We were excited to be touring the Superpit mine today. We made the 9am bus tour and joined a bevy of other tourists from all over the world. We were the only Victorians and of course, Marty the guide made a comment about how hard it must be for us with the extreme difference in our weather. It’s 43 degrees here today. Melbourne is certainly known far and wide for its cold weather! 
The tour took us deep into the Superpit and we saw some amazing things. All the machinery is on a monster scale and so are the price tags. They have over 4 independent companies looking after mechanical repairs to the trucks and driving through the spare parts yard was an eye opener. As the mining continues they are currently over 520 metres in depth, they are still uncovering old mines which were relatively hand dug by miners of years past. There were piles of logs and sticks that were removed from the materials being mined which were used to prop up walls and mine roofs from times past. Considering how deep the old mines were dug, the use of wooden poles was very game indeed! 
Marty said they sometimes retrieve the body of an old miner but not often, as an unspoken code existed that no-one was left behind, alive or dead. 
We were told that we were not allowed to post any photos taken online without having permission. I lined up to get mine approved. 
We took a look around the market, struggling in the heat and then decided to tour the museum and enjoy the air conditioning. The displays were fantastic and we saw some real gold nuggets found in the area. The highlight for me was seeing the actual Mulga Bill’s bicycle that was the inspiration for the picture story book of the same name. It was made in 1899 by prospector Mulga and he reportedly pushed it hundreds of kilometers across Western Australia while he searched for gold. Ray didn’t know the story and Caleb wasn’t interested but I was absolutely thrilled. The story was adapted from a poem by one of most famous Australians “Banjo” Paterson. You can read more about the poem and the cycling craze to hit Australia here.
Caleb was very impressed with the old fashioned typewriter and asked if we could get one and Ray noticed the antique Ericsson wall phone which is identical to the one we have at home. 
We left reluctantly, mindful of the heat outside, and headed back to the van for a swim. The pool was so refreshing and was the perfect ending to our adventurous day.