A Golden Time!

Kalgoorlie is 595 kilometres  (370 miles) East-Northeast of Perth. It is now known as Kalgoorlie - Boulder as the two towns have joined.

The town was founded in 1893 during the Yilgarn - Goldfields gold rush. The original name Kalgoorlie is derived from the Wangai word Karlkurla, meaning "place of the silky pears". 

The street pictured above is Hannan Street, named after Paddy Hannan. The story, in 1893, Patrick (Paddy) Hannan, Tom Flanagan and Dan O'Shea were travelling to Mount Youle. Along the way one of their horses had problems with a shoe, which halted their journey. It was then the men noticed signs of gold in the area and decided to stay put. On 17th June 1893, Hannan filed a Reward Claim, leading to hundreds of men swarming to the area in search of gold and Kalgoorlie, originally called Hannan's, was born.

^{The concentrated area of large mines surrounding the original Hannan site is referred to as the Golden Mile. This is considered by some the richest square mile of earth on the planet.}

^{A water pipeline was designed by C.Y O'Connor, an Irish Engineer, to take water from Mundaring Weir, near Perth, to Kalgoorlie. The area was very dry and, with a growing population, the town needed more water. On the 16th July 1896 Sir John Forrest, then premier of Western Australia, introduced a Bill to Parliament authorising the raising of a 2.5 million pound loan to construct the scheme.
Many ridiculed C. Y. O'Connor and told him it would not work. Unfortunately, he committed suicide less than a year before Sir John Forrest officially commissioned the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme.}

<sup>Another  interesting story from Kalgoorlie is about President Herbert Hoover. Early in his life he received a diploma from Stanford University in The United States of America for geology and mining. Not long after, Hoover found himself on a ship bound for Western Australia. The long journey took him via France, Italy, Egypt and India before arriving in Albany, Western Australia. The following two weeks were spent in quarantine as smallpox had been discovered aboard ship.

During his time working in Western Australia, Hoover's travels took him to Kalgoorlie, where he often frequented the Palace Hotel. There are stories about how he fell in love with a barmaid at the hotel. When he was leaving to return to the United States, he composed a poem for the barmaid which hangs next to the elaborately carved mirror. A gift to the hotel in the foyer from Hoover, it is still there today.

Upon returning to the United States of America, Hoover married Lou Henry, with whom he studied at Stanford University. Later Herbert Hoover became President of The United States from 1929 to 1933.</sup>

This is just a sample of Kalgoorlie and its history. There is so much more to see, maybe you will visit one day! 

Beer is the most common drink served in any pub or hotel in Australia. For something different, try my Tia Maria recipe!

Bernadette's Homemade Tia Maria

Ingredients

1 cup of water
1 cup of brown sugar 
4 teaspoons of powdered coffee
1 cup of rum

4 teaspoons of vanilla essence

Method 

In a saucepan on low to medium heat, boil the water and sugar for 10 minutes until it is like a syrup. Then, take off heat and add coffee and vanilla and let cool.

Lastly, add rum.

Place in a clean, sterilized bottle and leave for 1 week before using.

It is like a liqueur, best served in a glass of ice and milk, or you may prefer by itself with ice.

Enjoy!!!