Laverton. The official start of the trip.

On Sunday I stopped at Kalgoorlie. It was bucketing down, sp i treated myself to a motel room. Sunday turned out to be a poor choice of day, as most of the things to see and do are shut on a Sunday. The most noteworthy act was to order a coffee at  McDonalds, and while trying to look nonchalant with my supermarket bought scone, managed to collide with a post and the cup and coffee exploded on the floor. 

They were nice enough to make a replacement, but I got the message since this time they gave me a cardboard take away mug. 

At least Maccas are always open. 

After checking out the famous open pit, which was hard to get a decent pic of , I was on the road again. 

Next stop was Leonora, which at first glance didn't look that interesting. However just out of town was the "Sons of Gwalia" mine and abandoned town and museum. What a sensational place. The museum was just my cup of tea with lots of old steam engines including a 1000 hp winding engine from 1912. 

But the highlight was the old abandoned workers houses, and I was suitably inspired to get the Canon 5d out of its case, grab the tripod and spend 3 hours taking pics. I can't post these, as they are high res raw images, but I was truly inspired. 

The other interesting thing about Leonara was the assortment of campers in the campground. Most of them turned out to be amateur gold prospectors, who spent their days with metal detectors. They were a pretty rough and ready bunch, and I did get shown some of their finds. 

Now I am Laverton, the real start of the trip. The odo already reads 4473 km since home.