We planned to leave Bowen this morning and head on further
to Townsville. However, after hitting
the road and driving through Home Hill and Ayr, we stopped for lunch at Lynches
Beach (on the coast of Ayr), and checked the maps. Instead of continuing onto Townsville, we
changed our mind and instead began driving inland to the lovely, very old, gold
mining town of Charters Towers, affectionately known as ‘The World’. It felt like it took forever to get here and
all the while we were hoping that it was going to be worth it. After finding the information centre, we
learnt that in the late 1800’s this town had its very own Stock Exchange – good
find. At this same time it was the
second largest city in Queensland and it was also the second town to get an
Ambulance station in Queensland. Not
only that, but it was also a military base during World War II and there are
many remnants of bunkers just out of town.
After a nice light dinner, the girls and I went to the amenities for
showers tonight (rather than using our own) and found a cute little family of
green frogs down a drain, one game one poking his head out as if seeing if he
should give the others the “all clear”.
Zoe decided they were just having a party down there…
We woke and got stuck into some school work this
morning. Near to 11am, we threw in the
school towel and departed for the Venus Gold Battery, just on the outskirts of
town. This old battery/mill gave us an
insight into the gold rush around the late 1800’s as well as a load of
information on the process of crushing the ore and separating it down to its
most simple state of gold by using other chemicals like mercury and cyanide. Upon coming back to the van for lunch and
more school work, we noticed new nearby neighbours, Mark and Sharon. We weren’t expecting to see them again so
soon. After lunch and more school work,
we finally got back out to see the local Pioneer Cemetery. There are many graves here from the late 19th
century, and it included many people of all ages such as the men that were
breathing in the dust at the mills and digging for gold at the mine shafts,
right down to very young infants that died of a variety of diseases. At least of the gravesites here don’t have
headstones at all and many of those that do have headstones are illegible due
to being severely weathered and simply extremely old and broken. We came back “home” and had a rushed dinner
before going back to Towers Hill for a movie viewing in the small amphitheatre atop
the hill. The informative movie was
called “Ghosts of Gold” and it was further information about the history of the
town and its people in their hay-day.
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