We then traveled only a few kilometres South of town to the Historical Precinct of Gwalia. This is a must see if traveling through Leonora. There is a very good museum with quite a bit of mining equipment from "The Sons of Gwalia" Gold mine. The mine closed in the 1960s but appears to be operational again as a open pit mine. The pit is adjacent to the museum and you get an excellent view from a lookout.
There are a number of buildings utilized in the museum including the Hoover House that Herbert Hoover (later became American President) lived in. Beautiful old building that has been restored and you can stay in 4 of the rooms overnight. It is still open to tour however which was nice.
Other highlights of the museum are the Huge Winder and Shaft utilized for transporting men and ore some 1500 metres into the ground. Lot's of tools etc involved with maintaining this equipment as well. Get a look at the size of the spanner Rans is playing with! Weighed a ton!
Lots of interesting memorabilia involving regular life during the early days as well. Vehicles, Trains, bicycles, washing machines, etc.
The parking lot is huge and you are allowed to free camp there as long as you are self contained and tour the museum. The museum is free, with a gold coin donation if you wish, so not much of a commitment!
The girl at the entry/gift shop was lovely and the whole experience was really good. It's great to see how these small towns are really encouraging tourists and making it appealing to come to their towns. Such a pleasant change from the more touristy areas with poor customer service and substandard facilities.
From Gwalia we traveled about 60 Km South before turning West towards Kookynie. A short 20 Km saw us at Niagara Dam (not related to the famous falls in Canada). This is another large free camping area but with the bonus of flush toilets and a dump point. We ventured down to the lower camping area which had lots of space and private areas. The roads/tracks were a bit rough and winding so you have to be a bit careful with larger caravans. That being said we found a nice area where we could set up with minimum fuss.
Once setup we had a quick lunch before heading off to explore the area. This time we supplied the transport as we traveled to the "Living Ghost Town" of Kookynie. Another major Gold mining town of the early 1900's. Kookynie had a population of 3500 with 11 Hotels in 1907 only to shrink to about 20 residents currently (which is why they call it Living). The only significant building left is the Grand Hotel (not that Grand if we are honest). The few other remaining residents appear to be prospectors and/or recluses (only my uneducated opinion). A bit like a number of Opal/Gem towns we have visited previously but with even less services! We stopped for a beer in the Pub, which is for sale ($400K) if anyone is looking for a lifestyle change. Wow! The beer on tap was beautifully cold, and both the hotel and owner were very interesting. Check out the picture of the Keg Room below. That being said we only stayed for one and we won't be making an offer.
We returned to the campground where we completed a walk around the dam. Very different rock formations here as well and an interesting walk.
A few other campers at this campground as well. although I think some might be long term residents. We enjoyed afternoon drinks outside but moved inside for the evening as it was cool.
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