Kalgoorlie on the train

We have just returned from Kalgorlie after a return trip there on the Prospector - the Perth - Kalgoorlie train service.

Kalgoorlie itself is the second largest town in Western Australia, but for all that it only has a population of 30,000. We had booked a room at the York Hotel, one of the oldest in the town, but unfortunately its facilities showed its age - our room had no windows, and was really very hot, no air-conditioning to boot. The tourist office found us a nice self-contained unit, we unpacked and made our way back to the town. We got a taxi to Kalgoorlie's Super Pit - Kal is a gold-mining town - it certainly is a great big hole in the ground! We took pictures and made our way to the museum, had a look at their large, rather unexpected, Masonic regalia display and then had dinner.

Kalgoorlie, with its workforce mostly miners who do not live permanently in the town, has a number of large brothels, one of these has a nightly tour which unfortunately we missed - but it costs AU$60 for the tour, I can only assume that for that price the tour includes a demonstration!

The train journey, at 6-7 hours, is very comfortable, the seats are well spaced, and all faced forward. For the return journey we were even upgraded to first class - which means leather antimacassars on the standard seats, a free newspaper and as much food and drink as we liked. I had planned on booking first class both ways anyway, but as it turns out it would not have been worth paying twice as much.

All in a good way to travel, and a nice place to go to.