Before deciding what to do today, we waited for the NRMA to arrive to collect the Titan….. Fortunately, the tow truck guy arrived quite early and we all watched the sad spectacle of the Titan being loaded onto the back of the truck…. Gordie was able to start it and drive it on which saved time and effort…

Branch came out to inspect and farewell the big blue beast….

The Titan looked bigger than the truck carrying it!!

Trev and Gordie went with the truck to Phil the mechanics to discuss next steps and then came back (with bun and madeira cake AND cookies) for morning tea….

We decided to take a drive out to Coolgardie, the “Mother of the Goldfields”– the first town in the area and once the 3^rd largest in WA during the goldrush era…. Sadly, today it is very small – almost a ghost town….

However, the visitor centre and museum had an extensive collection and displays that gave a detailed picture of the history of the township…

The town of Coolgardie was declared in August 1893 and by the late 1890s there were over 15,000 people living there and another 10,000 people in the surrounding area. Coolgardie had 26 hotels, 3 breweries, 2 stock exchanges, 14 churches and seven newspapers in its heyday… Today the population of Coolgardie is around 1200.

On display was a large model of Coolgardie as it was….

There were antique tools….

An extensive bottle collection…

A large collection of old pharmaceuticals….

And antiquated medical devices and treatments that brought tears to the eyes at the thought of what people went through back then 😊

There was a display on nursing back then….

With the ambulance stretcher used!!!

Perspectives as to what constituted a healthy look have certainly changed….

Local rocks and minerals that had been collected over the years….

Memorabilia and quirky items…..

There were rooms set up as they had been in the late 1800’s…. the washing and cooking would have been quite laborious activities…

The setup of the old Salvation Army meeting place showed just how primitive some of the early structures were…

The old buildings outside were beautifully restored…. Some metal sculptures commemorating the mining history looked great in the park area….

We drove on to find the old Coolgardie Racetrack where Kerry’s dad would also have ridden as a jockey… the journey took us offroad along a muddy red dirt road much to the Pearl’s dismay… but we managed to locate the memorial stone… and all that was left was some vague tracks and bits of brick and tin scattered around…the bush had reclaimed it!

Back to Kalgoorlie and we did a drive by of the home Kerry’s dad lived in as a boy…. it was still there….

We then headed back to the caravan park for happy hour… mysteriously a “Lake Dave” appeared around the Wells’ campsite…. could there have been some clandestine car washing after the Pearl had been through the mud?????

Trev, Beryl and I went back to the Superpit Lookout to watch the sunset over Kalgoorlie….

And the lights of the Superpit coming on as the sun went down…. Haul trucks still pulling their loads up and down…

The Weiss, Wells and ourselves were departing Kalgoorlie for Wave Rock in the morning… Gordie’s car was not ready so the Hunters have booked another night in Kalgoorlie – we are hoping that the Titan will be back on the road by tomorrow arvo/ Thursday so they can then meet us at Afghan Rocks on Friday night! There has been a lot of prayers sent up over the situation and so we are sure everything will work out for the best! Things always happen for a reason and God has everything under control!!