AUS Goldfields Run WA 2011

TB-Racing

TB-Racing

Senior Member
Joined
May 6, 2013
Location
Red China
Bikes
various
G'Day,

Perth, after a few days business meetings finally picked up my trusty BMW GS8 "Bumble Bee" from a mate in Fremantle / Western Australia, the bike was trucked over from Sydney / NSW and arrived a few days earlier.
Early October 2011, great weather to kick off another run in the Aussie Outback tackling part of Australia's Longest Shortcut, by far one of my favourite rides through the vast and beautiful Australian Outback: Outback Way - Australia's Longest Shortcut - Home

This Western Australia Outback ride included the famous Golden Quest Discovery Trail
"Gold! Gold! Gold!" was the euphoric shout that echoed globally in the second half of the 19th century. This was the era of the great goldrushes that ignited passions, fuelled economies and created massive migrations to some of the world's most remote regions. The Golden Quest Discovery Trail takes visitors on a journey through the vast landscape of the Eastern Goldfields (Western Australia), revealing the region's vibrant history and its rich amalgam of natural, Aboriginal and European heritage....










 
Outback ride preparations and loading up the bike..... remember when dealing with the Outback, don't forget the six P's: Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.













 
First beer and lunch stop in Coolgardie....




















The Goldfields Trail starts in Coolgardie and two ways to do the trail, partly up the trail to Laverton and continue to Ayers Rock / Alice Springs and onwards to Winton and my usual last stop in Brisbane or the loop...
This time planning a loop along the complete trail.


 
KTMphil said:
You get around! I like the Bundy reserve - good thinking.
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Mate, same as you... doing a lot of biking for a long time.... Bundy Rum, lovin' the stuff....

Staying and meeting up with mates in famous Kalgoorlie (home of the super pit) for a few days off-roading, beers and burning meats...























































 
After two cold ones at the historical Ora-Banda Inn riding onwards to Siberia: Siberia WA @ ExplorOz Places
"To Hell or Siberia" in Western Australia was the saying during the 1893 gold Rush and nowadays only the old Cemetery with a few graves and dangerous mine shafts remain.

















After Siberia taking the outback road to Menzies and had to stop a few times to let some of thje famous road trains pass to avoid getting stuck in dangerous bulldust clouds.











 
As a long time license plate, road and highway sign, gas station memorabilia collector admired this particular petrol station outside Menzies....






















 
Just up the road outside Menzies is the old Menzies Cemetery is, regrettably, the final resting place of well over 100 men and women who succumbed to typhoid fever. Typhoid was a major killer all over the goldfields from the early years of the ‘rush’ and, at the time, its causes were only just beginning to be understood, but there were a growing number of individuals from the medical community who were suspecting contaminated water was involved. They were right.


The Menzies Cemetery is not only one of largest on the goldfields, but it also features a number of ornate ‘headstones’ cut from tin.























 
KTMphil said:
Lots of unique history here
Click to expand...
Mate, spot on, a lot of history out in the Aussie Goldfields, really enjoy riding the Outback and have done so extensively over the years, the Canning Stock Route is still on my short list though.....

Menzies Golf Club, ride in the middle of the dusty dry Outback.... they planning a yacht club next the blokes told me in the pub down the road....







 
A lengthy pit stop at Niagara Dam, the mobile bar opens for the afternoon and sunset....
Niagara Dam - a concrete gravity dam in the most unlikely of locations. During the usual dry periods the dam level can range from half-full to nothing more than a stagnant puddle of muck.
However for a couple of years after some good cyclone activity in the region the dam is a popular destination for its cool waters.




















 
Next overnight stop at the famous Grand Hotel Kookynie in the outback of Western Australia....
The Grand Hotel is a Historic Goldfields Hotel situated 200k's north of Kalgoorlie in the old townsite of Kookynie.
It was Built in 1902 and is a good example of the architecture of the period.
The Hotel is a pleasant blend of old world charm and tradition and hidden modern conveniences. Grand Hotel Kookynie Menzies Golden Outback






































 
The living ghost town Kookynie....
Kookynie is a town located in the Eastern Goldfields region in Western Australia. The name of the town is believed to be an aboriginal word which means 'water hole' or 'spring'. From being a busy town with a population of around 1,500 in 1905, Kookynie has become a ghost town with around 77 inhabitants in 2006, decreasing to 13 in 2010. The town originates from when gold was discovered close to the present townsite in 1895 by a group of prospectors including W.A. Miller who took up the lease of the Englishman mine in the same year. By 1899 the townsite was declared by the government and was gazetted in 1900. The town was named by Mr Beaumont, who managed the Lady Shenton gold mine.
By 1905 the town was lit by electricity and the main employer was the Cosmopolitan Proprietary mine that employed over 500 men. Other mines included the Britannia and the Cumberland Niagara Champion Proprietary. The town was an important distribution centre for other towns in the area such as Yerilla, Yarri, Yundamindera and Edjudina.
Kookynie grew at an impressive rate on the back of a gold rush and by 1907 the town had a population of well over 3,500, a public swimming pool, eleven hotels, a brewery and received four trains a day from Kalgoorlie.
Today Kookynie has one pub and hotel to serve the tourists. For a Western Australia ghost town (and there are many) it is surprisingly intact. A walk around the ruins reveals that Kookynie was once a surprisingly large town.
Source: Kookynie, Western Australia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia







































































 
KTMphil said:
Rotting cars make great photos! Nice shots
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Spot on, the rotting cars make a great backdrop and taking lots of pics of them along the track, some car wrecks need a bit more ageing...
The dangerous stretch of Outback track from Kookynie and on to Laverton (golf ball sized gravel all along the track), plenty wrecked cars along the gravel track called Old Laverton Road ~ well, not much of a road....






























































 
Going to slow taking pics with my point + shoot camera, tipped the bike over in the deep bull-dust... no harm to rider and bike.... love the endless deserted Outback roads....


































Booze along the Outback track, the cause of all them car wrecks.... makes me wonder?

 
Quite a collection of wrecks - guess booze, speeding and the boredom of the straight roads are the main reasons of the wrecks.
 
The Goldfields Trail starts in Coolgardie and two ways to do the trail, partly up the trail to Laverton and straight on to Ayers Rock / Alice Springs and Winton to my usual last stop in Brisbane or the loop back down the other side via Lenora / Gwalia to Coolgardie.

This trip going only the Discovery Goldfields trail loop, turning around to get back onto the trail here in Laverton as another Perth - Alice Springs to Brisbane run is planned with a mate that has never been in the Aussie Outback in the future.
Perth >>> Alice Springs >>> Brisbane run goes along The Outback Way "Australia's Longest Shortcut" = Outback Way - Australia's Longest Shortcut - Home






stopover in the hotel and pub on the way to my overnight stop

























 
Overnight stop in the Hoover House Leonora / Gwalia that doubles as a museum during day time hours.
Gwalia House

Well, bit of boring history here.... a young American geologist was sent to the Gwalia area in 1897. That geologist was Herbert Hoover, who would later become President of the United States.Hoover arrived in Albany, Western Australia in May 1897, travelled by train to Coolgardie, then eventually to the Gwalia area by camel.
He suggested himself as manager of the new mine. Among his suggestions for cutting labour costs was to hire mostly Italian labourers. As a result, the town's population was made up mostly of Italian immigrants, as well as other Europeans, who sought riches in Australia's newest gold rush.
Hoover's stay in Gwalia was brief; he was sent to China in December 1898 to develop mines there. The house that Hoover lived in, overlooking the mine operations, still exists, and today operates as a museum and bed-and-breakfast inn.
Hoover returned to Western Australia and Gwalia in 1902 as a partner in Bewick Moreing and manager of all of their interests in Western Australia.











































 
At the bottom of the hill the Hoover House / Museum sits on they build and maintain a ghost town from years past...

















































 
The Ghost Town, nice spot to watch the sunset and the mobile bar comes in handy for cold sundowner drinks (Dark & Stormy = Bundy + Ginger Beer) and snacks as usual....























 
Lake Ballard was my next stop, hot and the sun burning down on the salt lake bed and the famous sculptures....
Inside Australia - Antony Gormley Sculptures, the artwork is a collection of 50 black steel sculptures standing over 10 square kilometres of the white salt plain of Lake Ballard.
































 
Thanks for taking us along and for adding the URL's to read a bit more about the background of the things you see/visit
 
Well, every good trail ride comes to an end and heading out of Ora Banda towards Coolgardie, soaking in the Aussie Outback tracks and landscape...



















 
Trains on tracks, road trains on asphalt and a large size truck on the road from Coolgardie to Kalgoorlie...











 
Lone Rider said:
Yes, they are a bit heavy with a weight close to 380 ton when loaded so they would flatten even "normal" sized trucks.
Click to expand...

mate, correct, they are just massive heavy impressive trucks with quite a high number of female operators running shifts around the clock 24/7....





 
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