The road north to Beylando Crossing was good but quite bumpy. Definitely a two handed driving experience when towing a caravan. Another fuel tip that we received was that Beylando Crossing is significantly more expensive than Clermont. We didn't check but as it is the only service station in 400 Km I wouldn't doubt that they are taking advantage. We stopped for a quick stretch at a rest stop in Beylando Crossing before having lunch at another about 100 Km South of Charters Towers. There was some very light rain for the last 100 Km and the countryside became very green. There was even some water in the creek beds and on the side of the road. We also hit a few large quantities of butterflies crossing the road. Hundreds at a time in some spots and I'm afraid there were a number of casualties.We pulled into Dalrymple Tourist Park on the north side of Charters Towers about 1:30. $33/night but was lovely and green with a huge shaded drive through site. The rain got a bit heavier throughout the afternoon and evening. We were hoping for a bit heavier as both the car and van are filthy with red dust. You can see from the pictures how green the area is from the recent rain. We thought it might be a regular event but were advised by a number of locals that this was the exception. The park owners who have been there only 18 months said they hadn't seen any rain for the first 14 months they were there. We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the caravan catching up on some communication.
Headed to the Visitor Centre on Thursday morning to plan our agenda for the next few days. Beautiful old buildings are located all throughout the downtown of Charters Towers. One of the prettiest towns/cities we have seen in a while. The staff at the Visitor Centre were very helpful and we were even able to book a number of the tours through them.
We took a drive up to Towers Hill which is where Gold was first discovered and provides a great view of the area. Rain was heading towards us so we retreated to the grocery store to stock up before returning to the caravan. Sandra did some cleaning and laundry while I got caught up on a weeks worth of Blog updates. The rain continued into the evening when it let off.
Friday morning was a lovely, sunny morning. We had a tour of the Venus Battery booked for 9 AM just out of town. Only Sandra and I with our tour guide Malcom, until a film crew showed up, which was quite the surprise for all three of us. Sandra had ventured out makeup free, and I was wearing a very colourful throw together outfit (maroon surfer shirt, blue stripe shorts, brown shoes, grey socks, and my beige Tilley hat). They setup and took a few shots of us on the tour before disappearing to their next location. Hopefully they edit out most of our scenes! The tour itself was very informative and Malcom explained in some detail how Gold was extracted from the ore that was brought to the Gold Mill/Battery.
We took part in a local golf competition on Friday afternoon. Sandra and I were partnered with a 10 year old boy named Beau and his mother, Ange. Beau is already a 26 handicap and plays off the men's tees which are fairly long. Wow! We may see him on TV some day. His Mum played off a handicap of 20 and consistently out drove me through the 9 hole competition. I had an average round and Sandra struggled a bit, but we both had fun and were looking forward to a cold drink in the clubhouse. The course was in good shape with mostly grass covered fairways. Apparently they were mainly dirt fairways until the recent rain. We enjoyed an easy dinner and early night. Unfortunately it was a very hot night and neither of us slept very well. Could have been reliving having out butt's kicked by a 10 Year old??
We drove downtown early in the morning to do a self guided walk around some of the historic buildings. There were about 10 buildings on the brochure but would be hundreds of other buildings that would be features in most other towns. Most of the buildings are still being used for various organizations or businesses which keeps the area vibrant. Apparently this is becoming more of a struggle as the cost of maintaining these heritage buildings increase. Hopefully they can find a way to keep them viable as would be a great loss for Charters Towers and Australian history if they were lost. The downtown area is very busy with a significant number of unique/niche/independent businesses. Such a pleasant change from the same old/same old series of chain stores we see in most urban centres/shopping centres. I'm sorry that there are a lot of pictures but they were all worth seeing!
We took the car for a bath/wash before a quick trip to the grocery store on the way home. Spent some time getting bugs off of the front of the Jeep before an easy afternoon relaxing in the pool at the caravan park. We packed a prawn salad dinner for another trip up Towers Hill. Enjoyed a glass of wine and the prawns while watching the sunset over Charters Towers. We also were there for the Ghost of Gold presentation, which funnily enough was also hosted by Malcom! Very informative about the Gold Rush and War History of Charters Towers. Lovely evening with a few nice photo opportunities.
Charters Towers is a very interesting place to visit and we would highly recommend it for at least a 3 day stop. We would definitely consider a return visit. The people we met were wonderful as well, including the Caravan Park we stayed at. Amenity rating would be 3.5 Stars as were fairly basic but clean.
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