Golden Outback Roadie – Perth to Kalgoorlie
GOLDEN OUTBACK ROADIE SEPTEMBER 2025 September marks the beginning of wildflower season in Western Australia. Last year, our journey took us north — you can read about that adventure here . This time, we ventured east into the Goldfields, and the trip more than lived up to expectations. Gold was first discovered in Coolgardie, around 600 kilometres east of Perth, in 1892. Just six months later, prospector Patrick (Paddy) Hannan , together with Thomas Flanagan and Daniel Shea, struck a rich deposit in Kalgoorlie. Their find sparked the great gold rush , which in turn drove the development of vital infrastructure such as the water pipeline and the railway. Leaving Perth, we travelled east and joined the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail at its starting point, Mundaring Weir. By 1895, the Goldfields were facing a severe water shortage. In response, Premier John Forrest launched an ambitious scheme in 1896 to pump water 563 kilometres from the dam at Mundaring all the way to Kalgoorlie....