Norseman - Kalgoorlie - Ravensthorpe

Oh, my goodness much has happened since we pulled out of Norseman on Sunday 13 March ‘ 22!

Firstly, though I must confess something. I am a Taphophile! Indeed, I am! Such a grand name for a person that loves exploring cemeteries! And I do – with alacrity. For it is in such environments that you can get a feel for the history of a place. By seeking out the oldest graves you can get a rough timeline of the town, you can see who were the richest – red granite headstones give that away or looking at the ages and some of the epitaphs you can pick up that industry of a town. For instance, a cemetery that has a more than just a few young men ‘accidentally killed’ can give an indication of a mining town in the era before OHS was improved for the mining industry. This is the case in the little place I find myself in at present – Ravensthorpe – halfway between Esperance and Albany.

But we must begin at the beginning!

Norseman sits at a T intersection. Turn left and you head to Kalgoorlie, turn right you head to Esperance – an exciting choice to have. We turned left. I decided I wanted to see Kalgoorlie again for old time’s sake. This section of the trip has been fascinating for I am seeing places that I have not seen for over 40 years, and I find myself bewildered at the changes I suppose that makes me an old fart – but there it is!

I felt incredibly pleased when arriving at Bolder I found a free camp a stone’s throw from a caravan park that charged $40/night! It was a parking area with little alcoves amongst straggly eucalypts. It was on a busy road which thankfully quietened at night. The view was of an industrial estate but given that I would really only be sleeping there that was not a problem. Now that I am such a dab hand at the free stuff, I must confess to feeling a tad smug.

I unhitched the caravan and I set off to Bolder and Kalgoorlie that have blended into one another in the ensuing 40 years. Bolder has taken on the look of a town so beautifully restored it would look out of place even in Sovereign Hill. It is beautiful but unrealistic! Nothing like that which the hard-bitten miners of old would have encountered.

You really are in mining country here. There are poignant so-called pioneer cemeteries scattered around the region which have been lovingly cared for. One of the cemeteries had next to it outside the fence a gorgeous little pet cemetery which of course reminded me of lost Nigel, and I really did wish he could rest there with the others who were so loved evidenced by brightly painted stones and childish epitaphs expressing the joy that these entities bought to their companions during their life.

Day 2 I strapped on the walking shoes and was determined to walk the length and breadth of Kalgoorlie. 40 years ago, Kalgoorlie was an anarchic place the largest buildings in the town were the impressive old pubs, I was astounded for instance when the lights changed in the centre of the city everyone converged into the intersection to cross the road. There was no order to it – everyone for themselves and of course there was Hay St. The famous street for prostitution. 40 years ago, I walked down in the evening – a charged atmosphere indeed prevailed! There were lines of men outside establishments and there was a woman in her lingerie and stiletto shoes with a flowing gown open and wafting in the breeze. Every so often she would impressively crack a whip asking men venturing down the street if they were a man on a mouse! For a hapless 19-year-old from miniscule Newry it was certainly an eye opener.

Well, all I can confess to is a pervading sense of disappointment. Kalgoorlie has conformed. Order has come to the streets; the beautiful old pubs are still there but are dwarfed by the shopping centre and oh dear Hay St! The establishment that had several lines of men waiting patiently and the whip wielding woman is now a back packer establishment and next door for heavens sake is a mega church called Christ the King. The only brothel establishment is the one claiming to be the oldest brothel in Australia now runs tours but does have furtive signs assuring us all that it is still a working brothel when the girls are there!

Oh, Kalgoorlie I liked the old version. It is now really just another city.

Which was probably just as well for upon returning to the caravan I discovered that the gas part of the 3-way fridge was playing up and I would have to find a powered site until I could find someone to look at it. So, after 2 nights we turned back towards Norseman to venture down the other branch of the T intersection and down to the coast to Esperance.

I was now in territory that I had not explored before. I then discovered how much it was going to cost me to camp in Esperance and though better of it. Wikicamps is a wonderful little app that I have become enamoured of, and it showed me a little place 100k’s out of Esperance called Salmon Gum that had reasonable site costs – I have become really miserable now that I have become so good at free camping!

When I thought about the name Salmon Gum that is when a penny dropped. As we were driving into Norseman after coming off the Nulla Boor, we had long left that Mulgas behind and were travelling through Eucalypts. Eucalypts though plentiful in their variety can begin to look the same. The rich green of the foliage and generous canopies told again of the high rainfall, their trunks mottled in colour, some with bark peeling can at times look rag tag. However, the closer we got to Norseman though I noted a different type of Eucalypt, one that I had not really seen before. They were few and far between to begin with but stood straight and very tall – looking something like a supermodel standing out from the ordinary crowd. Their trunks were smooth and uniform in colour and I was trying to place the colour – pink, no more apricot, no perhaps a mixture of both. But the name Salmon Gum cleaned that little mystery up and had me thinking doh!

The town is a tiny little blimp on the map – right in the mallee region believe it or not (and they do have mallee fowls just like in the Mallee of Victoria) and of course I was surrounded by wheat farms and silos again and we were only 1 hour from Esperance for a fraction of the cost. I booked for 2 nights and after a good night’s sleep we headed into Esperance.

For some strange reason I had a notion that Esperance was a big place. But it is a village really set on a glorious esplanade. There are some tasteful, gorgeous homes along there and I looked with undisguised curiosity I have to say. They all had tinted windows, so it made me think there are plenty of nosey parkers like me wandering the esplanade! The main feature of the foreshore is a line of resplendent Norfolk pines all standing at rigid attention looking as though they are ready to salute the next sea captain that graces the shore and there are all the shops that you would expect to find in a small tourist town

We had a very refined wander around a very refined place and a lovely sit on the esplanade, but I was very pleased that I was staying where I was and had not paid a fortune for a powered site. While I was in Salmon Gum, I had organised to have the caravan fridge looked at in Albany (which I am told is a bigger place) and the gas people could not squeeze me in until the Monday. So, I set out knowing that I would have a very relaxed journey to Albany as it really wasn’t that far away (about 5 hours). So, we set off meandering along the highway stopping for coffee and enjoying the coastal landscape. By mid afternoon we pulled into a small van park in a tiny place called Ravensthorpe.

And it is here we stay. I cancelled the gas appointment and we remained for I am working here! Yes, I am working managing the caravan park, the fellow nabbed me the first night I was here – I must have been the first solo traveler through for some time and with the issues around getting back packers etc they were desperate. These caravan parks make an absolute motza from the FIFO workers for the surrounding mines so it is a busy job and I stay in the park for free. Some days are busier than others and I am half an hour from the coast.

I have told them I will work until the end of May and then we will be on the road again to be heading north for winter. It is lovely and I feel very lucky and can make up the costs that I expended in the long hiatus in Port Augusta. Bingley enjoys the myriad of dogs that come in and out of the camp with the grey nomads – today we said goodbye to Leo the golden retriever and I love checking out the varying arrays of caravan types – there is something different every day!