WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER     CHARTERS TOWERS

Today we drove to Ravenswood, another former gold mining town, but this one largely derelict. It is 90 kms east from Charters Towers and predated it, having been established when gold was found there in 1868. When four prospectors discovered signs of gold at what was to become Charters Towers, it was to Ravenswood that they rode to register their claim.

On the way, we stopped at Macrossan, where the highway and railway both cross the Burdekin River. Both bridges are high, in deference to the flood scale of which this river is capable. The railway bridge, built at the end of the 1800’s,  is a massive structure. Next to it, and only visible from certain angles, is the new bridge that replaced this in the 1960’s. On the western side of the river is a signpost that shows previous flood heights; some were not far below the railway bridge decking! The Burdekin has a very large catchment area, and one that can be affected greatly by cyclones, as they move inland.

We drove to near the base of the rail bridge, on the eastern side, where there is a rough picnic area. John reckons the steel work of the old bridge would not have been strong enough for today’s trains.

Leichardt camped near here, too, in 1845. It was he who named the Burdekin River.

Ravenswood is brilliant! There are lots of old mine remains and mill stacks. Old machinery lies around. Some buildings are being restored. There is now (since 1995) a Mt Isa Mines/Carpentaria Gold mine working again, so the town has revitalized somewhat. It was really picturesque and we spent much of the day wandering about.

I was really taken with the set of steps, that is all that remains of the Browns Hotel. They stand in splendid isolation, going nowhere. Judging from the steps, the hotel must have been a fairly grand building.

Drove out to the feature called the White Blow, about 5kms from the town. This is a large white quartz outcrop, unusual because quartz is usually in veins and this looked more like a hill of the stuff – could have maybe been the junction of two big veins?

Then John just had to take on the challenge of driving down the signposted “Very Steep Descent” on the Ayr road, which we did easily. Of course, we had to turn around and come back UP the very steep descent! This challenged Truck only slightly more.

Went to the Ravenswood Cemetery and had our usual explore of headstones and markers.

In our wanders, managed to identify two new birds – a babbler and a pippit – as well as see excellent “old” ones, including lots of koels. These migrate in from South East Asia in spring, to breed here over summer, and they have a distinctive call. The babblers get around in sociable, quite noisy groups, a bit like apostle birds. The pipit was a solitary fellow; he twitches his tail up and down. Technically, he is a Richard’s Pipit.

On the drive back to Charters Towers, we went through a heavy shower of rain. In all, we drove 224kms today.

Made a zucchini sauce to go with pasta, for tea. I used spiral pasta, which was a good choice with the rather creamy sauce.

We were both really tired after the day’s excursion, in the heat, so it was early to bed.