Gold Rush

This has probably been the most interesting few days of my trip so far. I showed up at the train station to catch the 7:15 to Kalgoorlie with about 3 minutes to spare, as I had marginally slept in and had to take a different, much slower bus than I had anticipated. The trip was uneventful and I still haven't seen one live kangaroo. I got to Kalgoorlie and checked into my hostel which looked mildly ramshackle owing to all the corrugated metal paneling. Turns out it used to be a brothel. Hmm. The only other hostel in town was more expensive and looked to be in about the same state so I have stuck it out here.

There are 4 active and working brothels across the street and down, but it is the quiet season at the mine, and thus the quiet season at the brothels. Apparently this is something they tolerate in Kal because it reduces the amount of bar fights. Go figure. My hostel is full of people who look like they came from my home town, which is somewhat comforting, if a little annoying at times, thanks to the occasional un-PC comment. I was told the other day that my figure was better than that of the girls at at least 3 of the 4 brothels. The fourth one is a very high class establishment, apparently. To be fair there is only one guy in the place who I can actually classify as rude and obnoxious. The others have sort of adopted me and pledged that anyone who messes with me will have to talk to them first. It's like having a whole building full of big brothers (I am one of only 2 girls staying here and the only single gal). The other benefit of staying here instead of the m0re backpacker friendly place down the road is that these guys have connections with the mines and other types of work that involve rocks and not serving trays. My little buddy Rory has already brought my resume in to his boss to see if there is anything at the Super Pit for my skill set.

The Super Pit is the largest open pit mine in the world and by the time all the gold is extracted, it will be over 5km deep. Right now it sits at a measly 2.5km depth. I have decided that Kalgoorlie is like Yellowknife, just hotter. Anyway, my coin-operated computer is about to run out of time so I had best sign off. Cheers.

-A.