By P Chong                   Thursday, 24 December 2009

Perth to Kalgoorlie Route Map

A place revisited somehow reveals quite different nostalgia & expectations of your earlier perception. It can never be quite the same thing, especially with the passage of time & circumstances. Kalgoorlie-Boulder, the City that gold built, has grown & changed. Thinking that you might still be familiar with the environment, you begin to feel like a stranger once again.

This business-cum-pleasure trip in the Toyota Hiace business van of Darren, my son-in-law, to Kalgoorlie, was really unplanned. I conveniently tagged along together with Matti, still on school holidays, is thoroughly enjoying every moment of it.

Darren is in the FlagDisplays.com business. He’s always just a phone call away 0408673524. His clients are largely drawn from the car yards in & around Perth. But he does cover extensively down south to Albany and to the east up to Kalgoorlie. Every few months he would undertake a trip to these far away places, serving existing clients, taking new orders & making new contracts.

In Wangara, the AHG (Automotive Holding Group) conglomerate of car dealerships is one of his biggest clients. AHG has its major operations in Western Australia, New South Wales & Queensland. FlagDisplays.com offers prominent colourful visual display to attract attention.

Along the way, Darren serviced some clients in Midland, Northam & Merridin and ultimately Kalgoorlie.

Business aside, we had a fun time pitching up our tent for our night’s accommodation at Discovery Holiday Parks. Strangely enough and especially at this time of the year, Kalgoorlie-Boulder experienced some light showers which persisted through the night & early morning.

A kaleidoscope of sights seen & pictures taken in Kalgoorlie-Boulder:

The Super Pit or Fimiston Open Pit produces up to 800,000 ounces of gold a year  together with the underground operation at Mount Charlotte. A lot of gold indeed . . .

You can still see the old miner’s working with old shafts  visible in the Super Pit. But a tour of Australia’s largest gold producing mine is a must on your first visit to Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

Here lies the historic City of Kalgoorlie, the centre of Australia’s gold rush, still having its roads paved with gold – some 600km’s east of Perth in the Australian Goldfields.

A visit to Kalgoorlie wouldn’t be complete without having a drive along Hay Street past the infamous “Red Light” District with the world’s oldest profession. This is reminiscent of Germany’s Hamburg or Hannover or even Holland’s Amsterdam or Rotterdam – all famous for the one same trade.

I find Kalgoorlie more vibrant than Perth & a City as diverse as it is cultural. Magnificent architecture galore displayed by its many hotels, its Town Hall, relaxing cafes, lively night life & bars . . . all thriving in making Kalgoorlie a major service hub for the active resource industry.

Kalgoorlie retains its pride & traditions. It is without doubt that as gold is its beginning, golden will be its future.