17 March 2000
Forgot to mention yesterday "the sculptures". As we approached one of the towns we passed through we started seeing every kilometre or so figures made from 20 litre drums. These were figures of people, all brightly painted and in various poses. They were just inside the perimeter fence of a property, adjacent to the road, and were obviously meant for the enjoyment of passers-by. There were single figures, figures on horseback, one figure in a speed boat towing two skiers, a figure climbing a ladder up the side of a silo and, on the top of the wall of an earth dam, a torso and legs sticking up out of the ground into the air from where it had landed head first and been buried up to the shoulders when the horse it had been riding (and which was nearby) had "propped". These must have gone on for 10 kms or so, and each next one was eagerly anticipated. A lovely and unexpected piece of whimsy.
Weather in Coolgardie this morning was sunny, windy and cool; in Kalgoorlie-Boulder it was sunny, very windy and cold.
Kalgoorlie-Boulder is similar to Coolgardie, only much bigger. A lot of fine old buildings, many of them pubs. But also some fine old civic buildings and trading emporia. Beautiful old clock tower on the Post Office building. Sadly, though, the old churches are not of the same quality. I suppose this may make a statement of sorts.
Visited Flying Doctor base at Kalgoorlie-Boulder airport and were fortunate enough to be shown over, in and through one of their two new King Air aircraft. I'm not sure now whether they cost 3 or 5 million dollars each, but I wouldn't mind having one.
Left Kalgoorlie-Boulder and drove south through Widgiemooltha (small hamlet), Norseman (town named after a racehorse which allegedly pawed the ground and unearthed a gold nugget where the town now stands; it is also the starting point for the journey east over the Nullarbor), Salmon Gums, Grass Patch, Scaddan, Gibson and on to Esperance, where we arrived around 4:00 p.m.
Drive was fairly uneventful except for deep, wide water over road between Scaddan and Gibson. Fortunately the water was not flowing, which made it easier and safer to negotiate, but there was a large pothole in the middle of it which made things a little more interesting. And periodically for the last hundred kilometres there were swarms of grasshoppers. You could see them rise up from the road and hurtle through the air towards us, most of them whizzing past the ute but some of them hitting the windscreen with a loud and messy "splat". They are also on the grille, the headlights and driving lights, and inside the engine compartment. One is attached to the wireless aerial like a little green flag. You could see the bodies of dead'uns all over the road.
Esperance looks out on the Southern Ocean and the islands of the Recherche Archipelago. There a number of islands quite close off shore. They are of the "rounded rock" type which we saw also at Albany. The beaches here are "proper" surf beaches, with well formed waves on a reasonable swell. The waves were breaking out from the shore and and were good body waves and board waves. They were maybe 2-3 metres high with plenty of energy and with shoulders breaking both left and right. Most of the beaches were wide and open, but one particular beach was quite narrow, and this seemed to concentrate the power of the swell; the sea at this beach, with the waves breaking well out from it, was a mass of roiling white water. We will make this drive again in the morning light tomorrow, as the light was fading this afternoon. The wind on the cliff tops was blowing strongly onto the shore and was quite cold.
After finishing here in the morning will retrace our steps to Norseman and there begin the trek back east. Hope to make Cocklebiddy or even Eucla (almost to SA border) by tomorrow night.