Heavenly Beverley : Up Close and Personal in Kalgoorlie-Boulder

We woke to another stunning Goldfields morning. This was the last full day of our "little holiday". We breakfasted at the Inner City Cafe and Catering on Hannan Street. Busy, bustling, toasty warm, good food and well priced. Completely stuffed after our hearty culinary start, we were looking forward to our lunchtime massages back at the hotel in the day spa.

In the meantime, we felt that we needed to walk off our feast beforehand. We hadn't visited the Superpit on this visit, so we chose to point Henry Honda in that direction. As we entered the access road to the lookout, we realised that the tourist view had changed location and we would be looking at the Superpit from a whole new angle.

To describe the dimension and scale of the Superpit is almost impossible. What started out as the Golden Mile, with countless small leases, was amalgamated in 1989 by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM). Nearby Mt Charlotte, where Paddy Hannan had first found alluvial gold in 1893, is not part of the Superpit and remains an underground mine. Currently, the lifespan of Mt Charlotte has stretched to 2018. The Superpit's operations will extend to at least 2019, with gold processing to continue for another ten years. After that, who knows?

The open cut mine is approximately three and a half kilometres long, one and a half kilometres wide and six hundred metres deep. By the end of operations, the Superpit will have descended at least another hundred metres.

The lookout offered superb views. The position had changed from a central location to closer to the southern end. I spied a water truck at the very bottom, attending to its job spraying water to damp down the dust. From six hundred metres above, the truck resembled a flea doing a wee.

We left, suitably gobsmacked. The day was breezy and cold. After taking our photos, we retreated to Henry Honda and back to the hotel. Our massages were calling us. Miranda, at the Alleya Day Spa, took us in hand. Michael's back and shoulder massage was forty-five minutes of pure bliss. I was treated to a hand massage, a foot soak, file and paraffin wrap and reflexology on my troublesome tired feet. I was in heaven. Miranda and Alleya were the ultimate in pamperings for us.

Leaving Michael snug and relaxed in our room, I embarked on an hour's walk through the surrounding streets. From pink and grey galahs revelling in an afternoon snack to the quaint early miners' cottages, the wonderful laneways that remained from the time of the night carts and a representation of a poppet head in a front garden, I was in my element. I was even able to reduce my layers of clothing in the brisk afternoon air.

Returning, pink-cheeked and buzzing, Michael was in the bath. Miranda had recommended that he have a hot soak to ease his muscles and gain full benefit from the essential oils she had used. Shortly afterwards, the colour of a moderately cooked crab, he reluctantly left the water and joined me in the bedroom.

What to do in our final couple of hours of daylight. We knew that one of Michael's early sculptures - a large domed spider web, complete with redback, was resident in the Boulder garden belonging to our neighbour's son. On Burt Street. Which is an exceedingly long thoroughfare. I rang Lorna for a specific number. We then found the garden and the sculpture with ease.

Michael was chuffed. A big sculpture in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, his little spiders travelling the world and a hint of Dory ending up in Queensland boosted his self-esteem no end. I was thrilled for him.
In the fading daylight, we completed another cruise around Boulder photographing the entry statement and the infamous subway (due to its reliability to flood in heavy rain).

We finished our day with an early dinner at the Lemongrass Thai and Vietnamese restaurant. Due to rapidly depleting finances, we were pleased to enjoy a very tasty dinner (and the best fried ice cream I've ever had) at a very reasonable price.

Last evening in our room. We enjoyed a glass of vino each and retired to bed with a mixture of emotions. We'd had a wonderful break. We were very much looking forward to our own bed at the House that Rocks, but we were leaving with a relentless desire to return to the magic of the Goldfields later in the year.