Gold Mines and Brothels - August 2009

The state of Western Australia (WA) is about a third of the size of Australia. Suffice it so say, WA is HUGE. A good portion of it is very dry, harsh, inhospitable and to the naked eye there is not a lot there. Except if you are into minerals and mining. The State is blessed with a huge supply of natural resources to keep the economy going strong for decades. I won't get into any political or environmental discussions here – but in some ways it could be compared to the oilsand's in Alberta, Canada.

In the early 1900's gold was found in WA's remote desserts. BIG gold finds. This sparked a gold rush and mining towns sprung up to feed the gold fever. Many of the early mining towns are now deserted ghost towns, but Kalgoorlie continues to thrive, in a large part due to their Superpit gold mine, one of the biggest open pit mines in the world.

Kalgoorlie was on my list pf places in WA to see. It wasn't on John's list. So I tried to entice him with the reasons it was on my list: the Superpit, underground gold mines, examples of fine architecture from the early 1900's, old hotels with character bars, history and brothel tours. Yes, you read that right! I thought the last item would catch John's attention.

The 8 hour drive east of Perth through the dessert follows the water pipeline to Kalgoorlie. It was built in the early 1900's and literally brought life to the dessert towns. At the time A.Y. O'Connor, the engineer that proposed it, was considered crazy, but he has been proven to be right. Seeing it as we drove along brought a weird comforting reassurance to our drive – like we couldn't get lost if we followed it.

The landscape is flat, bleak, dry, red soil that is not exciting. But, on closer inspection, it is beautiful. The plants are small, close to the ground and do not have an abundance of green, much like the trees, which have small leaves that conserve energy and provide little shade. Look closely and there are tons of small flowers and life in the dessert. Both John and I love it. I don't really know how to describe it, but the red soil, bits of green and endless blue sky are haunting.... compelling..... mesmerizing... comforting... beautiful.

Kalgoorlie's man street is like walking back in time with all the old hotels and their old fashioned bars. The bars have served a vital social outlet for the miners throughout the ages, and continue to do so. The town is now merged with another one to become Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Boulder is the smaller of the two and also has interesting old buildings and storefronts.

There is a viewing outlook for the Superpit, but the only way to get on the grounds is to take a Superpit tour. And it was a fascinating experience to get inside and see the magnitude of the operation up close. It is HUGE. Truck tires are at least two stories high and cost $100,000 per tire. For a truck to take a load of ore from the base of the pit to the processing plant takes 2 hours! In a single 12 hour shift the truck driver will make 6 dumps. The tucks carry tons of ore and in that there is ONE golf ball size of gold! Everyday approximately $1.5 million of gold bars leaves the pit! The size of the pit, the trucks, equipment, money, etc. is mind blowing. But the repetition of the jobs and the devastation to the environment made me re-think the gold in my jewelry box – for a moment.

We followed our tour of the open pit mine with a tour of an abandoned underground gold mine. Here I changed my mind and thought the worst job in the world would have to be working in an underground mine! I give those workers so much credit to go deep into the bowels of the earth, forfeit sunlight and work in dark, cramped and dangerous conditions to earn a paycheck. I could not do it.

Oh yes, the brothels - I am sure that has piqued many a curious minds. The city has 3 operating brothels, all beside each other and contained off the main street. The Madam toured us through the house and rooms used for business She was in her early 70's and had bought the business after she became a widow about 18 years ago. It would appear that economically it has been a good investment for her. She showed us the beds, that are built SOLID to withstand a lot of action And the rooms that are decorated with props that each lady brings. The ladies travel throughout the state to new towns every few months in order to remain a new commodity.

Scintillating stories from the brothel – well – I will entice you with a few. There was a story about a young fella' that had paid for an hour, but was out the door in 5 minutes – claiming he had to catch up with his mates that were waiting for him in the bar. Apparently one popular lady's busiest day was a 16 hour stint with over 80 customers. Don't even try to figure out the math and logistics! And then the story about a lady from Holland that came over every year to ply her wares. She was so popular there would be lineups outside for her. And after working several months every year she was able to buy herself several properties in Holland.

I bet you are still trying to figure out the math and logistics....