Hi guys

We start with rather a sad moment in this newsletter and must thank Magda Erasmus for her lovely tribute to our late friend, Makhosi Zwane.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL SECTION

(you didn’t know we had one, did you?)

 

How about we kick this off with a mouthwatering letter from our old friend, Joanne Wilson?

 

"Wow! It’s incredible – I can’t believe it’s been 6 months since I left South Africa!  What an adventure it has been. From the moment I left South Africa it seemed that the Universe was against me – awful electric storms delayed our landing in Johannesburg, then incorrect information on my ticket to Perth almost saw me at the wrong gate – fortunately it all got sorted.  My departure was then delayed for some hours because of the storms, and when I finally departed the storms followed us for many hours.  

 

What an amazing sight that was awaiting me when breakfast was served – the sun was shining brightly as it was already mid-morning, having crossed the date line a few hours before! Coming in to Perth reminded me of Cape Town; the beautiful blue sea and skies with white masted yachts sailing in the bay.  What a sight!  We arrived in Perth 4 hours late which didn’t leave me much time to explore but I took full advantage of the remaining daylight hours.

 

I was up early next morning and off to the train station to catch the train to Kalgoorlie-Boulder.  The 7 hour trip gave me a chance to see my new home – as we left Perth one can see the countryside change until at last we made our way into the outback – red sand and salt pans extending for kilometres raced past the window. Flocks of white cockatoos dotted the landscape as did the gum trees and small scrubby bushes – it reminded me of the Karoo, as did the heat! Fortunately the train was air conditioned.  I finally arrived in Kalgoorlie-Boulder at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon and was met by one of my staff – Caron Milner.

 

The next few days flew by in a haze of me settling into the hotel, meeting my new Manager – Eric, Director – Tony and a meeting with the CEO, Don as well meeting the staff in the History and Heritage Unit – who were all so welcoming.   It was wonderful meeting all the folk who I had got to know so well on e-mail.  It was like meeting old friends.

 

I officially started work on the 14th February, and the days were so busy – I was still trying to get over the jet lag, the change in time zones (Australia is 6 hours ahead) and to deal with a new town and having to learn new office systems.  The post of Team Leader had been vacant for 18 months so there was a lot for me do and learn; I really hit the ground running.  The History and Heritage Unit is made up of the Goldfields War Museum – of which Caron Milner is the Administrator and Tim Cudini, researcher and collections manager.  The Archives consists of 3 main collections and is managed by Archivist - Tim Moore. The Council also owns an art collection of some 90 art works of prominent artists from Western Australia.    

 

So far the History and Heritage Unit has been involved with two exhibitions – “The Day Boulder Rocked” an exhibition which commemorated the 1st anniversary of the April 2010 earthquake and a beautiful photographic exhibition on the Mayors of the City of Kalgoorlie and Boulder 1895 - 2011.Because this is a small outback town most of the printing work we require is sent by the printers to Perth – I really miss Vaneda and Rob, we have to do everything ourselves from research to hanging the photographs and art works to making labels, designing posters and printing information booklets.  Working for Museum Service for the past 28 years has given me a good foundation – so I’m able to give direction to the staff with the designing of posters, editing research for exhibitions and information booklets, installing exhibitions, conserving the objects and managing the collections.

 

The War Museum which was located in Boulder had to close its doors after the earthquake in April 2010 because the building was badly damaged.  The museum staff was moved to the City’s Administration Offices then it was decided to move the staff, the War Museum and the Archives to the Kalgoorlie Town Hall in September 2010, and this is also where my office is located.  The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder has an approximate population of 30 000, and is steeped in history due to the discovery of gold.  Kalgoorlie-Boulder has the second largest open pit gold mine in the world – it is referred to as the “Super Pit”. The City is well known for its lovely old buildings and we have approximately 100 000 visitors a year who are interested in the history and the people of this region.  The History and Heritage Unit give guided tours through the Town Hall and this is going to be my next challenge; from next month I will assist the unit by helping with guided tours as we are about to enter our busy season, which will last until end November.  So this week I will be meeting with Tim Moore and Tim Cudini who carry out the tour to go over the tour  details and make some changes to include some of the wonderful historical details on the murals found on the Main Hall wall of the Town Hall.   

 

On a more personal level the Wilson family is settling in well –it’s taken a while to get used to a different life style, different food and English expressions, which have provided much confusion and a few laughs!  We have recently purchased a home of our own and will be moving yet again at the end of August – this will be our 4th move since arriving!  The arrival of our furniture was met with celebration then despair and then a garage sale! The residents of Kalgoorlie-Boulder love garage sales, there must be at least 10 garage sales every weekend, which are well supported.  The Wilsons will be having a second sale before we move to rid us of all the unnecessary clutter.  That is one of the things that I have learnt - South Africans are very materialistic, when we arrived we lived for almost 4 months with very little except the clothes we came with and we managed very well, hence the garage sale.

 

Well, I could write a book but I won’t bore you all with the details. I will write again as there is so much I want to share with you.  For those interested in the Boer War, (Gilbert and Mark,) we have photographs of young men from Kalgoorlie who went to South Africa to fight in the War as well as a beautifully beaded belt made by a young soldier depicting his experiences while in South Africa! How unique is that!  So I’m expecting an official visit in the near future from you both to view our collection.

 

I hope that those of you who visit Australia will find the time to visit us in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. You are all very welcome.  I look forward to being your guide.

 

So ends.......

 

Tales from the Kalgoorlie Town Hall"

 

Good grief!  100 000 visitors a year in a tiny town like that!  Ozzies are obviously a lot more cultured than we give them credit for!  For those of you who would like to contact Joanne, her address is Joanne.Wilson@ckb.wa.gov.au.

 

Next:  From Pam’s latest trip, a dire warning about being ver-r-ry careful with translations!  Remember this when dealing with our eleven official languages.

 

 

Back to basics

 

 

 

Now, a little teeny word of regret from your committee.  They arranged some excellent workshops for you at incredibly reasonable prices.  Unfortunately, there were people who booked and didn’t turn up, people who didn’t get round to paying, people who pitched at the last minute and, of course, those who don’t believe they have anything to learn.  The result was – no more low cost courses.  In future, we will have to charge full price in order to make sure that we are not left holding the financial baby – he’s far too heavy.  Oh, and I looked for you at Prof Dubin’s excellent lecture; what a rare opportunity and free, too.  Pity you missed it.

 

I think that’s enough for this time around.  In the next episode of “Surviving Your Museum”, Vukani takes a Zulu beader to the wilds of Borneo and Pam and Henriette tell us about some luscious places from their travels.  Watch this space.

 

Viv