Cardwell, Queensland

Took the road north from Ravenswood on Monday morning. We had been contemplating retracing our steps to Charters Towers and heading North towards Greenvale. On the way back to the highway I asked Sandra "East or West?". So as a last minute decision we headed East towards Townsville with a final intended destination of Cardwell. Had an uneventful trip to Townsville and via the new ring road to the Bruce Highway heading North. We stopped for an early lunch/break at Bluewater Reserve just North of Townsville. Was a lovely place where you can stay 48 hours along a creek. Had drinking water and toilet/shower amenities. We will keep it in mind for our next trip this way.

We continued up through Ingham before arriving in Cardwell about 2PM. Checked into the Beachcomber Tourist Park where we had stayed 4 years ago. A bit on the expensive side at $38/night before the Top Tourist discount but lovely. Lots of shade and a lovely pool area. We got settled in and enjoyed the swimming pool as was very hot/humid. The amenities are quite good but could be cleaner. I'll give them a 3 Star rating. The park itself would be at least a 4 Star. We did a roast beef dinner on the BBQ in the evening which was great!

We (mostly Sandra) gave the caravan a clean with a bucket and soap in the afternoon. Quite a mess of red dirt and probably some cow patties from Carnarvon. The van finished off looking a lot better!

Tuesday morning we enjoyed a bit of an easy morning with a late breakfast. Had a nice morning swim to keep cool before going for a drive back towards Ingham. During our last visit in 2012 we had done the same trip with the Ransleys to the Wallaman Falls via Ingham. Unfortunately we had been thwarted by low cloud/rain on that occasion and could only hear the falls. The sun was out with a nice blue sky so we decided to try again. The drive from Ingham is quite winding and slow with many parts only allowing 20-40Km/Hr on tight corners. We had to laugh because they had 80 & 100 Km signs up in a few areas. You would have had a death wish to do those speeds! We arrived at the Wallaman Falls lookout about 11:30 and luck was on our side. Got a beautiful look at the falls this time and they really are quite spectacular. They have a drop of 268 M with a 20 M deep pool at the bottom. Definitely worth the return visit.

We met a bit more traffic on our trip back down the mountain and some of them were driving a bit faster than I would recommend. Luckily we avoided contact with all of them and made it safely back to Ingham by 12:30. In another Deja Vue moment we revisited the same Chinese restaurant the four of us had gone to 4 years ago. They still did Gluten Free dishes and Sandra was able to enjoy all but 3 of the smorgasbord dishes. Even included a chow mien noodle dish and some rice rolls.

Topped up the Jeep with diesel before returning to Cardwell mid afternoon. I gave the car a bit of a clean to get rid of some dirt/cow that we had collected on the drive, while Sandra gave the caravan a vacuum/floor wash. Cooled off again in the pool before a quiet night with leftovers. On the road again tomorrow to Mareeba where we plan on riding out the Easter Weekend.

When we were here in 2012 the area was still recovering from Hurricane Yasi with a lot of damage done in Cardwell. The area now looks wonderful again with a beautiful walkway all along the coast with memorials/picnic areas, benches, exercise equipment. Beautiful views out towards Hinchinbrook Island as well. Unfortunately being Northern Queensland you can't use the beach because of Crocodiles and Box Jelly fish amongst other deadly creatures.

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!

Charters Towers, Queensland

Wednesday morning we were up at 5:30 to hit the road early on our way to Charters Towers. All packed up and on the road by 6:30. Passed through Capella which looks nice and might be worth a stop next trip. Topped up with diesel at Clermont before taking the Gregory Development Road North towards Charters Towers. Fellow travelers might be interested that the Caltex just off of the highway was about $.15/litre cheaper for diesel than the BP truck stop on the main road.

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.

Emerald, Queensland

Monday morning saw us have a bit of a sleep in before saying goodbye to Carnarvon Gorge. We had a dusty trip back out to Carnarvon Highway as we ended up behind a road train hauling cattle. Part of the Outback experience; and we guessed they were heading for Roma as the Stock Sales are on Tuesday. Eventually he let us by and we were able to proceed dust free the rest of the way to the highway.

We had a good trip into Rolleston from there, where we stopped at a lovely park. Able to empty the loo at the dump point and catch up on some email. Enjoyed our morning tea before moving on towards Springsure where we filled up with diesel. Had a lovely mountain backdrop just out of town where we stopped for a quick photo session. Mount Zamia and the Virgin Rock!

Arrived at Higher Ground Home Stay just after lunch. This is a farm for  self-contained vehicles where drinking water is supplied for $7/night. A power site is available for $15 but power point locations are limited. We chose the non powered option with a bit of shade. No Amenities so no rating. Sorry girls! We got settled in before taking a drive to view the Fairbairn Dam and Lake Maraboon. Quite a nice area but again has been negatively affected by the government selling to private enterprise. Many areas are no longer accessible to the public which is sad because would have been some great camping areas. Still has a nice picnic/day use area with boat launch and swimming area. The water looked quite brown/dirty unfortunately.

Took a bit of an exploration drive around the property on our return. Has a labyrinth  of trails through the bush down to the river.  We followed them as they got more and more narrow, much to Sandra's delight!  I did forget I had the caravan mirrors on at one point which almost led to a bit of an incident. Luckily the screaming of my calm & professional navigator alerted me to the situation just in time!
We returned to the campsite and tried to keep cool in a shady spot.

Tuesday morning we took a drive into Emerald to do a bit of sightseeing/shopping. Our first stop was the Visitor Centre where we caught up on some Internet/email before they opened. Sandra was able to get a few quick phone calls in as well. The Visitor Centre had a huge Van Gogh painting of "Sunflowers" behind it with a mosaic walkway outlining the history of Emerald. Interestingly the painting was done by a Canadian artist?? Stopped for a quick Photo op at the Rail Station which was beautiful. We then did a bit of shopping at Woolies/Coles prior to a nice Pub Lunch. We did a walk around the Botanic Gardens prior to returning to the campsite. They were a bit disappointing as didn't appear to be maintained very well. The afternoon was very hot at 37 so we struggled a bit without air conditioning. We managed to get a bit of shade and used our 12 volt fan to try and keep cool. A hot night with an early bed time, as we were planning an early start Wednesday morning. Will be one of our longer day trips with almost 500 Km to Charters Towers.