The Perth Mint in somewhat not ideal weather
We awoke to another day of rain
and wind. Whilst it wasn’t apocalyptic, it did make me feel a little like home
that’s for sure.
Our plans for today weren’t
particularly strong given the forecast, but B and I had agreed that it was
definitely time for a school day. So the morning was spent in the van doing
some work, and for a change my lessons with James were within close proximity
to the other two.
It was nice to see a formal lesson
(as much as we can have one in this lifestyle) as we did some word practice and
some basic learning patterns. I got a real appreciation for the teachers at
early learning centres and prep grades as to the difficulties and challenges
such a task can create. You simply can’t go “why don’t you get it?” to a 5yr
old (probably not a great response to any age of learning really). But I also
got to see the incredible rewards that come with the job and whilst I’d like to
think I’ve taught my kids a little over the years, this was more ‘formal’
learning (there’s that word again). To see actual words being added to a person’s
vocabulary was incredibly satisfying and perhaps I got a little insight in to
why so many people in my life are teachers.
Mr White and his star pupil playing "snap" with his key words. (Note: folding the bed up creates a really cool space to work on. Much more difficult with an island bed... )
On from there we decided to run
back into Perth and go to the Perth Mint given that any outside activities were
really ruled out due to the weather.
What an incredibly interesting
place it turned out to be as well, and just another bit of Australian History I
feel more rounded for knowing. I sometimes wonder why we don’t (or perhaps didn’t)
learn more about Australian history in schools these days. There are some
really interesting tales to be told I’ve found and I think we’d be better off
sharing them.
Even the building itself is
incredibly majestic and quite the imposing figure in a landscape full of
concrete towers and busy office goers. Ahh… those office goers… a world that
looked so familiar and yet, so far away (apologies to any co-workers who read
this).
First stop we all walked around
the impressive gift shop and jewellery store located at the entrance. I set Sam
a bit of homework to find the most expensive item in the first store. Out of
interest, the limited edition Golden Eagle coin was selling for a measly
$14,999. We then met B and the other two in the main jewellery store section
where B did her best to remind me that she was in need of some additional “shiny
things” and there were some nice pieces in here. Sure B, why not that pink
argyle diamond ring for $109,000 seemed like a nice place to start… I think she
married the wrong Poo Farmer if she’s after that kind of thing…
We’d signed up to the ‘tour’
which involved a guide giving us a bit of history of the mint itself and threw
in a bit of gold rush storytelling as well. The gentlemen was interesting,
engaging and clearly enjoyed doing what he was doing.
Not sure if Evie and James could get closer...
The tour itself was brief, but
the price of admission (and a beautiful paper bracelet) did allow us to tour
the attractions of the mint at our own pace which in a way was really good. The
highlights included:
The “Kangaroo Coin” – Straight off
after walking through the doors, you were met with quite literally the largest
and most valuable coin in the world. Weighing in at a solid 1012kg of pure gold,
this coin was made simply, in the words of the guide “because we can”. It was
also done to beat the previous world record (some paltry 200kg or something
like that) and to become a shining representation of the rich mining history of
Western Australia. Now, given the current price of gold, that made the coin’s
current value a tick over $59 million dollars. 59… million… That’s a lot of
fuel money. Sitting above it’s own personal safe into which it is lowered each
day at 5pm, it certainly is a fine display of excess. I also loved the way it
almost dared someone to steal it. It was literally just sitting there. I could
have touched it if I wanted to, but I valued my time and didn’t want to be
escorted by the sizeable guard I saw in the jewellery store. But ultimately it
was a great example of the Perth Mint going “Go on. Have a go. Try and steal it”.
That my friends is a tonne of gold.
I do find it funny that the face value of the coin is $1m (top pic) but it's actual metallic value is the best part of 60 times that. Imagine if all coins were like that? Would make finding loose change in the couch more interesting!
Sometimes I wondered if they truly understand how much that coin was worth. Then I explained to them how many ice creams you could buy and I think it sunk in.
Normandy Nugget – The second
biggest gold nugget in existence. Apparently Las Vegas has the largest, albeit
an Australian found nugget.
Gold Pour – This was a cool part
of the tour in which we were seated in the old furnace room where up until
recently gold bars were still poured and made. In this room, which weirdly
reminded me of a production of the Crucible (no idea why) a young gentlemen
took us through the process of making a gold bar. It was pretty cool to see him
make what was apparently a $350,000 gold bar right in front of us. And find out
cool things like gold melting at 1012deg and the crucible it was in melting
around 1600kg, and when they scraped the paint of the ceiling during the Mint
overhall they salvaged a few hundred thousand dollars of gold dust….
It's hot. It's damn hot!
Lift a gold bar – There was a
display where you could lift a gold bar (if you could). It was obviously fairly
well protected and you could only lift it a few centimetres in a certain direction,
but you certainly got a good appreciation as to the density of the metal.
Evie giving it her best shot. Moved it at least...
Your value based on weight and
value of gold – Pretty self explanatory and this was pretty much some jazzed up bathroom
scales which simply took your weight and applied the current market rate for
gold. Suffice to say that we were all far more valuable than we thought! But I’d
say really, we’re all priceless… (aww… cue the cringe music)
James at least ticking over the million bucks. It's a new milestone.
Closing in on $2m...
I think Sam was trying to work out how he could sell off some of himself for the actual gold.
Not often you find a woman smile so much when she steps on some scales, but these scales have a "smile guarantee" I think...
Boo Yeah!
Overall, a great place and a
really cool place to visit. I did enjoy a small moment when I overhead a kid on
a school excursion as the teacher why “those kids are in casual clothes and not
in school”. I chimed in to explain that they too were at school, just the class
size was much smaller, but the classroom was far larger.
Back to the van, we packed up the
van and thankfully were able to move the van to a new site where the caravan
park allowed us to park remaining hooked up. This allowed us to leave the next
day early to fight commuting traffic to drop the van off for a service. This
was a highlight for me though as I got to spend a bit more time with James who
put in a monster effort helping me to pack things up whilst his older siblings
whined and whinged about finishing their classwork on their excursion to the
Mint. Of all the kids, I’ve learnt more about James on the trip. His
personality, his determination (when he wants to), and his kindness. He’s a
brilliant little fella!
Moved across the road, ready to roll... The Rock Truck and BGL still very happy to hang out.
James thought being able to tow the dunny cartridge was pretty cool. He just needs to work on his guns so he can actually lift it and empty it. Got some very funny looks on this walk.
And his reward? A go on one of the arcade games in the arcade kitchen. Was too short for the pedals, so I was his booster seat.
It's the small moments people. The small moments that you'll remember.
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