopping for some basic excavating tools for Scarlett and ended up buying her a small pink toolbox so she has somewhere to keep her 'rocks'. She loves it so much, that we have fun trying to make her leave it in the car when we go out. She wants to take it everywhere.

Next, it was into 'Finders Keepers', a prospecting shop in town that runs tours into the 'Super Pit'. We found out there was not going to be any blasting today (Bec was very disappointed), and apparently they weren't running the 1hr family pit tour, only the 2 1/2hr full tour. We know Scarlett just wont be able to sit still for a tour that long, Bugger!

Next it was back to the Miners Hall of Fame (MHoF). I was off to do my 'Pitch Black' underground tour, while Bec and Scarlett were off to do the Paddy Wagon and Dump truck tours.

I was lucky to have a tour guide all to myself! We ended up going down more than two levels underground via stairs, ladders and finally the lift. We walked through a genuine 1900's gold mine that only recently just closed. There's still gold in here, and I was shown how to find and locate the gold seams using the quartz etc. All the old mining tools and techniques are still underground and its a fascinating insight into a part of Australia's history that I'm finding more and more intriguing. Needless to say, I had a great time.

Meanwhile, Bec and Scarlett took the Paddy Wagon tour. This tour showcased the history of gold mining in the local region. Bec tells me they had a great time and it was very informative. Apparently their tour guide (who was a young female) actually works in the 'Super Pit' as a Dump Truck Driver. I think she just volunteers her spare time to help out here at the MHoF.

Both our tours ended at about the same time, so we all went on the Dump Truck together. We got the chance to climb up into the cab and sit in the drivers seat - which Scarlett absolutely loved! Bec said this is where she belongs, and would love to do this for a living if she ever had the chance.

Scarlett still wanted to find gold, so we tried our hand at 'panning'. We all had a go, but the flies were driving us crazy, so we only lasted a short time. Bec was the only winner - finding one small fleck of gold!

This still wasn't good enough for Scarlett, so we promised her another visit to the 'Super Pit", as we heard that there is a good chance of finding gold and 'fools gold' up at the lookout car park. What did we have to lose?

On the way, Scarlett was in for a big treat - McDonald's! Its not very often we splurge on takeaway or eat out, and Scarlett has really been missing her 'old McDonald's', so as we hadn't even seen one since Port Lincoln in South Australia, we decided it would be a nice treat for her. Not only that, they have a great playground which gives both Bec and I some time out, while Scarlett burns off some energy!

This was followed by a quick visit to Woolworth's to pick up some essentials, a stop off at the 'Super Pit' shop in Boulder to get some background info; and then onto the 'Super Pit' lookout itself. Bec ditched Scarlett and me and went to take photos and drool, while we went 'fossicking' in the car park. We found 7 or 8 good rocks with what looks like gold seams or veins in them, so Scarlett was stoked! She had her first special rocks to put in her new box.

Bec wandered over to us and asked me to pick up a rock for her that was about the size of a $2 coin. Wow! This thing was heavy compared to everything else Scarlett and I had found, and it looked to be almost solid gold! We will definitely be keeping this one, and maybe getting it checked out some time in the future.