Attractions

As you might guess, gold is a common thread running through many of the town's attractions. One of the best is the Mining Hall of Fame, Broad Arrow Road, 3km (2 miles) north of the Tourist Centre on the Goldfields Highway (tel. 08/9026 2700; www.mininghall.com). Opened in late 2001, it has five interactive galleries focusing on modern high-tech mining, plus a number of historic mining and processing facilities, including several derricklike head frames. There's a statue of Paddy Hannan (the prospector who started the region's gold rush), and you can find out how prospecting was and is done, learn how the business of mining is conducted, and then revisit the old days. The underground tour goes 36m (118 ft.) underground in a mining cage and explores the tunnels where "real" miners once worked. You can pan for gold, watch a gold pour, see a video in a re-created miner's tent, and pore over an extensive collection of mining memorabilia in a miners' village. The site is open daily from 9am to 4:30pm, except January 1 and December 25 and 26. Admission, which covers all activities, is A$30 (US$27/£14) for adults, A$25 (US$23/£11) for seniors and students, A$15(US$14/£6.75) for children, and A$60 (US$54/£27) for families. Underground tours and gold pouring start three times a day, at 10am, and 12:15 and 2:30pm. Allow half a day to see everything.

The WA Museum Kalgoorlie-Boulder, 17 Hannan St. (tel. 08/9021 8533; www.museum.wa.gov.au), is worth a look. You'll find it easily, with its enormous red head frame dominating Hannan Street and making a grand entrance statement. A glass elevator within it takes you to a great view over the city. You'll see the first 400-ounce gold bar minted in town, nuggets and jewelry, a wooden bicycle, and other historical displays. It is open daily from 10am to 4:30pm, closed Good Friday and December 25. Admission is by donation. Tours are at 11am and 2:30pm. Allow an hour.

Don't leave town without goggling at the Super Pit open-cut mine -- it makes giant dump trucks (which carry 225 tons of ore) look like ants. The lookout is off the Goldfields Highway in Boulder. It's open daily from about 7am to about 9pm, but check with the visitor center when the daily blast will take place (the lookout may be closed then for safety reasons). Entry is free. Finders Keepers Super Pit Tours (tel. 08/9093 2222) provide a first hand look at the mining operations. The 2 1/2-hour tours run Tuesday to Sunday at 9am all year, and at 1:30pm from March to November; tours cost A$40 (US$36/£18) adults and A$25 (US$22/£11) children under 17. Advance bookings are essential.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service (tel. 08/9093 7595) base at Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport is open for visitors to browse memorabilia, see a video, and look over an aircraft (if one is in). It is open Monday through Friday from 11am to 3pm. Admission is by A$2 (US$1.80/UK90p) donation. Tours run on the hour, the last one at 2pm, and take 45 minutes.

Kalgoorlie's -- and maybe Australia's -- most unusual attraction must be Langtrees 181, 181 Hay St. (tel. 08/9026 2181), a working brothel presented as a sort of sex-industry museum, in the heart of Kalgoorlie's (in)famous red-light district. Despite laws to the contrary, Kalgoorlie's brothels flourished in red and pink corrugated-iron sheds festooned with colored lights, known as "starting stalls," and became a popular drive-by spot for gawping tourists. Langtrees is a swish modern establishment offering 90-minute tours, which are fun rather than sleazy, showing some of the 12 themed (but unoccupied) rooms, at a cost of A$35 (US$32/£16), A$25 (US$23/£11) for seniors! Tours depart at 1, 3, and 6pm daily.

The two town halls are both worth a visit. Kalgoorlie Town Hall houses the Visitor Centre and has a replica statue of Paddy Hannan (complete with drinking fountain) outside, while the Boulder Town Hall has the magnificent 100-year-old Goatcher Theatre Curtain, depicting the Bay of Naples inside. It's lowered for viewing Wednesdays from 10am to noon and 1 to 3pm, and on Boulder Market Days (third Sun every month) from 9:30am to 1pm.

Take a step, and a taste, back to your childhood with a visit to the Little Boulder Sweet Shop, 41 Burt St., Boulder (tel. 08/9093 0011). It's a visual delight, stocking all the old style sweets and chocolates.

Wandering Coolgardie's quiet streets, which are graced with historic facades, is a stroll back in time. More than 100 signboards throughout the town, many with photos, detail what each site was like at the turn of the 20th century. The Goldfields Exhibition, 62 Bayley St. (tel. 08/9021 1966), tells the town's story in a lovely 1898 building once used as the mining warden's courthouse. (The Tourist Bureau is also here.) Admission is free, and it's open daily except December 25, from 9am to 5pm.

"Inside Australia" is a series of sculptures scattered across a salt lake 187km (116 miles) north of Kalgoorlie. Fifty-one metal figures, derived from computer scans of the residents of nearby Menzies, were created by the renowned British sculptor Antony Gormley in 2003. They are spread in lonely splendor across the brilliant white salt surface of Lake Ballard, creating an eerily beautiful effect. Sunset can be particularly evocative. You can drive here, getting supplies and meals at Menzies, or Goldrush Tours offers trips with a minimum of 10 passengers.

The Golden Quest Discovery Trail is a 965km (598-mile) self-drive tour through old and new mining areas to the north of Kalgoorlie, including ghost towns and the "Inside Australia" statues. A comprehensive guidebook, with associated CDs, adds immeasurably to the drive and can be bought at all local visitor centers.

If you fancy trying your hand at a bit of prospecting, grab a half-day tour with Finders Keepers Prospecting Adventures, 20 Burt St., Boulder (tel. 08/9093 2222). The tours provide an introduction to the local bush, and a chance to use a metal detector (with a fee). You keep any gold that you find. The tour costs A$70 (US$63/£32) adults, A$40 (US$36/£18) children under 13. Advance bookings are recommended.

Time for the Gee-Gees -- The Kalgoorlie Race Round is the high point in the local social calendar, with 3 weeks of horse races (gee-gees in Aussie-speak), the World Two Up Championship, and a variety of events around Kalgoorlie, including a bush picnic. The Round starts with the Coolgardie Cup and finishes with over half of the town partying at the Kalgoorlie Cup. It's usually held in early September.