Kalgoorlie (1)

On Sunday morning there were few people in downtown Kalgoorlie - most of the shops and pubs were closed - so it was a good time to walk around and admire the historic buildings.

At the information centre we learned there was a multicultural festival in one of the parks and found a large proportion of the local population enjoying foods and music from many countries.

In town both Coles and Woolies were closed all day but we found an IGA that was open and doing a roaring trade. It was close to the Super Pit Lookout so we drove up and viewed the largest open cut gold mine in Australia. The huge dump trucks looked tiny as they drove up and down the roads cut into the side of the pit. Driving those trucks would not be a career option for people with a fear of heights. 

We visited an arboretum and saw that some of the river gums had interesting vertical stripes up their bark. The dark bark falls off and leaves grooves on the outside of the tree. I researched this phenomenon and discovered EUCLID which is the "definitive electronic identification and information system now covering all 894 eucalypts of Australia" which provides this explanation:

A curious but easily recognised bark type is the minnirichi which is restricted to a few species from southern Western Australia and arid Central Australia. This bark seems rough at first glance and on close inspection is seen to be formed of partly shed longitudinal strips that curl outwards, initially exposing pale or greenish underbark. The older attached strips turn deep red on aging. In one minnirichi species, in particular, the lower bark becomes thick and fibrous while only the upper bark is typical minnirichi.