Ravenswood, Queensland

Sunday saw us leave Charters Towers and head to Ravenswood for a few days. Was only a short drive so we enjoyed a bit of a sleep in and relaxed pack up. Was very hot so we may stick to doing the majority of pack up the evening before or an early start. The road to Ravenswood was good and not very busy. Very green again and some lovely hills in the distance. Saw some cattle and emus on the road but not dangerously close!

We arrived at the Showgrounds at Ravenswood mid morning. Lots of space with quite a bit of shade. Unfortunately, most of the shade trees were housing "Bats"! We found a less shaded site with no bats! Was quite uneven but eventually we got the caravan leveled off. Lots of ants as well so I was pressing all of Sandra's "hot buttons"! The Showground is very reasonable at $15/night including power and water. Showers and toilets were very basic and not very clean. Two stars only! We had planned to stay for 3 or 4 nights but quickly re-evaluated.

We did a bit of a tour around Ravenswood after lunch. They have a fairly large open pit gold mine which we got a good view of from the lookout. Ravenswood is also an historic gold mining centre that was discovered just prior to Charters Towers. We have a few pictures of the old mine fields and miner's huts.

There was also a number of historic old buildings which date from the late 1800s. The Imperial Hotel, Railway Hotel, and Post Office were features. Sadly not as ornate or as well preserved as some of the ones in Charters Towers. The people we met in a few of them didn't seem too interested in tourists either which is strange as wouldn't be much else happening in Ravenswood!

We took a short drive out to "White Blow" which is a giant mass of quartz that has been pushed up from deep within the earth at some point. Was literally just sitting by itself in the middle of nowhere. Interesting!

Returned to the Showground for a quiet night mostly spent in the caravan with the air conditioning on. Thankfully the bats didn't end up over our caravan and the smell lessened throughout the day. There were a number of lightning storms in the distance but we only got a few sprinkles. Sandra got some nice pictures of storm clouds and the sunset colours.

We decided we would make our decision about another day in the morning. Was a very hot night but thankfully no more Bats.

Monday morning we decided to forego the day trip we had planned to Burdekin Falls Dam, and move on. Was a very hot pack up and we were battling with thousands of ants that decided to make a trail under the tow hitch and our awning! Not the best of experiences and we wouldn't recommend Ravenswood to fellow travelers. Charters Towers is superior in every way from our personal perspective!