Things to do in Southern Outback
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Goldrush Tours
Runs all sorts of tours, including half-day heritage jaunts around Kalgoorlie-Boulder (adult/child $50/25) and day tours to the sculptures on Lake Ballard (adult/child $150/75).
reviewed
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Western Australian Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder
The impressive Ivanhoe-mine head frame marks the entrance to this excellent social-history museum. A lift takes you to the top, where you can peer out over the city and mines. In case you forget the reason all of this exists, an underground vault displays giant nuggets and gold bars. There's also a fantastic collection of trade-union banners and relocated historic buildings, including a miner's cottage and mobile police station (attached to a train). Half-hour guided tours start at 11am.
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Gwalia Historic Site
Just 4km southwest of town, Gwalia Historic Site was occupied in 1896 and deserted pretty much overnight in 1963, after the pit closed. With houses and household goods disintegrating intact, it’s a strange, eerie, fascinating ghost town. There’s a museum with more weird and wonderful stuff in it than we’ve ever seen. Hoover House – the 1898 mine manager’s house, named for Gwalia’s first mine manager, Herbert Hoover, who later became the 31st president of the United States – is beautifully restored, and you can B&B here in one of its three exquisite bedrooms (rooms $145).
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Mining Hall of Fame
Located on the site of Paddy Hannan's original lease and a working mine until 1952, the Mining Hall of Fame explores the industry from the underground up. You can go down a mine shaft (and see why claustrophobics don't make good miners), pan for gold and be mesmerised by a gold pour (adult/child $30/20; $20/15 if you stay above ground). The Pitch Black tour goes deeper (adult/child $60/40), while Under & Over ($140) includes a helicopter ride over the Super Pit.
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Boulder Town Hall
Head over to Boulder for a couple of hours to check out the 1908 Goatcher Theatre Curtain in the 1907 Boulder Town Hall. Englishman Philip W Goatcher, one of the great theatrical scene artists of the Victorian era, painted the trompe l’œil curtain, which creates an extraordinary illusion of 3-D space. It’s dropped from 10am to 3pm Tuesday to Thursday, and on the third Sunday of each month from 9.30am to 12.30pm.
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Outback Way
The unsealed Great Central Rd – also known as the Outback Way – provides rich scenery of red sand, spinifex, mulga and desert oak. It links Laverton with Winton in central Queensland, via the red centre of the Northern Territory. From Laverton it is a mere 1098km to Yulara, 1541km to Alice Springs and 2720km to Winton!
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Loopline Railway Museum
The Loopline railway was once the most important urban transport for Kalgoorlie and Boulder, and Boulder’s Golden Mile station (1897) once the busiest in WA. Its story is told in the Loopline railway museum, operating out of the old train station.
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Super Pit Lookout
The view from the Super Pit Lookout, just off the Goldfields Hwy in Boulder, is staggering, with building-sized trucks zigzagging up and down the huge hole and looking like kids’ toys. Good info is given in the on-site signs.
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Finders Keepers
You can be inducted into the mysteries of the metal detector on a popular half-day gold-prospecting tour (adult/child $80/40), or journey to the centre of the earth (OK, not quite) on a 2½-hour tour of the Super Pit (adult/child $50/30).
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Hoover Café
Under the high ceilings and heritage atmosphere of the Palace Hotel, this cafe is a popular local brekkie spot and serves great-value home-cooked lunches, and morning and afternoon teas with fresh-baked scones.
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Royal Flying Doctor Service Visitor Centre
See how the flying doctors look after the outback with the hourly tours at the Royal Flying Doctor Service Visitor Centre. Be generous with your donation if you can; it does a fabulous job.
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Larcombe's Bar Grill
Very much a hotel restaurant, Larcombe's is just a tad too brightly lit to be truly intimate, but it's still the place of choice for spruced-up locals on a romantic date. The menu has a Mod Oz sensibility, gainfully plundering French, Italian and Chinese styles.
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Wild West Saloon
For an anthropological experience, the front bar at the Exchange Hotel provides a window into some locals’ lives at all hours of the day, with skimpies, TV sports and mine workers furiously refuelling.
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Villa Maritana
Just over the railway bridge, locals enthusiastically recommend this Italian addition to Kal’s eating scene. Fresh and tasty pastas, and classic Mediterranean meat and fish dishes, are on the menu.
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Tjulyuru Cultural & Civic Centre
At Warburton take time to visit the Tjulyuru Cultural & Civic Centre, near the roadhouse; the art gallery contains an extensive collection of Warburton Aboriginal paintings.
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Fun-Time Two-Up
The gambling game two-up, beloved in the bush, is usually played somewhere in town each week; check at the visitors centre or see if Fun-Time Two-Up is happening.
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De Bernales
For as long as we can remember, De Bernales has been the place for a quiet, comfortable tipple amid the Hannan St hoopla. Sit back and people-watch from the street-side verandah.
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Goldfields Arts Centre
Hosts interesting exhibitions by local, state and national artists.
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Barista 202
Squeezed into a tiny shopfront and a covered alley, this buzzing cafe serves sandwiches, pasta, omelettes and excellent coffee.
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Hammond Park
Hammond Park, in the west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, is a good spot for kids, with playgrounds, animals and a miniature Bavarian castle.
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Drummond Catering
This gourmet deli serves salads ($5) and very good sandwiches and daily hot lunch specials. Takeaway, or eat at the tables in the back.
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Danny’s
Just a walk away from the main drag, Danny’s is the place to go for a quality meat fix, with choice cuts of beef featuring heavily on the menu.
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Blue Monkey Restaurant
Start the day in the courtyard with a generous cooked breakfast ($15) and creamy coffee, and end it with a good glass of wine and Mod Oz meal.
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School of Mines Mineral Museum
Has a geology display including replicas of big nuggets discovered in the area.
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Saltimbocca
With starched white tablecloths, original artworks and a classic Italian menu, this bistro-style place is an appealing upmarket option.
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