Day 63 – Kalgoorlie

I had a bad headache this morning (that silly prolapsed disk in my neck is playing up a bit), so we had an easy morning today. The kids enjoying playing in the park, and catching up on a bit of schoolwork (writing stories using a pen and paper for a change – instead of their ipads). Lily is learning her 3 x tables. Actually I think Brendan liked the rest – probably really the first we have had for a long time. Not much time for resting on this 20,000km trip!

By the afternoon I was feeling better, so we headed off to the nearby Royal Flying Doctor Service for their 2pm tour. Although we had been to the Alice Springs tour, we knew by experience that each town’s tour is very different, and we weren’t disappointed with this one.

 

The kids enjoyed trying out the pedal radio/telephone, and declared it very tricky to pedal and talk at the same time.

Our tour guide had a good sense of humour, and terrific knowledge of the service the RFDS provides, so we were fascinated to learn more facts about the amazing service they provide to both the residents, and tourists in the outback. After watching a short video about patients telling their amazing personal stories about how the RFDS had saved them or their children’s lives, we were led out to the RFDS hangar to have a tour of the plane. Kalgoorlie base has two planes on standby all the time here, and luckily one was here for us to look at.

The planes are amazingly decked out with every conceivable piece of medical equipment possible, including surgical equipment and neonatal care crib. Usually on board there is one pilot, one doctor, and one nurse which allows two patients to fit in the narrow cot beds.

Rio Tinto and BHP have donated planes (10 mill each), as well as money to keep them in the air, as the government only part funds the service. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour, as did the kids and are always happy to support their vital work. Given that my sister has actually used the service as a toddler, when our family was holidaying in a remote part of Queensland and she was very sick and had to be flown to Cairns hospital with a severe case of gastroenteritis after drinking some bad water, I always find it very moving to visit here.

Next up, we visited the Kalgoorlie museum, which was a tribute to the gold mining era. It had very interesting displays inside the building including an original wooden Mulga Bills bicycle, and many relics from the mining days. Outside we stepped inside an old miners cottage, and the kids were amazed at the primitive facilities. “Surely no-one really  lived here with an outside toilet mum”, exclaimed Lily.  Oh yes Lily, actually my grandmother never had an inside toilet, and it used to scare me silly to visit her spider laden one out the back of the farmhouse when I stayed there! She was amazed…

After taking the kids to two educational activities such as these, we then visited the wonderful, huge Hammond Park, complete with bird aviaries, wandering peacocks, ornamental lakes, a gemstone laden replica of a miniature Bavarian castle, and a wonderful kids playground. The kids had a ball running around and letting off some energy, until the guards came and turned us out, and locked it all up at 5pm.