Ah, the
Aussies. We covered Syndey is it full breadth just the other day, but here’s a nice story way off in the
land down under.
Australia already has a reputation for being "out there", and so when the
Australians say a place in their own country is distant and strange, well, you know it must be. Here is an article
about a place in OZ called Kalgoorlie, a sun-battered mining town at the far
west end of what the British called “the ghastly void.” It is also known as Australia’s largest outback city.
The writer heads to this off-beat destination and captures the spirit and charm of the place. As a mining town,
well, you know there’s going to be a certain seediness to the place…which means probably a fair amount of
prostitution. So it has that going for it, which is nice. Another interesting, and cheesy phenom is skimpies. For a
long time, Kalgoorlie’s bars employ ed barmaids wearing G-strings and skimpy top, hence the name. A waitress would
strut through the bar with a jar in which patrons would toss money. When the jar was full, she lifted her top.
But in addition to the cultural issues that come along with prostitution and gambling, the place also has another
interesting reputation: it is where Skylab fell all those years ago.