What to See and Do

Plan a 7-Day Stay!

The WA Goldfields offer you a good time and plenty of adventure, no matter what your age or your preferences in adventure and sightseeing. Here is an itinery of things to do in and around Kalgoorlie-Boulder during a 7 day stay!

Day 1
 
Morning
Take a walk along Hannan Street looking at the magnificent heritage architecture, described as the best Goldfields architecture in the world.
Drop into the WA Museum at the top of Hannan Street (No 17) which features the social and cultural lifestyle of the eastern Goldfields and boasts an impressive collection of gold nuggets and jewellery.
Afterwards you can walk around to where Paddy Hannan camped and first found gold and up to Mt Charlotte, where the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail finishes near the north end of Hannan Street.
It affords a magnificent view of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and is a good vantage point from which to get ones bearings before sampling the Pure Gold delight of Kalgoorlie.

Afternoon
Have lunch in one of the many heritage hotels in the city or visit Australias National Mining Museum at the Mining Hall of Fame.
You can eat in their modern cafe and then view the amazing exhibits of traditional and modern mining before walking through an underground mine at Hannans North. You can see how a working mine operated and try gold panning, or watch a gold pour. For dinner you should book into one of the beautiful heritage hotels and sit on the balcony watching the town go by while enjoying a delicious meal. Kalgoorlie-Boulder has many quality dining spots.

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Day 2
 
Morning
Take a flight with Goldfields Air Services and see the City as well as view the huge gold mines surrounding the City.
While at the airport visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service Base and learn how Australias famous Flying Doctors service the outback from this important working base. Visit Boulder and walk down Burt Street to see the beautiful architecture.
Lunch could be a picnic in Railway Reserve which has BBQ facilities, childrens playground, pergolas, and picnic tables, or you might like to walk across to the historic Metropole Hotel.

 
Afternoon
Visit the Goldfields Arts Centre to see the latest exhibition of local art.
Then relax in the open air with a walk in Karlkurla Bushland Park - this beautiful parkland features 200-hectares of natural bushland including wildflowers in season. It includes 4km of walk trails, a lookout at the high point of the park, toilets, picnic tables, and interpretative flora and fauna signage.
Dont forget to drop into the lookout at the Super Pit to watch the giant haulpaks operate in Australias biggest open cut gold mine.

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Day 3
 
All day
Take a day tour to Coolgardie and the ghost towns to the north including Kununalling and Kintore.
The original major WA gold strike was made in Coolgardie in 1892.
By 1898 the town had a population of 16,000 people with another 10,000 in the surrounding districts, 23 hotels, three breweries, seven newspapers, six banks and two stock exchanges. Today it is a beautiful heritage precinct with an abundance of historical information and objects beautifully presented in museums and interesting historic buildings.
On any day you can explore the Goldfields Exhibition, which houses the best bottle collection in Australia, visit the pharmaceutical museum, the Railway Museum and wander through the towns beautiful heritage precinct using the 150 historic markers as your guide.
The colourful Ben Priors open air museum is well worth a look and you should visit the historic cemetery and the grave of Ernest Giles, the famous Australian explorer. Dont miss Jack Carins Camp or Warden Finnertys home and the old prison tree. The Golden Quest Discovery Trail starts from Coolgardie on its picturesque and exciting 965 km drive through the north eastern Goldfields.
But thats another day - or two, or three.

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Day 4
 
All day
Take a day tour to Kambalda and Norseman.
Kambalda is located 56km south of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. The early settlement was based on gold discovered by Percy Larkin at the end of 1896 when he took 106 ounces of alluvial gold into Coolgardie.
In the rush that followed hundreds of men camped in the area digging for the precious metal around Red Hill, a high diorite range, which is now used as a lookout over the countryside and the shimmering Lake Lefroy salt lake.
When the gold ran out in 1908 the town was deserted, but during the nickel boom Kambalda leapt back into prominence when one of the worlds largest nickel sulphide deposits was discovered in the region.
It is well worth spending the time to see the sun rise over the spectacular Lake Lefroy from Red Hill Lookout at certain times you can watch the land yachts skim across Lake Lefroy and then travel north to King Battery, a popular picnic spot on Alt Route 94.
Norseman is another 162km south and was named after a horse which pawed the ground and uncovered a gold nugget. It boasts Australias oldest continuous mine operation and Australias second richest goldfield.
There are plenty of historical artifacts and sites to see, you can explore the Dundas Heritage Trail which follows the Cobb & Co. coach route to the original town of Dundas and ride the replica of the horse Norseman.
From Beacon Hillyou can get panoramic views of the area while there are numerous interesting activities such as visiting the old woodlines and the opportunity to spend hours fossicking on the tourist lease for some beautiful gemstones.
While returning to Kalgoorlie-Boulder you might want to visit Mt Hunt on the outskirts of the City where pillow lava formations can be seen at its southern base. From the top you can also get views of Hannans Lake while just north is the Pioneer Cemetery with gravestones dating from 1899 to 1904.
This trip could be incorporated into a two day stay by including Coolgardie with an overnight at one of the comfortable motels at either Norseman or Coolgardie.

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Day 5

Morning
Pack a picnic lunchand set off, allowing at least two hours for the 132km drive from Kalgoorlie to Menzies.
The Menzies Town Hall is the towns famous landmark, partly because it was clockless for 100 years after the ship carrying the clock from England reportedly sank off Rottnest in 1905.
One hundred years later, it now has a clock, courtesy of the current Shire of Menzies, which had it installed in 2000 in time for the New Year celebrations.
Today the Town Hall houses an historical photograph collectionas well as providing offices for the Shire of Menzies.
Just out of town is the Menzies Cemetery, testament to the thin line between life and death on the Goldfields 100 years ago with many graves a result of the tragic typhoid epidemic 1895-1905, which claimed the lives of around 105 people.
There is a register in the Cemetery rotunda which allows visitors to see the names and details of some of the people buried there.

 
Afternoon
From Menzies there is a 50km drive to Lake Ballard, a key component in a nationally-significant ecosystem, and site for one of Australias - and probably the worlds - most extraordinary art projects.
Titled Inside Australia, it was commissioned by the 2003 Perth International Arts Festival and created by the acclaimed British sculptor Antony Gormley, featuring 51 figures placed around a seven square kilometre area of the lake bed.
This exhibition is well worth a look and is a pleasant area for a picnic.
The drive back through Menzies could feature a stop-off at Broad Arrow and a visit to the one remaining hotel of the eight which once graced the thriving mining town.

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Day 6
 
Morning
Pack your bags and prepare for an overnight stay. You can choose either the Grand Hotel at Kookynie and savor the atmosphere and hospitality of a true outback Australian pub, or drive through to Leonora and stay at either the Leonora Motel, the Central Hotel or the recently refurbished Hoover House at Gwalia.
Allow for 2.5 hours for your drive and on the unsealed road to Kookynie stop off to have a look at Niagara Dam (they have picnicking facilities) the old Niagara townsite and cemetery before checking in for your accommodation.
The Hotel serves an excellent lunch.

Afternoon
Take a walk around the old townsite and what remains of a once thriving community supported by a number of mines. Visitors to the town in 1900, who travelled by train, discovered they were in a town of some 2,500 people and 400 buildings - and the Goldfields first public swimming baths.
For some time Kookynie was the terminal for the train line to Laverton.
The cemetery is worth a visit and there is plenty of interest in fossickingamongst the old townsite remains and the ruins of the Cosmopolitan Hotel.
The Grand Hotel has an excellent collection of old photographs from the district and a very good bar and dining room.

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Day 7
 
Morning
The second day takes you a further 130km to Leonora and Gwalia.
The first claims were pegged in the Leonora district in 1896 and mining commenced soon after, however it was the Sons of Gwalia leases west of the town which contributed most to the growth of the area.
The largest mine outside the Golden Mile, it operated continuously for 104 years, 65 of those under the same company, whose first manager was Herbert Hoover, later to become the 31st President of the United States.
Leonora today is a friendly, well maintained township with many facilities acting as a service centre for the mining and pastoral industries.
The twin town of Gwalia, just three kilometres away, was once linked by a steam tramway service, but while this is gone, there is still plenty of history remaining in this small mining town.
Make sure you visit the Gwalia Museum and the Mine Managers House (Hoover House) at the top of the hill, and walk amongst the amazing collection of memorabilia in the grounds.
You can have lunch at Hoover House before embarking upon further sightseeing.

 
Afternoon
Take a walk through the miners cottages in the Gwalia ghost town and the State Hotel, built by the Government in 1903 for 6,000 pounds.
Return to Kalgoorlie-Boulder and on the way stop off for a look at the Goongarrie railway cottages, 42km south of Menzies if you have the time.
Goongarries mines failed to live up to expectations and the settlement maintained some importance as a railway centre, only decommissioned in 1928.
All three cottages were built by the Public Works Department and are now heritage listed.

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