#perth trip

[mike-kill]

ig- @mikekillwhat

[the-trailers]

Perth trip - day 3

So... before we left Kalgoorlie, we visited the open cut gold mine. Apparently the biggest in Australia. Now, please excuse me folks, while I engage in a little rant.

:WARNING, RANT INCOMING:

This mine literally dominates the landscape. It is so big, it is almost beyond comprehension. (Almost half a Km deep). It has disrupted such an enormous chunk of the local ecosystem, not just where the mine itself is. Kilometers around feel the fallout due to chemicals, waste products, pollution, and changed water flow. All this for what? Gold.... Now what does gold give us? It is used in electronics a little, even in medicine at times... That's about it... Even jewelry provides little to no real benefit to mankind. The only other purpose it serves is to make the people who mine it rich... Seriously, think about it, the only reason people pay so much for gold is because they know other people will pay a lot for it. Aside from the above exceptions, and maybe a few others, GOLD HAS PRACTICALLY NO INTRISIC VALUE. This mine puts out a whopping $1,000,000 worth of gold every 8 hours. That is way more than we could ever legitimately use.... Infact by far the majority of the world's gold is kept in storage, never to be seen, just in order to keep the market price high. Here's the REALLY nasty part: When asked what rehabilitation strategies they have for the land once the mine is finished, the miners LAUGHED. The ground has been so totally raped that it is estimated it will take thousands of years to recuperate. I don't know about those figures, but what I do know is that when the top soil is stripped back like this, the ground looses all the micro-ecosystems in place. The micro flora and micro fauna that is at the bottom of the food chain, and so supports all other life is destroyed. This land is dead. Not just in a small area either, but in a huge one. All this for the sake of gold? Oh, by the way, there are new mines planned for in Australia which will apparently make this one look tiny. If you care, I suggest giving the Australian Conservation Foundation a look. They lobby the government to stop these things.

:RANT OVER:

So, once I had gotten over the horror of the mines, we arrived at Wave rock. The shop there is really cool! Oh man, the sandwiches were amazing! will definitely come back. Wave rock was cool... I had more fun sitting on top of it, and writing haikus for the sunset though.

That's all there is. There isn't... anymore.

-Dylan

[upside-down-faces]

I'm thinking mixed accomodation for Perth trip, Found a cheap hostel. I can do day trips to fremantle or whatever. Secure lockers, fuck yeah.

[captainmjolnir]

Words cannot express my unrestrained joy at being on a train again

[captainmjolnir]

Off to the airport!

Perth here I come!