The Jokers Tunnel.

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After packing down we left for Yalgoo just before arriving we turned off to see the Jokers tunnel. 

It was a very steep driveway up this hill when arriving we saw a mining tunnel in the side of a hill. There was also a lookout which is a vista view of the landscape and even taking in views of a big  salt lake.

At the entrance to the cave, there was a sign weathered and rusty explaining some history.

This is a direct quote from the sign outside of the Jokers tunnel. "William Nottle discovered gold in the Gnow's Nest Range in 1894, and the Yalgoo goldfield was declared the following year his gold mining lease was known as Yalgoo Joker.

Within a year sixteen further mining leases were registered most of them taking on names associated with euchre  and other popular card games - left and right bower, full hand, king and queen of hearts, spades and aces, etc.

The gold here was found in rich pockets- fifty kilograms of stone from the initial strike returned three kilograms of gold. All though the area originally was called Nottes Find, it became popularly known as Joker.

A small settlement quickly developed, including a licensed inn also known as the Joker and a twenty-head gold battery."

On entry to the cave you could stand, the tunnel goes all the way through to the other side of the hill.

The tunnel gets narrower and narrower as you approach the other side. Many times I hit my head on the sharp rocks on the ceiling and at the end of the tunnel you need to get on all fours to go through the other side.

It must have been hard to work in these conditions to mine for gold, it is a credit to the earlier miners who  found gold in a deserted area and because of them towns grew from their finds.

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