Tuesday, 28 May 2013

Kalgoorlie (population 30,000)

Lake Ballard

We woke up to heavy rain and it continued to rain and rain. Our plan was to drive up to Lake Ballard to run through the sculptures, known as Inside Australia, created by Antony Gormley, a British sculptor. If the rain was falling in the north we may not be able to access the lake, because it is located 50 kms down an unsealed dirt track. Our first stop this morning was the visitor information center to check road conditions.

By the way, a significant gold find by a man named Paddy Hannan happened, guessing over 100 years ago, in the Kalgoorlie region. Then, thousands of hopeful miners flocked to the area. There seems to be mines everywhere, including a very ugly and unbelievable super pit.

The Kalgoorlie visitor center employee checked with the visitor center in Menzies about the roads. The roads around Kalgoorlie had just been closed, but in the north the roads were still open, so we grabbed a bite at the local muffin shop and headed north.

Running the Menzies Sculptures

Menzies interpretive trail…in the early 1900s more than 10,000 people lived here. Now there are only about 60.

The area north of Kalgoorlie is called the Northern Goldfields, because of the towns established during the gold rush era. Menzies is one of these towns.

Arriving in the town of Menzies, we checked with the information center and found out the 50 kilometer road to Lake Ballard was open. By this time the weather was clear and beautiful.

The dry lake looks wet.

The sculptures are brilliant! In 2003 for the 50th anniversary of the Perth International Arts Festival, Gormley placed 51 sculptures of the Last Nomads across the giant dry (today…not so dry) lakebed. These sculptures made of molybdenum, vanadium, and titanium alloy represent the Menzies inhabitants. The story is that Gormley scanned 98 naked inhabitants with 3D technology to produce realistic sculptures. On the lakebed, sculptures existed further than our eyes could see. We really enjoyed having the entire place to us and the 51 sculptures.

Due to the rain, the white salt surface of the lakebed turned to dark red mud. If the surface was dry, then the running here would be beyond phenomial. But today, the running was slow and slippery…we decided not to even bother changing into running clothes and slogged a few kilometers from inhabitant to inhabitant. I did get to try out my gumboots! Hectie, who kept giving me a hard time about bringing the boots, had to travel the muddy surface in his bare feet. Ha…the best $14.95 I ever spent!

Moorine Rock Motel

After stopping at Kalgoorlie Woolies for a few supplies, we drove for a few hours in the night to the Moorine Rock Motel, located 20 kilometers west of Southern Cross. We were greeted by a friendly man in the pub, who happily assisted us with a lovely motel room. Not too long after check in we were sound asleep as road trains breezed by our little place along the Great Eastern Highway.

Drove 611 kilometers.

Ran 4 kilometers (sort of).

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