Day 99 Balladonia to Kalgoorlie

 I have finally resigned to the fact that sleep in a caravan with kids is a futile pursuit.  Ashley was awake at 0545 this morning, and dutifully ensured that we were also awake before going back to bed.  The toilet is a short walk from the van, but this ensures that sleep is impossible after seeking relief.

 

Lisa and I decided to try and finish catching up on our journals because the last couple of days driving have been exhausting, and to prepare breakfast and get away relatively early.  On the way back to the caravan from the ablution block, I was informed by another traveller that we have blown a head lamp, so I went about removing the broken one only to find that they didn't have a spare here, and that I would need to get one in Kalgoorlie.

 

The van packed up quickly, and we got underway at 0745.  First things first though.  There was an untidy par 3 that needed my attention prior to departing the park.  This was a pure bushland hole, and after my tee shot, we played find Rob's ball sweepstakes bonanza!  I thought it best to circle my ball to assist in finding it.

I didn't really play at it in there, but sensibly took the stroke penalty and had a drop from this prickly situation.

 

After the golf hole, Lisa took the kids into the museum to have a look at some of the fragments from skylab which fell in the vicinity of Balladonia.  There were some great displays including this piece of heat shield, and a wiring loom melted into another heat shield tile. 
I was refuelling the car with jerry cans as Diesel was over $2.00 litre here.  These roadhouses know how to get the buck out of their captive audiences.

Back in the car, we drove around 100km until we reached Fraser Range Sheep Station.  This property has been established since the late 1800's, but had diversified into eco-tourism more recently by establishing a caravan park, and being included as a stop for the longest golf course in Australia.

You wouldn't even know the property existed if it wasn't for the tourism signposting on the highway.

 

The hole here was fantastic, and my little minions went darting off up the fairway to find my ball and make sure no cheeky crows made off with it.  Pity I can't get them to be quiet when I'm ready to hit, or stand behind me before I swing. 

 

Anyhow, we drove through to Norseman, which excited Emma because it is a town named after a horse.  Emma ran around everywhere pawing at the ground trying to uncover gold.  We headed over to the golf course after a brief stop at the visitors centre to get the kids their official "I followed in Eyer's footsteps" certificate for crossing the Nullarbor.  Norseman Golf course is the typical bushy golf course.  Clay with tufts of grass, and oiled sand for greens. 

 

Having said that, I played pretty well through these two holes.  We got our injury for the day, and Rowan had minor toe surgery to remove a particularly nasty double G spike that took both mum and dad to extract.  We followed up the golf with a nice lunch in town, and stopped by briefly to take a photo of the luckiest horse ever...Imagine waking up to find your horse had uncovered  a gleaming pile of gold instead of covering you with a steaming pile of ...Well you get the picture.

 

The trip to Kambalda was longer than I remember, and there is a couple of new roads leading into mine site developments. We drove through West Kambalda to the Golf course where we had one hole to play.  No grass here, all clay flat for a fairway, and instead of bunkers filled with sand, they have moguls.  Just as tricky to traverse.

From the golf course, we took a quick drive up Red Hill to take a look over Kambalda, Lake LeFroy, the Kambalda Nickel Concentrator and St Ives Gold Mine.  Even the lake has a different look about it now with the St Ives mine extending further and further into the salt pan.

 

It was time to head up towards Kalgoorlie though, and we made the quick half hour hop without any major dramas.  We did have a little trouble finding the golf course as the new course wasn't listed on the maps or GPS, but eventually found our way there.  I would talk about the last two holes on the pristine grass fairways of the new Kalgoorlie Links, but I didn't see much of the grass, and spent a lot of time in the bush and on the beach.  Typical.

The best way I can explain what happened here is that I was too weak to focus on golf, instead of worrying about what my kids were doing to the golf course.  At one point, Rowan and Emma went running into a bunker, and stopped short of making angels in the sand, but left me an extensive raking job to do.

 

I can imagine that the course is beautiful to play, and challenging to say the least. You can still clearly see how the land has been formed for the course design, and that the grass has been laid on topsoil that has been brought in for the purpose.  In many ways, the course reminded me of The Vines with similar vegetation, and fauna loping around the fairways.

 

 

The shop was our next stop, as the cupboards have been looking bare for a couple of days now.  After getting some essential groceries, we drove back to Hannan Street to get to our caravan park.  Not to fancy, but not a dump either, it is comfortable and we are near the amenities which is good for the kids.

 

We got everyone to catch up on their journals (Including Emma) and have a nice relaxed day tomorrow.  The mining museum and tour has closed, as has Judd's sadly, but we will find ways to fill up our morning prior to the Superpit Mine tour tomorrow afternoon.

 

Can't wait for that one.