We’re under way again
and it’s another lovely sunny day. We
wonder how long our luck will last … ?
We drive 46 kilometres north to Zeehan – once renowned for silver
mining. As we drive down the main street
Wok spots some steam engines on display so we do a u-turn and stop to have a
look. The engines are part of a display
in a museum complex so we figure that we might as well go inside and take a
look. Wow! This was no ordinary little country town
museum. This was the West Coast Heritage
Centre with buildings and galleries to explore as well as an underground mine
simulation and outside displays of all manner of things. Once we had roamed through the pictorial
galleries and read masses of historical items about the convicts, miners, mine
disasters, timber getters and shipwrecks on the West Coast we headed
outside. The first building we had a
look at was the Gaiety Theatre.
 |
| Gaiety Theatre Grand Hotel in Zeehan |
Built in 1898 the
Gaiety Theatre Grand Hotel is a wonderful example of late 1800 architecture. The entrance foyer displayed olden day posters
of entertainers and shows that performed at the Theatre.
 |
| Wok checks out the posters in the theatre foyer |
What incredible
things these walls must have seen and heard – if only they could but speak … Beside the theatre was the police
station/court house. The small police
station fronted the main road and the court house was added to the rear at a
later date. The next building on the
main street was the Masonic Lodge.
Normally one wouldn’t be allowed to enter a lodge unless you were a
member or an invited guest but this lodge had been donated to the centre and
all of the furnishings, symbols and items used by the members were on display.
 |
| Masonic Lodge in Zeehan |
Information panels
told us what each item was used for and where members sat and what their title
and duties were. It was a very
interesting display. Outside we finally
found the steam engines that had caught our eye.
 |
| Steam Engine display |
These old steam
engines were used mainly in the mining industry and it was great to see that
they had not ended up as a pile of metal rusting away in some forgotten siding.
 |
| Wok plays train driver |
Wok of course loves
machinery of any kind and spent quite a bit of time climbing in and out of the
engines and then headed for the blacksmiths shop with its fully operational
forge.
 |
| Wok heading into the Blacksmith Workshop |
The machinery Shed also
kept him occupied with its array of mining and railway heritage. Pumps, engines, compressors and stamp
batteries were all on display inside the shed and in the open air display. Then he made a beeline for the Motor Vehicle Shed. Not many vehicles on display here but Wok was
still very enthusiastic about the ones that were.
 |
| Motor Vehicle display |
He was particularly
interested in the 1974 Datsun Cherry.
 |
| 1974 Datsun Cherry |
Bought over to
Australia from Malta by the owner in 1975 this Datsun is thought to be the only
one in Australia. When the owner
returned to Malta after thirty years in Australia he sold the Cherry and its
new owner is in the process of trying to restore it. We used to have a Datsun 120Y which was a
great car but Wok had never seen this model before. ‘Verrrry interesting’ is all he could say.
We left the Cherry
and wandered through the many pieces of machinery displayed outside on our way
to the exit. Wok got really excited when
he saw this rusty old tractor. |
| Wok with the Fordson tractor |
It was past lunchtime
by the time we had finished looking through the heritage centre so we had a
quick bite to eat and continued north.
We found a little used rest area beside Lake Rosebery and decided to
free camp for the night. It’s been a
pleasant day. The weather has been
fantastic and better still we’d stumbled across The West Coast Heritage Centre
and had a good poke around. To sum up –
a good day was had by all.
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