As I mentioned in my previous blog, Norseman appears to be one of those towns which has fallen on hard times but is fighting back. By sheer coincidence our park neighbour, who did like a chat, was raised in the town during the heyday of the local gold mine. He was quick to point out that in those days it supported a population of over 7,000. Now the figure is more like 700. I have to say that this was more than evident to us as we strolled around the CBD and part of the 'suburbs'.
We set off down the wide, tree lined street on which our caravan park was situated, a street which is typical of those throughout Norseman. And as you can see, it is dry despite the fact that the town is connected to the Perth-Kalgoorlie water supply.
The scarcity of water has not deterred the town fathers from making valiant attempts to beautify civic and other areas of the CBD. If ever proof was needed that roses, and delightful roses at that, will thrive in a dry environment, Norseman provides it. These in front of the town hall were but one of several large public plantings we found in on our walk.
Norseman began life as a gold town, and it remains so to this day. Gold was first discovered at nearby Dundas in 1892. In 1894 Lawrence Sinclair made the find at Norseman, which, believe it or not, is named after his horse 'Norse-Man'.
The Norseman lode proved to be the second richest in WA after that at Kalgoorlie. The Central Norseman Gold Corporation continues to mine at the site which can claim to be the longest continuously running gold mine in the country, but overall, mining in the area has declined dramatically with the resultant effect on the town's population. This, in part, explains why the locals are turning more and more to tourism.
Camels played a major role in the development of Norseman and surrounding areas. Huge camel trains of up to 70 beasts managed by 4 Afghan handlers would haul all manner of goods to and from the area. In addition to this general haulage, camels were used extensively on maintenance patrols along the East-West telegraph line until the late 1920's. They really are extraordinary animals. It was not uncommon for them to travel 20 to 25 miles per day carrying loads of up to 600 kgs. Much of the development of the early Nullarbor wool industry was also reliant on the services of these camel trains which were used to cart the clip to the railhead at Norseman or to the port at Israelite Bay.
The wide main streets of Norseman are a direct result of the need to be able to turn these huge camel trains, very similar to many outback towns where bullock teams did the same work. The importance of these animals has been recognised with the erection of these wonderful galvanised iron statues on one of Norseman's main roundabouts.
Beyond this roundabout stretch the town's Memorial Gardens, where some of the lawn was real
but, as I looked more closely, I realised other swathes of 'turf' were artificial. No need for sprinklers here!
We then turned off this street, which parallels that of the main CBD, and made our way in that direction, where, at the next roundabout, the Norseman Hotel provides a background to the large 'town clock'.
The second pub, The Railway Hotel/Motel, has clearly seen better days. It remains an imposing building with a decor which seems strangely incongruous in a town such as this,
and if this sign on one of its wall is any indication, it must have been a very busy place in its heyday. I understand it is still functioning, but on a very limited scale.
The main CBD is relatively compact, but provides all the goods and services which the locals and travellers are likely to need.
On our jaunt through the main street we did note this sign on one of the buildings. What an eclectic mix of wares on offer here, we thought. Strangely enough, the shop was no longer in business.....we also wondered if the fancy dress outfits and adult novelties came as a 'package deal'.
But just beyond the boundary of the CBD it was sad to find obvious signs of commercial decay. This former accountant's office appeared abandoned,
whilst this facade was all that was left of whatever had previously stood here.
Notwithstanding this, as I have mentioned before, the local authorities are making significant efforts to beautify the CBD and to encourage custom from those passing by. We saw the master plan for the redevelopment of the main town area.
Work has already started with plantings at all the intersections. From what we saw the end result looked very promising.
Mind you, there are already established gardens to be found as can be seen here, both around and beyond the post office, one of the very few 'heritage' looking buildings we could find.
Norseman is decidedly a mixed bag when it comes to residential housing. We did find one or two where effort and pride were an obvious part of the occupants' view of the world
but I'm afraid they were the exceptions amongst many others which looked more like this.
We decided that no visit to Norseman would be complete without a trip to the local lookout. This takes sightseers past the mine workings
and on past the huge tailings dump (which is sometimes promoted as a feature of the town!)
The lookout does provide a spectacular view over the town and the land beyond although it can be tricky seeing between the trees. On the day of our visit a significant storm was brewing in the south-west as can bee seen from the clouds.
A major feature of the countryside around Norseman are the huge salt pans. flats. It is possible to drive across them on a causeway. We were keen to have done this but the weather was against us.
The threat in the clouds proved not to be idle. Just as we returned to our park the storm clouted us with some vigour. Fortunately we did not have any canvas hanging off the van so we just tucked up until it passed. At least the rain settled the dust!
But that night did not pass without incident. I woke at about 0300 hours to pay a visit to the en suite end of the rig when I noted that our power was out. This is always a worry until the cause has been determined. After checking our trip fuses I donned my kit and ventured out to our park power post where I found our power cord had been well and truly removed from the socket.
As you might imagine, I was less than impressed. Stumbling around a muddy caravan park in the dark at that time of the morning is not my idea of fun. Fortunately the fridge and freezer were still well and truly cold, so we lost nothing, but it is more the principle of the thing.
My none too subtle enquiries the following morning revealed that a neighbour had tripped over the lead whilst making her way to the nearby loo. To my significant annoyance the offending woman and her husband were just pulling out as I identified the culprit. At least I had the satisfaction of asking their travelling companion, who was still on site, to point out that if that happens again there is a well established park protocol that one replaces the lead...a protocol we would all be better served if they learnt and practised it. I somehow suspect the message will be delivered.
Ah, the little vagaries of caravan life. It probably goes without saying that the co-pilot absented herself from that conversation which I have to admit was somewhat terse!
As I have done in the past I have to offer apologies for the format of some of this post. I am hoping that the inability to align text with the photos in the latter part of it is nothing to do with the bug with which we were inflicted a few days ago. Fingers crossed.
Let me conclude with another quick real time update. We have now been in Fremantle for the past ten days, much of which has been taken up with our UN reunion. That is now over and the Marshies' life is resuming some semblance of normality.
Most of the group have now returned to their various states after what was a fantastic four days of fun and games. We were treated to a luncheon boat trip on the Swan, a winery tour of the Swan Valley, tickets to the Maritime Museum and the Freo Gaol, a civic reception and lunch and, finally, a formal dinner/dance at the Fremantle Hotel. I suspect there is some serious drying out being practised all over the country as I speak...I know this is the case in the Marshies' van!
We did entertain one of the reunion organisers and his wife at a BBQ last night. We had become friends during the last reunion two years ago in Darwin but obviously had little time to catch up during the past week...Greg was a tad busy.
We had a lovely evening held in defiance of one of the most ridiculous caravan park rules we have ever come across. A notice in the office declares that ALL VISITORS MUST LEAVE BY 7.00PM...NO EXCEPTIONS. What bloody nonsense. As you can imagine we took absolutely no notice of this rubbish. We were a little concerned when the duty manager toddled past a couple of times in his golf cart, but nothing eventuated. As I am sure you would expect, we were behaving impeccably.
Today is our last in Freo. We are planning a long walk along the seafront to the Little Creatures Brewery followed by fish and chips at the marina. How very tourist is that? An almost embarrassing admission for two 'knights of the road'!
Tomorrow we'll arrange parole for the Black Panther and head about 100 kms north-west into the Wheatbelt again to the historic village of Toodyay (pronounced we discovered yesterday as Toojay). We are planning four nights in this little Avon Valley town before moving on to York and our Medieval Banquet and other associated jollies.
Beyond that, our plans are nebulous to say the least. This is the beginning of the real gypsy part of our travels. We have already received a number of suggestions from local friends, some of which have great appeal, but at this stage it is a matter of 'where the road takes us'.
Hopefully I'll be able to catch up with this blog during our stay in Toodyay.
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