20120617 Qld Charters Towers

20120617 To far in one day 280ks to Charters Towers so we stopped at Reid River Rest area for the night, meet some other happy camper for a chat before settling in for the night.

In the loo a lady was taken photo's, what are you doing I asked, theirs a small Bat in here, I’m trying to get a photo of it but I am too scared to get to close, of I go to fetch my camera, how cute.

20120618 I woke to a noisy bunch next to our van, Des being one of them, so I might as well get up.  Chatting to a loud couple from the bush heading to the cape, towing a charter boat “Cape York Adventure Tours” they head north every year for 6 months from N.S.W, then a young guy stopped for a chat (what a spunk) he can stay.  The bush guy heard a bird and said that's a Black Cockatoo, how do you know that, I said, when he pointed it out to me, well I’ll be, and ran for my camera. There was a Black and a Red-tailed Cockatoo which is apparently very rare, but I couldn’t manage a very good shoot of that one.

Des was desperate for a pee so while he was away, I ducked across the road for a quick snap of the park. 

 Centenary Park was first gazetted as a reserve in 1888 and was then known as “Harvey Reserve” after Joseph Harvey, a local butcher. During WW11 the ground was used by the US Air Force personnel to play baseball.  The sculptures depict the party of gold seekers who first found gold near Towers Hill.   

The Mural at Centenary Park depict the town in the gold rush years.

The town was founded in the 1870s when gold was discovered by chance at Tower Hill on Christmas Eve 1871 by a 12-year-old Aboriginal boy, Jupiter Mossman who was with a small group of prospectors.  Their horses bolted after a flash of lighting and while he was searching, Jupiter found both the horses and a nugget of gold in a creek at the base of Tower Hill, a total of 10 major gold reefs were eventually mined.

Murder on Mosman Street

One of many tail of events in the gold rush error: I consumer 1 ½ bottles of whisky, I had a terrible temper and the situation got the better of me, When the Australian Gold Recovery Co. purchased the rights to use the McArthur-Forrest cyanide process, the day of the Pyrites works were numbered.  When directors of the works met at their half yearly general meeting in June, 1901 they had already sent a letter to the works manager, Brown, advising that his salary was to be cut from £8 to £6.  Angry and drunk, Brown shot Pyrites chairman, G.Haygarth in the head, killing him.  After unsuccessfully trying to kill himself, Brown was remanded and eventually hung for his crime.


Driving into Charters Towers is like stepping back in time, the architecture of this small city centre is a photographer’s delight.  This is by far the most appealing town I have seen so far, I could spend a week here no worries.  We need supplies but first lets check out the town,the heritage here is amazing, we are both getting hungry so we did our shopping then drove to Towers Hill Lookout and Amphitheatre. 

We were going to go back to town and check it out some more but a couple of travellers sat beside us and chatted away telling us of there travels in the same spot 10 years or so ago. 

Des cooked the prawns while I made our salad then we sat overlooking the town of Charters Towers, what a magnificent view.

 The blue tank on the left of the photo is called The World Reservoir

Fallen ruins at the top of Tower Hill there are many names engraved on the bricks but I couldn’t find and history on the ruins.








Time was getting on and we needed to leave as the camp spot we are staying in apparently fill quick and is about 20ks out of town so we left after a few more picks.
Macrossan Park rest area on the Burdekin River another really nice camp spot.

Burdekin Bridge known as the “Silver Link” construction of the first Railway Bridge began in 1912 and was plagued by stoppages.  Flooding of the Burdekin River was a regular cause of disruption, large debris floating down the river became trapped in the bridge structure and the immense weight caused the bridge rail to buckle.  The bridge was officially opened on Sep 8^th 1913 and was known as the Inkerman Bridge.

19-06-2012  We woke to a cold morning, 8deg in this bloody van, 15deg outside, so in the sun I set.  Des is getting bored so we walk the camp site, up under the bridge, not the railway bridge, there’s another bridge to the right and camped under the bridge was an aborigine cooking his lunch (love a photo of that), catch any fish I said, ya the odd one.  Back at camp we had a lazy day over looking the fresh running very clear river, man I wish I could jump in, but, Yep, crocks again, I recon they might see one, once every 10 years if their lucky, but it's a bit chilly also. Des and I went for another walk to past the time, taken my camera this time just in case.

Des lay across the railway track for me; honestly, he would do anything I told him to.

20-06-2012  We were up early as Des decided to take another trip into Charters Towers, but first I had to get some photos of the fog covering the bridge.

Early morning fog covering the river and the bridge, we were camped to the right of this photo.

A last fly by shoot as we leave Burdekin River and our camp spot.

Charters Towers Country Music Festival held on the May day long weekend, the historical outback city comes to life with the cream of Country Music Talent like Jade Hurley, The McClymonths, Marcur Meirer and the very funny Wickety Wak Boys.  Well I know Jade Hurley and Wickety Wak were our favourite band over 25 yrs ago. 

Police Station 1988ion built in 1910and is a rare surviving example of the early 20^th Century Police Barracks.  The building was practically destroyed by fire, following a strong response from the community, the Police Station was rebuilt using the original plan.

The first Ambulance Station built outside of Brisbane, this centre dates back to 1903 and covered a working area of almost 70,000sq kms.

 Stock Exchange Arcade built as the Royal Arcade in 1888 and became the Charters Towers Stock Exchange in 1890.  The Stock Exchange was connected to the world via telegraph, with three calls a day six days a week.

The Stock Exchange back view.

The Rebels Club House in Charters Towers, what the hell would they be doing there.  Des said he say them at the cattle yard.  The sign out the front says "Members and Invited Guest ONLY".

The Centenary of Federation Sculpture Trail was the result of several workshops held during 2001 involving local artists, there are 9 sculpture scatted through the town.

Dibs

A common sight at school around the country was children playing marbles during their lunch breaks and after school. Many a battle was won and lost in the marble circle.

The Truant

Goats and goats-carts played a big part in the lives of children in the early days of Charters Towers.

Clyde, A Northern Miner

Clyde was chosen to depict the backs upon which the city of charters Towers was built.  In 1901, gold mining was booming and half of the male population was employed as underground miners.  Bare-chested men toiled long hours with hammers and chisel following narrow veins of gold deep beneath the surface with no protective gear.  Unfortunately, many of them died at an early age from lung disease and trauma.