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Wow it’s hot. Really hot! 41 degrees today but our temperature gauge reads much hotter than that in the shade. Inside the van it was 36 degrees and that’s with the air conditioner on and the van at its coolest. Unbelievably, it feels much cooler inside than out. The pool is getting a good workout here. Apart from being uncomfortable, the heat zaps our energy, and without Brother Chris cracking the whip for us to get moving, we are moving at half pace. (Miss you Chris!) 
We headed to town and as it was Saturday it was quite busy. A few groceries later we headed up to Mount Charlotte to the lookout from which we could see the whole of the township of Kalgoorlie. The Superpit mine dwarfs the town and watching the trucks coming and going is mesmerizing. Statistically, one in every 6 trucks is carrying gold. This superpit is the richest square mile of earth in the world! 
They extract over 800,000 ounces of gold each year. The town thrives on the mining industry with many families relocating here for work. We hope to do a free mine tour tomorrow as a part of the once a month market day. They offer free tours which are normally $70 per adult. Being the bargain hunters that we are, we will be first in line. 
The lookout is also the reservoir (albeit in a holding tank and not a lake/dam) holding a supply of water which is piped from Perth alongside the road. As a result the water is always warm as it is sitting out in the sun all day. We could find no information why they didn’t put it underground. Seems logical to us. It took 11 years and was finished in 1905. 

We went for a drive (with the car air conditioning blasting) to look at Kanowna, a ghost town 24kms away. It sure was a ghost town, even the buildings had packed up and left. The heritage trail was marked with signs showing where the buildings used to be. We kept our eyes peeled for gold but even though the whole area is currently under lease from a mining company, we didn’t get lucky. Ray did get out of the car and pick up a few pieces though, he lives in eternal hope!
We stopped off at the Superpit Lookout on the way back. It’s enormous! Each tyre on the big tractors cost $26,000 so they train their drivers how to drive so that they get the longest wear out of them. Caleb stood in front of one of the digger’s scoops. It was enormous. The information was great and we learned that Alan Bond was actually the one with the foresight to begin buying up the smaller mines and therefore changing the mining styles from underground to open cut. Unfortunately, he went bust before he could finish the vision but it has been continued by 2 other mining groups and it’s very lucrative. 
Interestingly, the mine does not employ FIFO fly in/fly out workers (anymore) as they saw it having a negative impact on the town and families. Now you must be permanently based in Kalgoorlie to be employed here. 
After dinner Ray went and chatted at happy hour while Caleb and I watched TV in air conditioned comfort. It was still 42 degrees at 6:30pm. Ugh!