Seek and you shall find: The Golden Ticket
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- Seek and you shall find: The Golden Ticket
Uncover the region’s most bizarre and extraordinary attractions
There isn't any other place like the Goldfields region in Australia’s Golden Outback. While most of the region is covered in red dirt, concealing earth's riches, if you delve deeper, you'll soon realise it is a place most unusual and unique, home to all sorts of rare finds.
Discover another side to this region with these offbeat attractions as rare as gold itself.
See one of the world's most unusual artworks
If Western Australia had a masterpiece to rival the Mona Lisa, the Goatcher Curtain would be it. The rare, scene-stealing artwork takes centre stage in Boulder Town Hall, located along the heritage precinct, Burt Street.
Named after its creator, the renowned English theatre artist Philip Goatcher, the 6.25 metres high and 8.44 metres wide mural, painted in 1908, deceives the eye with its realistic, 3D-like appearance. The textile illustration depicts red velvet curtains and white satin drapes in a half-pulled state. The "curtains" border an elaborate gold frame which reveals a window to Italy's Bay of Naples: a dreamy scene, fishing boats and Mount Vesuvius separated by an inviting blue sea.
To view Boulder's pièce de résistance, join a one-hour guided tour of Boulder Town Hall, where you'll also be shown the ropes backstage (literally) with the theatre's original pulley system, which is still in use.
Location: Boulder Town Hall
Tour: 10:30am, Tuesday and Thursday
Price: From $8
Bite into Western Australia's famous outback burger
Bring a pen, buy a burger, leave your mark: it's not a road trip in the goldfields without a visit to Broad Arrow Tavern. Established in 1896, the quintessential tin-roofed Aussie pub is an outback landmark, known for its patron-penned graffiti-covered walls, memorabilia of yesteryear and bizarre collection of bras. Perhaps most importantly, it's famous for its homemade burgers.
After your feed, add to the thousands of drawings that add character to the pub's walls, doors, and almost every inch of surface by purchasing a little magnet tag to hang on the least touched place: the roof. The pub really is a pit stop like no other.
Location: Broad Arrow
Hear of scandals and seduction at Australia's oldest working brothel
The curious finds continue in the outback, this time with Australia's oldest working brothel. Established in the late 1890s, Questa Casa is Kalgoorlie's last-remaining brothel, a living relic of the gold rush era's promiscuous side. Infamously known as the "Pink House", the 1904-built white corrugated-iron shed features 11 "starting doors", pale pink doors where women would court business come sundown. But during the day, another business operates: brothel tours.
Led by the brothel's madam, the memorable, one-hour tour goes beyond the pink doors, baring all, giving insight into Questa Casa's scandalous past. Naughty!
Location: Kalgoorlie
Tour: Most days at 3pm (Book ahead on 08 9021 4897)
Price: From $30
Encounter the ghosts of WA's past
The once-thriving town of Gwalia is a ghostly reminder of Western Australia's golden age.
When mining operations suddenly ceased in 1963, Gwalia was hastily abandoned—miner cottages, filled with furniture and household items, left to rust. Thankfully, 31 buildings of the former prosperous town have been preserved, including cottages, a windmill, and attractions still in use today, such as the Gwalia Museum and Hoover House, named after Gwalia's first mine manager, Herbert Hoover, who later served as the 31st President of the United States.
While President Hoover never occupied the house, it now operates as a bed and breakfast accommodation which overlooks the former mine site and ghost town. Talk about unique panoramas!
Location: Gwalia
Visit the world’s most remote art installation
There's no other lake like Lake Ballard. Standing tall along the dry salt lake are 51 human sculptures designed by acclaimed British artist Sir Antony Gormley for the 2003 exhibition "Inside Australia". Dotted over a 10-square-kilometre stretch, the life-size metal artworks were modelled on residents of Menzies, 51 kilometres east of Lake Ballard. Simply striking.
Location: Lake Ballard
Test your swing at the Nullarbor Links
Do something more than a leg stretch on your next pit stop; hone your golf swing.
The Nullarbor Links is the world's longest golf course, and most likely, the quirkiest too! The 18-hole golf course spans over 1,300 kilometres from Kalgoorlie to Ceduna in South Australia. Not travelling all the way? No problem – complete a section of the uniquely Australian bush course, with your golf skills improved with every far-flung par. To play the course, purchase a score card from the Ceduna, Norseman, or Kalgoorlie visitor’s centre. Have your card stamped at the service stations or visitor centres along the way. On completion of the course, you will receive a completion certificate. The cost for the whole round is only $78.