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Bill Leithhead's WA Trip Diary
Segment 2 - Days 7 to 10 - Norseman to Kalgoorlie Day 3
© William G. Leithhead 2006



Day 7    Monday, August 20th, 2001
Norseman to Kalgoorlie via Kambalda

We arose tired but OK. The weather is fine and warm. We drive from Norseman via Kambalda to Kalgoorlie. There are quite a few emus north of the hamlet of Widgiemooltha (I remember the name from my Kalgoorlie childhood), but we have been warned about them. It is quite forested, sparsely, with many side roads off to mines.

Lake lefroy salt lakes, seen from Red Hill, Kambalda
Lake Lefroy salt lakes, seen from Red Hill lookout, Kambalda.
We lunched at Kambalda at the lookout on Red Hill, where we saw some wildflowers, but nothing prolific. We have unique views of extensive salt lakes - Lake Lefroy, etc., and it is here that we photograph and identify the first wildflowers new to us. The town is all new, in separate halves, which are basically new, well-planned townships plonked widely amongst the bush. This is a big area for mining nickel, copper and gold.

Entering Kalgoorlie-Boulder at last, near Boulder we skirted the northern suburbs to make a "grand entrance" down through Hannan Street, the spine of the city, but found the police blocking off two blocks of the centre of the Kalgoorlie, because of a bomb scare at the post office! They must have known I was coming!

Anyway, we diverted down Dugan Street, past my old primary school, Kalgoorlie Central School, which we recognized immediately from the pictures of it on the internet! Suddenly the Exchange Hotel was familiar from the web-cam we had been viewing (above McKenzie Chambers, it turns out). I also recognized the buildings in which I had had piano lessons from Dorothy Colmer in 1948 when I was about ten.

Settling in at the Prospector Caravan Park on the Coolgardie Road, we breathed a sigh of relief, and after a coffee and a lie down, pushed to see a few things and arrange repairs at the Ford dealer on the road towards Boulder, booked for tomorrow.

In the meantime, Glenyce was feeling more unwell from a throat infection, so we got to a doctor near the Town Hall, but it was full up, so we went up to another one at the top of the town near the Exchange Hotel. We decided to wait until we could see him, which took 60 minutes. In the meantime, Bill went across the road to the "Kalgoorlie Miner" newspaper office and bought a book of town history and a local paper. He also had a Guiness in the public bar of the Exchange Hotel. Then Bill phoned Leanne from the post office, and also Steven, who had called in at home. (Leanne has been ill with flu again.)

Then, back to the doctor's again, a no-nonsense Kal guy who it turns out lives in 23 Oberthur street, and 49 years ago I lived for about 6 years at number 27!! What a coincidence! I had since found my old home at 307 Egan Street (age about 1-7), and Tuesday saw the 27 Oberthur Street residence (age 8 to 14).

Bill on Mt Charlotte
WE MADE IT!    Bill standing on Mt Charlotte Reservoir, Kalgoorlie.
We put 3 films in for development and looked at a few shops and Mt. Charlotte Reservoir lookout, overlooking the city from the north. I used to play up there when I was a kid, and it felt very satisfying, viewing my old stamping ground again, knowing how my life has been. Very pleasing, in fact. I felt as though I had done well in life.

After a rest we shopped at the huge Coles Supermarket, then we took out antibiotics, etc, and went for tea at the Exchange Hotel, in Paddy's Irish Bar, which we had looked at earlier. The main Exchange public bar looks pretty rough and tough looking: Glenyce was pretty tense, as she usually is in those surroundings. For $13 we had a wonderful tea and enjoyed a rest and a drink.

Hay Street brothels
Cheap brothels in the famous Hay St, Kalgoorlie.
We came home via Hay Street, the infamous street of brothels. There are a series of buildings with big pink lights outside, and barred doors just inside each little vestibule where the ladies could be seen on show for customers. Then another pink-lit area, and even further along is Langtrees 181, a "boutique brothel" run by a local transexual madam who was also a Councillor of Kalgoorlie. They run organised tours, but at $25 each, we decided it's a bit steep.

So we came home and went to bed, rather tired. Glenyce coughed a lot during the night, and had leg cramps, but some prescribed sleeping pills helped her a lot.

As it happens, several days later we did do a guided tour of Langtrees bordello, and had a wonderful time!

Day 8    Tuesday, August 21st, 2001
First day in Kalgoorlie

We awoke to a fresh, warm, calm day, so Glenyce did a lot of washing, and Bill did some caravan service. We also erected the folding awning for the first time, with great ease! After a salad lunch we took off to put the car in for headlight repairs ($277), and back in Kalgoorlie we sauntered up and down the famous Hannan Street strip. We picked up films, but quite a few were underexposed - we believe that they have been badly processed. Otherwise OK - good shots of the Bight and the Bunda Cliffs. We bought medicine, and looked into the Town Hall, which is beautifully preserved.

Bill at Paddy Hannan drinking fountain
Drinking fountain statue of Kalgoorlie's founder, prospector Paddy Hannan. Bill used to drink from this on the way home from school. Our family thinks the picture looks a bit strange!
With permission, Bill played the piano on the stage (Gundagai, Waltzing Matilda, and some ragtime), and looked at the council chambers. It brought back quite a few memories, as I had seen my mother play there many times. We bought postcards, looked at shops, and looked at gold nuggets in a jeweller's. He showed us 2kg of gold nuggets. Glenyce had a coughing fit in there, and was given a glass of water. Then, secretly, the dealer gave me two tiny nuggets as a gift! He said that he hates the "abos" because of their personal hygiene, and because they won't allow prospecting on their land.

After a coffee in the Palace Hotel, which apparently "used to have jazz", and where I played a few tunes on their grand piano, we were picked up by the Ford dealer, got our car, and arranged for a new alternator tomorrow, because it was causing engine noise. So yet another repair!

After a rest we decided to eat out, and so we went to the Star and Garter hotel, not 100m from my old first Kalgoorlie house in 307 Egan Street. I can remember my mother warning me off the drunks down there; I also remember begging for pennies for crackers on Guy Fawke's Day, complete with a stuffed "guy" in my billycart, and quite productively, as I remember.

Excellent meal in comfortable surroundings! Glenyce had kangaroo; I had chicken. I would have had emu, but none was available, although it was on the menu. Well - chicken is a kind of bird!
Apparently, when the Kalgoorlie Cup is on, this place is chockers; the Cup is on next week - we understand it is a big show!


So after a most fascinating day we came home and went to bed, after catching up on the diary and relaxing a bit. It's a hard life - being on holiday!! The weather has been about 21-23ºC all day, calm and dry, but with a little bit of rain and cold possibly later in the week.


Day 9    Wednesday, August 22nd, 2001
Second day in Kalgoorlie

Cool, clear morning, beautiful day, up to 33ºC in van, but cooler outside. Perfect day! Glenyce washed the bedding while Bill took the car to the Ford dealer for the alternator repairs, to be done at an auto electrician's yard. They lent us a Ford for the day, and Bill photographed his old houses, and got ducting tape to keep dust out of the van, a double adapter, copper wire, and arranged for a replacement mirror in the emu-damaged caravan driving mirror. Bill also toured around old childhood haunts at the racecourse and South Kalgoorlie.

Glenyce is quite drained, with severe coughing fits, and Bill slept during a lot of the afternoon. The weather is hot but not too hot. The old Olympic pool where Bill learnt to swim is basically derelict. The old Vacuum Oil Co. depot where his father, Darcy, was superintendent is no longer visible, and the railway station seems the same. The roads are all six lanes wide, and the many intersections can be tricky because because there are so many directions to scan whilst driving.

At the van park (Prospector), there are occasionally 3- and 4-car 4WD convoys arriving, with large radio aerials and covered in red dust. At least some of these are gold prospecting way up north and north-east, in the real desert country.

Quite a few of the people we speak to have been up the Centre or via Queensland to Darwin. and down the west coast. All have experienced heavy rain up there in the last week or so, and they're glad of good weather. They return home east across the Nullarbor. We've met them from NSW, Vic and Tassie, usually. All are friendly, and we noted that that all the way across the Nullarbor, people like to wave through the front window. An outcome of the isolation, we suppose. Anyway, after curried eggs and pasta, Bill goes into town and buys a throat spray for Glenyce, and we hit the sack, early, at about 9:30pm; we're waking up earlier, too.


Day 10    Thursday, August 23rd, 2001
Third day in Kalgoorlie

Our first clear day for car use. Glenyce still with coughing fits, Bill's health improving. Very warm day with increasing wind, sometimes raising dust.

Wooden bicycle in Goldfields Museum
Quaint wooden bicycle made by an early Kalgoorlie prospector, displayed in the Goldfields Museum.
First up - Goldfields Museum, top of Hannan Street. Huge red poppet legs and framework, and excellent, extensive displays of history, geology and flora and fauna of the region, with emphasis on gold and prospecting. Top quality - highly recommended visit!

We found a booklet which gives details of the Leithhead tragedy of December 25th, 1901, where on Xmas Eve my great-great uncle was burned to death together with 5 of his 6 children in a harsh mining town, Daydawn, far to the northwest of here!

After lunch at Paddy's bar in the Exchange ($11 for a superb smorgasbord!), we pushed on to Hannan's North Mine, which is developed as a tourist centre. It is sited 5km north of Kalgoorlie, and was one of the first mines here.

Glenyce in Hannan's North
Glenyce deep underground in the Hannan's North Mine.
Gold bar (brass) at Hannan's North Mine
The gold bar that we saw poured. It turned out to be only brass, for security reasons!
Donning hard hats we travelled underground in small groups, and did a tour of the underground diggings, which was an eye-opener, in terms of dust hazard, danger, and particularly the noise level from underground ventilation pumps and pneumatic drills. It used to ruin the miners' hearing, and the dust also killed them, as well as rock-falls and so on. The machinery is huge and impressive, and the work is very slow and dangerous. The tour guide was a miner for 25 years. He told us there were 12 more layers of diggings below the one we toured, which was the first level.

My maternal grandfather, Samuel Uren, was a miner here but moved to Perth to be an insurance salesman. But Kalgoorlie mine dust had filled his lungs with death from silocosis, and so he died. I wondered if today I breathed the dust from the mine that killed him!

Gold pour at Hannan's North mine
Pouring a gold bar at the Hannan's North mine.
Up top again, we witnessed a pouring of a gold bar (actually brass, because of security requirements) from a small furnace, and we took some good photos. We both enjoyed all this, and drove to see the huge Superpit at the Fimiston mine, which is for nickel. This is 4km long, 1.5km wide, and now 1km deep. It certainly wasn't there when I left Kal as a boy!

After this we toured to the twin city of Boulder, then looked again at Bill's old house, the racecourse, aerodrome, newer housing areas and the railway station, which we're told has the longest platform in Australia. We dropped in a film for processing, and, both very tired, had a light tea at the van.

Then we realised that we had 5 minutes to get to a tour of the new Hay St. brothel called Langtrees ("A Gentleman's Club for the Best Time Ever") - half price tours for pensioners on Thursday and Friday. We had changed our mind, and it turns out that we were the only couple on the tour except for sort of comedian called Ostentatious or something, hitherto unknown to us, who was also there with a cameraman for as kind of documentary; he was doing a pub show later on that night. So, with our permission, we were included in the filming as this fellow asked what I thought were rather vulgar questions of the manager and the sweet young girls on duty for the evening.

Langtree's sign
Sign outside the famous, multimillion-dollars Langtrees bordello in Hay Street, Kalgoorlie. We took the pensioners' tour!
The tour guide was called "Scotty", about 60 years old, with a good figure, a very broad Scottish accent, and wearing a tiny tartan skirt, white jumper, and a red tam-o-shanter bonnet with a chic little black pom-pom. She is a retired working girl who is very knowledgable. The interior is sumptuous, with a huge lounge room, another small lounge full of Alan Bond memorabilia, then a kichen, a pool, spas and so on, and a series of rooms which are used for the main action.

These have themes, such as the Special Suite (lots of silk, etc), the Lily Langtrey suite after the early 20th century actress, a suite with lots of mirrors causing an infinity of multiply-reflected images, a Japanese suite, a suite with with a boxing ring around the bed, signed by various sportsmen, such as Denis Lillee, around the walls. Also, there was a suite for medical examination of the girls, who also live in their own attached units, all in the same compound, for the sake of security.

Next was a Roman Orgy Room, with two double beds, and surrounded by murals from Pompeii, all of them erotic, some with the faces of the owners, architects, builders, labourers, involved in the construction. The building is about 18 months old. Then there was a room enabling couples to videotape themselves, another with a mocked-up Holden car with a bed in the middle of it. Scotty told us that the bed is wired for sound and would go into motion if we make a noise like an orgasm. So we did (Glenyce and I), and it did move and rumble like a car! It even had a steering wheel and instruments. Actually she (Scotty) turned the motion on and off with a secret button! The windscreen wipers worked and the lights flashed on and off! She said that she liked to trick occasional pensioners' tours, full of little old ladies, to make an orgasmic sound to make the contraption work!

Then there was a room done up like an old miner's cottage with a comfortable bunk in it. Another room had an open-air theme, with murals of fields, bushes and flowers, for those who enjoyed it in the open-air! Yet another was the Afghan room, with lots of cushions, drapes, camels, fake palms and so on.

Tour ticket
Our tour ticket for the brothel.
In at least four of the rooms there was special Japanese shower, wide and tall, completely enclosed at the top, made of molded white fibreglass, and with a considerable number of spray nozzles in many directions, for a water massager, steam bath, etc; they said these cost $17,000 each! Overall the decor is tasteful, rich but not overdone, and the whole range of bed-room themes is original, fun and exciting.

As well as that, there is a unique collection of sporting memorabilia, such as a cricket bat signed by Bradman and his teams, unique sporting trophies, letters from celebrities, pictures painted by Alan Bond, the shirt worn by Alan Bond when he won the America's Cup, and lots of beautiful gold, jewellery and art-work.

Overall we toured for 90 min (at $12.50 each), and had a wow of a time, both of us. And so to bed, Bill tired and Glenyce coughing badly.

PS: We bought a CD of dirty songs exclusive to Langtrees. Who said Kalgoorlie had no culture?



© William G. Leithhead 2006