Chapter 54: Across the Nullabor

Tuesday Week 29

Soon after setting off on the 370 kilometre drive to Southern Cross, Jill exclaimed "look Peter, there's the Loose Box Restaurant that Dave took me to. It was incredible, the best meal I've ever had."

As the Great Eastern Highway bypassed Northam, Dave changed his mind and decided not to look around there, instead, continued on to Cunderin, where they stopped for a morning tea break, as it was 11 am.

Cunderdin was a typical Wheatbelt country town, with many of its 850 population relying on the agricultural lands surrounding it. They took 30 minutes to step inside the Cunderdin Museum. They found it hard to believe that it had been established and constantly improved through largely voluntary labour. The result was arguably one of the best rural Museums in the state and all were most impressed with its interpretive centre housed in the old pump house.

The Cunderdin Hill Lookout, situated one kilometre south of the main street, appeared quite inconspicuous, but they had been told at the museum that it was definitely worth taking the time to venture to the top where a 360 degree panorama of the town and surrounding farmland awaited. The view provided them with a real sense of the open spaces.

Peter drove the next leg to Merredin, which they were surprised to find had around 1,300 residences and seemed to be a very vibrant centre. Getting there right on 12:45 pm, Dave suggested having lunch before looking around.

Merredin's heritage offered a fascinating glimpse into the growth and development of an area that, when first viewed by John Septimus Roe in 1836, had been considered arid and inhospitable.

Like many towns in Western Australia, the discovery of gold sped up Merredin's development. It became a rail centre for the region, due to the availability of fresh water. They saw the original dam, that used to provide the fresh water, but the original Railway Station was now a Railway Museum.

They learned that in 1940 as Australia prepared for an expected invasion from the north, the Central and Eastern Wheatbelt played a significant, but now little recognised role, in preparing for the Country's defence. There were able to see some of the many physical reminders of this in the structures left behind by the Army and RAAF scattered in paddocks.

Dave drove out of Merredin around 2:30 pm on the last leg to Southern Cross and had them checking into the caravan park right on 4 pm.

Southern Cross¹s importance, they discovered at the information centre, was based on its status as the first major gold discovery in the huge Eastern Goldfields region.

Explorers had passed through the area decades before gold was discovered. H M Lefroy, for example, in 1863 declared that the area had great agricultural potential. The area had also been explored by the indomitable Charles Cooke Hunt, who duly sunk a few wells, and John Forrest.

Some pastoralists had moved into the area by the 1880s but it was really the discoveries of Thomas Risely and Mick Toomey in 1887¬88 which established the area as an important goldfield. Risely and Toomey claimed they had been led to their discovery by the Southern Cross and they named the goldfield after the constellation.

They drove around to the Old Cemetery, located at the eastern end of town. It had been redeveloped by the Southern Cross Historical Society as a Pioneer Memorial. It was only used for burials from 1891 to 1898 and consequently became an important reminder of the miners and pioneers who first settled this inhospitable area. The high incidence of typhoid on the early goldfield was dramatically recalled on the headstones of many of the miners.

Although Thomas Risely and Mick Toomey may have discovered Southern Cross, it was Hugh Fraser, an experienced prospector, who pegged out the most important rich lode and it was Fraser¹s Mine which became the centre of the town¹s continuing growth. The old headframes, those symbols of early underground gold mining, were still on the lease and, nearby, was the modern open cut mine which was still exploiting the quartz and greenstone fault which Fraser identified as being rich in gold. It is one of the ironies of goldmining that Fraser died penniless, so the mayor paid £20 to have him buried as a citizen rather than a pauper.

The Court House was built in 1891 at the height of the town's gold rush, continuing to operate until 1976 when the court was moved to new premises. It was in this building that Paddy Hannan took out his Miners Right and it was to this building that Arthur Bayley came to register the claim which subsequently became the rich fields at Coolgardie. This was also the location of the first claim on the Lake Dundas, Norseman goldfields. Not surprisingly the museum concentrates on the history of mining in the area.

Like so many Goldfields towns, Southern Cross sprawls. One of the town's most delightful characteristics, they thought, was that all of the streets were named after constellations, such as Sirius Street, Altair Street, Centaur Street, Orion Street and Spica Street.

The supply of water and its quality was a constant worry for the railways. Quality was a key concern as salt contaminated water could drastically reduce the life of steam bodies. Steam transport required large amounts of water for locomotives, construction work and for railway employees. When the Goldfields pipeline was constructed, the railways declined to use this scheme water as it had too high salt content for their use and relied on developing their own resources ¬ such as the Karalee reservoir.

During 1895 and 1896, a railway between Southern Cross and Coolgardie was constructed while William Shields, an engineer with the government railways, designed the Karalee Water Supply. In his report Shields estimated that only one train would be needed per week on the line and water supply was adequate for up to six trains in each direction. However, the growth of Coolgardie meant twenty trains were running daily.

So, in 1897, the Karalee rock catchment and reservoir was constructed by railway and firewood entrepreneur William Noah Hedges, set in dry bushland utilising two massive granite rocks. A stone dam wall was built around the perimeter of each rock with a fall to an outlet. Water flowing off the rock was caught at the perimeter wall, flowed down the fall to a stone lined sluice and was then conveyed cross-country to a large earthen reservoir. Although rainfall was low, around 250mm per annum, the run off from the rocks could be considerable.

It was almost 7 pm by the time the three of them were sitting down to dinner, having seen all that Southern Cross had to offer and then Jill cooked while the boys drank. The men thought this was an ideal division of labour and luckily for them, Jill didn't mind.

"You haven't told me any stories of your past for a long time, darling. You told me about a cricket match, but what about some of your other sporting achievements? Jill asked him.

Dave thought for a few moments, trying to remember all the different sports he had played for anything incident that might be interesting, then thought about a couple of things from his hockey playing days.

"I used to play hockey when I was in my late teens. I was a goal keeper and in those days the only equipment goalies used to wear was the cricket batsman's box to prevent damage to his most vital organ plus big pads on the legs and kickers worn over their footie boots.

"But I had also played baseball as a young teenage and reasoned that the mask the catcher wore would be an asset to prevent being hit in the face with a stray ball, or for that matter, an accidental stick.

"I also used to ride a road racing bike and of course wore a bike helmet, so I considered using this helmet as well.

"So I cobbled the two together with padding under my shirt, added a wicket keeper's glove on my left hand to try to stop balls with and a batsman's glove on the right so that I could hold the hockey stick but have protection on my knuckles and took to the field in a game. I had no fear charging at the person taking a short corner, which caused them to change the way they played. Previously, goalies tended to stay back on their line when these corners were taken.

"Some months later I was to play in a representative game and the referee came up to me and said I couldn't wear all that protection as it gave me an unfair advantage. I said I was not taking the field without it as I had already been hit between the eyes once since wearing the mask. Actually that was quite funny at the time, because the ball stuck between the two wires going across my forehead. I was convinced if I hadn't been wearing it I would have been killed.

"Anyway, I told this referee that I wasn't taking the field without the gear and but also asked him for the rule I was contravening. He realised there wasn't one and had to back down.

"Today and for some years now, hockey goal keepers have much more, purpose made protection, but I always reckoned that I had pioneered it.

"One other amusing story occurred in one Saturday afternoon game. I had been to a special champagne brunch for some occasion the morning of the game and enjoyed a number of glasses of bubbly.

"I probably should not have played, because I was a little bit under the weather from the amount of alcohol I had drunk, but it turned out I had a blinder. Couldn't do a thing wrong, stopped several good shots and was man of the match.

"When asked after the game how come I played so well I jokingly replied 'well I was seeing three balls so it was easy to stop one of them'."

Jill burst out laughing as Dave finished his story indicating she thought he was making it up, but he promised her it was all true.

Later, over a coffee and port, they discussed the plans for tomorrow and then had an early night.

Wednesday Week 29

Although there was only 224 kilometres to drive to Kalgoorlie, Dave wanted to spend a fair bit of time at Coolgardie, so made sure they were on the road by 8:30 am.

Dave and Peter again shared the driving, even though it was only two and a half hours to Coolgardie. They stopped for a quick morning tea break at Boorabbin and changed drivers.

It was 11:15 am as they drove into Coolgardie and went straight to the Coolgardie Tourist Bureau. Here they found that the name Coolgardie had been derived from the aboriginal word 'Coolcaby', a reference to the area's mulga vegetation and gnamma waterholes.

Coolgardie owed its existence to the discovery of gold at nearby Fly Flat in September 1892. According to all accounts the two prospectors credited with the discovery were Arthur Bayley and William Ford. On 17 September 1892, Bayley reported the discovery of 554 ounces of gold to J.M. Finnerty, the then resident mining warden at Southern Cross. At the time 554 ounces of gold was worth the stupendous sum of 2,000 pounds. In accordance with Western Australian mining regulations, Bailey was offered a 'reward claim' covering 20 acres of land at Fly Flat. This claim proved to be a very profitable one indeed, and was continually worked until 1963 recovering over 500,000 ounces of the precious yellow metal.

From an historical perspective the Coolgardie gold find proved to be one of immense national significance. During the 1890s eastern Australia was in the grips of a severe depression and fortune seekers flocked to the Coolgardie fields in the hope of a better life. Not all these gold seekers discovered the rich pickings they deserved, however, and many died of thirst and water borne diseases such as typhoid. Despite early hardships, within the short space of 10 years Coolgardie's population had mushroomed to 16,000 people.

During its early years Coolgardie served very much as a base for exploring the gold bearing potential of the surrounding red desert country. With the assistance of Afghan camel drivers, prospectors often probed deep into the desert searching for ever elusive alluvial gold deposits. Quite typically the Afghan 'cameleers' would charge prospectors the going rate of a shilling a day to carry essential miner's supplies. This included the daily ration of a gallon of life preserving water. In time, many of the more bush savvy gold diggers employed local aboriginal guides to lead them to seasonal water holes that were often found at the base of granite formations called gnammas.

For the early diggers the quest for water was just as important as the discovery of gold. After all, their life depended on it. Amusingly, with water in such short supply, the more wealthy gold diggers frequently demonstrated their friendship by shouting their mates a bath, in preference to a beer.

Today Coolgardie continues its long association with the gold industry and, although no longer a major gold field, the town does deserve a special place as the 'mother of the Western Australian Goldfields'. Coolgardie locals also sometimes affectionately refer to the town as 'The Old Camp'.

With a resident population of about 1,500 people, Coolgardie was located on the main trunk route linking Perth to the eastern states.

Their next stop was Goldfields and Coolgardie Museum, housed within the historic Mining Warden's Court Building. They saw an excellent introduction to the early colourful social history of the Coolgardie Goldfields. Excellent photographic displays depicted Coolgardie's early years and the hardships endured on the goldfields. A number of period rooms were on display along with a wide collection of historical memorabilia and aboriginal cultural artefacts.

Next was the Coolgardie Pharmacy Museum, which they all agreed was surprisingly interesting. Said to be one of the best historical pharmaceutical displays in Australia, the museum housed an extensive collection of 18th and 19th century medicines. Numerous advertisements and antique tools of the chemist's trade were also on display.

They walked across the road into Ben Prior's Park, an open air display of old mining equipment, including mining jigs, drills, antiquated boilers and head frames.

It was almost 5 pm by the time they were checking into the caravan park and unloading the 4WD in Kalgoorlie. As usual, the boys were enjoying a pre-dinner drink while the lovely Jill prepared them yet another fine repast.

That night, Dave rang Wendy and asked her if she would be happy to arrange a hen's night on the Friday night for Jill and if Gail could sleep over that night. He and Peter would try and stay over at Gail's cousin's place.

"Of course, it will not only be my pleasure, but it will also be my shout. I'll get the stretch limo and make sure it's a great girls' night out. I'll ask Tanya and Sam if they can join us as well if that's OK" Wendy replied.

"That would be terrific, thanks. I'll get Jill to ring Gail and tell her what's going on and to get her cousin to organise a few drinks for Peter and me. Give my love to Kellie. Bye dear" Dave told her.

Dave gave the phone to Jill and told her to ring Gail, as she had heard his conversation with Wendy.

"Hi Gail, it's Jill. How are you dear?"

"I'm fine, enjoying Brisbane and my new job. I believe congratulations are in order" Gail responded cheerily.

"Thanks, love, that's why I'm ringing you, of course. Dave asked you if you will be my bridesmaid didn't he?" Jill enquired.

"Yes, happy to do so, but what do you want me to do?' she asked Jill.

"Not much, attend my hen's night that Wendy and Kellie are arranging on the Friday night, for one, but you could do me another favour" Jill said.

"Sure, if I can" Gail replied.

"Well, I thought that you might like to get your cousin to bring you to Wendy and Jill's place. Dave gave you the address didn't he?"

"Yes" Gail said.

"Once you are there, Wendy is arranging for us to go out in a stretch limo and she is not only organising the night but apparently she is insisting on picking up the tab as well."

"That sounds good" Gail piped in.

"Afterwards, I was hoping that you would come back to their place and stay the night. That way you'll be there the next morning to help me get ready. But I was also hoping that your cousin might like to go out with Dave and Peter for a buck's night, Dave's shout of course, and then take the two boys back to stay at his place for the night. I'm sure Dave would rather sleep in your bed with you in it, but this night you'll hopefully be with me. What do you reckon?" Jill asked.

"All sounds not only doable but I'm sure that Tony will be happy to fit in with what you have suggested, especially if Dave's shouting" Gail responded with a laugh, before adding almost hopefully "but are you sure that I can't stay in my own bed if Dave's there?"

"I'm sure there will be another opportunity for that, so this one night you'll just have to put up with me. Do you want to share my bed for the night?" Jill asked softly.

"Not a bad consolation prize" Gail said diplomatically, actually she realised that she did mean it and was suddenly looking forward even more to the night.

"Send us a text if everything's OK with Tony, then love. Alright?" Jill asked.

"Sure will. But what do you want me to wear for the wedding?" Gail replied.

"What ever you want, but something formal would be nice. We're going to get our gear when we get to Brisbane as it's a bit hard to do it on the road, so I can't even tell you what colour to wear. It probably doesn't matter, but if you have something green it would be nice and I'll make sure the boys get green accessories" Jill responded

"I can do that. Look forward to seeing you soon then. Bye" Gail said before hanging up.

Dave and Jill said goodnight to Peter, Jill giving him a loving kiss and cuddle before he climbed into the bunk bed, as it was Dave's turn to sleep with Jill.

Jill joined Dave in the main bed, snuggling into his arms and kissing him passionately, then rolling over so that he could hold her, his hand cupping her breast that she loved feeling so much as she drifted off to sleep.

Thursday Week 29

When Jill came out of the ensuite in the morning she was naked, which both men soon realised that tonight they would hopefully both be enjoying her favours, even though it would be Peter who got to sleep with her.

"What's on the agenda for today, boys?" she asked them as she sat naked at the kitchen table, waiting for Dave to serve her the breakfast he was cooking.

"Well I suggest that tomorrow we spend all morning at Hannans North Tourist Mine, where we can do an underground tour, pan for gold and watch a gold pour, but today at 10 am we should do the Loopline Railway Museum, spend some time at the Golden Mile Superpit Lookout and visit the Museum of the Goldfields. The rest of the day we should look around town."

"That seems like a good plan" Peter said.

"Then Peter and I are going to a skimpy bar for a couple of drinks" Dave finished.

"What's a skimpy bar?" Jill wanted to know.

"Just a place where the waitresses either wear bikinis or even go topless or see through" he replied.

"So why can't I go?" she wanted to know, a little indignant that she was being excluded.

"You might get jealous of us looking at other girl's breasts" Dave said laughing.

"Is that so? Well I'll come braless with a see through top then and you can compare and so can the other customers" she stated emphatically.

"Sounds like a good plan to me" Peter said.

"OK. Then it's settled, you can come if you dress as you said you would and you can drive too" Dave told her, thinking she was probably joking or would chicken out.

They went to the Loopline Railway Museum, which they found was officially opened in March 2004, after months of work by a small team of dedicated volunteers. Many of the exhibits at the museum had been donated by local people, while others were on loan from the Eastern Goldfields Historical Society, which was located in the Old Power House adjacent to the Boulder City Station.

The museum told the history of the Loopline, which started in the early 1900's, when very few cars were on the Goldfields. During this period, bicycles, horse & carts and trains were the main means of transportation for families, miners and freight. The only alternative means was to walk. The train services consisted of the East-West national line and the Loopline, which covered most areas of Kalgoorlie and Boulder. The Loopline was opened in 1897 and was originally planned as an ore tramway, however with the Goldfields so busy and more people arriving daily, this railway was their main transport to work.

The beginning of the decline of the Loopline began with the first trams on the Goldfields. In early 1903, an electronic tram was brought out from America, despite several years of protest from the public as it felt that the tramway would duplicate the Loopline, therefore making it obsolete.

Despite these protests, the trams went ahead, although the plans for the track layout were changed so as to cover different areas of Kalgoorlie and Boulder. The tram service ran for almost fifty years, before being superseded by the motor car. Today, they were surprised to learn that no tracks remain to show where the trams once ran.

Mine managers fought for a more direct route to their workings, whilst merchants and the people of Boulder felt they deserved priority. In the end the mines won, and in 1897 a line was laid from Golden Gate to Kamballie and on to Lakeview, forming the Inner Loop or Circle to the railway. The trains carried thousands of miners daily to and from the Boulder mines and lease, each man carrying a change of clothes under one arm, his crib box swinging in his hand.

In 1978 two Western Mining employees, Bryan Smith and Mike Wheeler, railway enthusiasts, decided to have one last run on the Loopline before it disappeared. They used a Wickham Rail Car and a weekend tourist run seemed viable. In 1982 the Loopline commenced fulltime operations and continued until January 2004 when it was necessary for KCGM to claim the track to expand the Superpit operations.

Dave then drove them around to the Golden Mile Superpit lookout, where they gazed with awe at the gigantic open cut mine, part of the original Golden Mile, the richest square mile of gold bearing earth ever discovered anywhere in the world. The view from the lookout was outstanding and they watched those huge mine trucks, that looked like little matchbox toy trucks from the distance down in the pit as they drove in and out of the many tunnels and then wound there way slowly around and around the open cut pit until they reached the top.

They waited until the appointed hour, when the pit was emptied of all trucks and workers and a huge blast rang out as dust rose in the air from the explosions and then the trucks and workers recommenced their activity.

Next they drove out to Mount Charlotte Reservoir and lookout which provides storage for fresh water which is pumped 565 kilometres from Mundaring Weir near Perth. They had seen the water pipe most of the way along the Great Eastern Highway as they drove east to Kalgoorlie.

When they were back in town, they went to Paddy Hannan's Tree, which is in Outridge Terrace, marking the spot where Hannan, Flanagan and Shea discovered gold while riding through the area in June 1893. The tree had apparently been replanted in 1993 to commemorate the centenary of the city.

For once they had lunch in a café before walking around the shops for a while and then they walked towards the end of Hannan Street to see the Museum of the Goldfields and look at its brilliant collection of gold nuggets and jewellery as well as its working displays. They rode up to the top of the mainframe where they enjoyed the 360 degree views of the city.

When they got back to the RV, Jill said "I want to have a quick shower before we go to the pub."

"No problems, Peter and I will have a quick beer outside while we wait" Dave replied, getting a couple of cans from the fridge as Jill undressed and went into the shower.

When Jill joined them outside, she was dressed much as she was for her 21st birthday party in a rather sexy and revealing outfit. Her skirt came just below the knees, but was split right up to her waist on one side and she was clearly wearing no undies. Her top was made from a soft, see through material with thin straps that widened as it descended to barely cover her nipples and just the bottom half of each breast, before widening and then wrapping around her waist. The straps went up around her neck, tying behind her hair, leaving her shoulders and most of her back bare.

Both breasts were almost totally visible through the gossamer garment.

Dave could only say "wow."

But Peter added "that'll turn a few heads."

"Let's go and see those skimpy girls, boys" she said haughtily "then we'll see who has the best body."

When they got the old large pub on the corner, Dave made sure that Jill was sitting where she could be easily seen by the other customers, many of whom were rough miners who had just come from work. More than one of them gave her a whistle and an invite to join them, but she just smiled at them

A topless young girl came up to them and asked what they would like to drink, before turning to Jill and saying "are you sure you wouldn't like to be behind the bar, dear, I'm sure you would get more than a few tips looking as good as you do."

Jill blushed, shook her head and suddenly realised that despite her earlier bravado she was suddenly a bit embarrassed and whispered to Dave, "should I go back and put something else on?"

"No way, you look great and Peter and I didn't even see that gorgeous topless girl that just served us with her nipples rouged and a small tattoo on her hip. Didn't see her at all because we were too busy gazing at your beauty" Dave said with a big smile.

Jill soon relaxed and even got to enjoy the admiring glances of the other customers, but wasn't too unhappy when two drinks later, Dave suggested they go back to the RV. She too had noticed a couple of the girls, very attractive as they walked around serving, displaying most of their body quite unselfconsciously. One of them gave her several admiring glances that seemed to issue an invitation, but Jill just smiled back at her without giving her any encouragement.

As soon as they were back in the RV, Jill asked with some concern "did I upset you guys? Should I have worn something a little less revealing?"

"Well I can't speak for Peter, but I certainly am not upset. What I am, though, is very aroused and not from the other girls we saw. Seeing you like this and watching the other guys perving on you has really turned me on" Dave told her a little breathlessly.

"Couldn't agree more, darling, you looked ravishing" Peter added.

"Well if you both mean it, why don't you both come here and ravish me then" Jill said happy that she had pleased her two men and wanting to please them even more, as she took the flimsy skirt and top off and went into their arms.

Soon Dave and Peter were laying either side of Jill on the bed lavishing kisses and fondles wherever their mouths and hands could access. Jill, already aroused from her brazen exposure in the pub and the suggestive comments and looks she had received, didn't need much of their loving attentions to make her experience the first orgasm she had enjoyed for five days.

Dave moved up so that Jill could take his penis into her mouth, while Peter got behind her and guided his erection into her very receptive vagina, sliding his arm around her so that his fingers could manipulate her clitoris.

Jill groaned in pleasure at this double assault on her person, the sounds of her moans vibrating on Dave's penis giving him even more pleasure, as he reached down and fondled both breasts, gently rolling her nipples between his thumb and forefinger. She used one hand to hold the base of his penis, sliding her fingers along the shaft as her mouth moved up and down, while her other hand fondled his testicles and teased his anus. She tried to ignore the exquisite pleasure that Peter was delivering to her sex, as she concentrated on giving Dave's penis the best oral sex she could.

But Jill's body wasn't listening to her mind as yet another massive orgasm rolled over her from Peter's attentions causing her to moan even louder and then she felt Dave exploding deep in her mouth. She swallowed all she could as he slowly withdrew from her mouth and bent down to kiss her.

Peter's thrust increased in speed and depth and soon he too was exploding in her vagina, before collapsing on top of her. The three of them lay on their backs; panting, sated as wondrous loving feelings flowed over them.

"There's a really nice restaurant in one of the bigger hotels behind the main street. Rather than expect anyone, especially Jill, to cook now, how about we all shower and get dressed again and go out for dinner?" Dave suggested.

"That would be wonderful, thanks Dave. I'll put something a little more conservative on this time, though" Jill replied.

"Please don't, I'd like you dressed the same as before, if you don't mind. What do you think, Peter?" Dave asked.