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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.[4] 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: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kookyni...tern_Australia http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-wm9V...-wm9VfWP-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-SkNq...-SkNq6Lc-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-v23N...-v23N65N-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-t7mK...-t7mK5VN-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-Z9Vr...-Z9VrDB7-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-8LhJ...-8LhJsRB-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-fnvz...-fnvz4v6-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-mcwk...-mcwkrbZ-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-BZ8V...-BZ8VJLV-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-76Js...-76Js59W-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-3rqC...-3rqCc8P-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-HPN6...-HPN6TLV-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-rrP7...-rrP7pWP-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-SVSL...-SVSLsXJ-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-nLNg...-nLNgXfJ-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-jQVn...-jQVn5DW-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-NHb5...-NHb5chj-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-XtcT...-XtcTJ94-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-dTzj...-dTzjdRN-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-cfwt...-cfwtgs3-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-6LLS...-6LLSNVJ-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-TPD8...-TPD8fg4-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-kHjk...-kHjkRZw-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-cjKr...-cjKrhvP-L.jpg |
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....
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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....
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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 http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-LTn8...-LTn8q8G-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-RKhw...-RKhwq3W-L.jpg Bit of a stopover in the hotel and pub on the way to my overnight stop http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-gHzV...-gHzVxmL-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-DfG2...-DfG2bdj-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-JJ4v...-JJ4vQnc-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-qF48...-qF48Frn-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-vDHp...-vDHpSpm-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-zR54...-zR5464T-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-8WzD...-8WzDrHG-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-gLf2...-gLf2Mqp-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-ZLv7...-ZLv7KnP-L.jpg |
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. http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-8m66...-8m66ThN-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-xhbr...-xhbrwtx-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-qXSW...-qXSWNcB-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-VwQX...-VwQX8ps-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-cmkn...-cmknrqN-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-tqR3...-tqR3Hxz-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-mjTR...-mjTRSHq-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-b4tz...-b4tzstD-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-fZck...-fZck83v-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-rdcS...-rdcS2FN-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-vDDf...-vDDfZcF-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-pHCr...-pHCrtqr-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-hNZw...-hNZwpNq-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-zpn3...-zpn3BsL-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-fW4t...-fW4tQp2-L.jpg |
At the bottom of the hill the Hoover House / Museum sits on they build and maintain a ghost town from years past...
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Some more historical Ghost Town pictures, if only the walls and props could talk.....
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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....
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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. http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-6PcZ...-6PcZpWL-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-5wzT...-5wzT2LK-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-Jf7j...-Jf7jZrk-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-37GX...-37GXmVQ-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-b8Wd...-b8Wdh4Q-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-LfLX...-LfLXBLJ-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-Qt8B...-Qt8BNJS-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-vLRG...-vLRGCsg-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-PJDg...-PJDgt65-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-QqJD...-QqJDdHQ-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-2fFf...-2fFfLBX-L.jpg |
Lunch at Broad Arrow Tavern http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_A...tern_Australia
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Once again, stopping at Ora Banda for an overnight stop and listening to gold-digger and prosector stories... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ora_Ban...tern_Australia and Ora Banda Historical Inn
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Well, riding through the Aussie Outback, loving it and heading towards Coolgardie ~ the end of the Goldfield Trail... onwards back to famous Kalgoorlie
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Road trains on asphalt and a large size truck on the road from Coolgardie to Kalgoorlie...
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A visit to the Super-Pit in Kalgoorlie was quite a treat....
The Super Pit | KCGM - Largest Open Pit Mine in Australia http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-Gv2R...-Gv2RJP7-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-G32H...-G32HRKz-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-L3Wq...-L3Wqdj6-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-RVf9...-RVf9SMv-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-wTvD...-wTvDrhv-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-MxCZ...-MxCZqm4-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-SVvP...-SVvPgmx-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-BDG2...-BDG2Jq6-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-2tZz...-2tZzCN2-L.jpg http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-nqM9...-nqM9SFh-L.jpg |
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