Mount Surprise, Queensland, Australia
There are a few things I forgot to record about Charters Towers. Never been able to shut the brain down very quickly at night! Not like my husband! So there is more! I could add to the other blog, but I do want Delma to know that I have found these motorised shades over a bowling green. I don't think she sleeps as well, because regardless of how late I publish a blog, most times there is a comment in the morning! Thanks again Delma and everyone for your comments. Not necessarily expected, but it does keep us in touch! We did see where the bowling green was at Longreach, but didn't notice any shade cloth. I don't think we went past the bowling green in Emerald. Delma says both have the innovative ability, to pull shade cloth over the greens when it is hot. Well Charters Towers has one too. Probably funded through the Regional Councils! Seems as though this amalgamation in Queensland has definitely injected funds into the regional areas, despite the fact that we have been told it is not working.
They all seem to have flash offices as well!Charters Towers also has a 'Music Festival', which runs for about 10 days. Three distinctly different festivals are held in the city between late April and early May. The emphasis appears to be more on a music talent quest, but I did recognise some of the names listed for the festival in 2014, as winners from Tamworth. The sculpture in the park looked lovely with the sun shining on it as we left this morning. The photo I have included in the blog, was taken late in the afternoon, so not as nice as the sculpture looked this morning. We didn't break Sunday's record, it was 7.34am when we pulled out of the park. We also went past a huge cemetery as we left town. We could see the huge monument on one of the graves. We assume it was of a gentleman that was referred to at 'Venus Battery' yesterday. He featured in the ghost stories and the comments were rather facetious! We will have to wait until Delma visits CT and checks out the headstones.
Then more detail can be added to this story.Mr Plant who built the Venus Battery in Charters Towers had a very grand house, so we were told. Some of these grand houses that were built in Charters Towers during the gold rush, have now become administration buildings within the boarding schools. There are three co-ed boarding schools in the town. St Gabriel's was alongside the caravan park. Erica said "That some children even come from the NT to finish their schooling here". She indicated as well, that in some instances the facilities allow for children to have their horses with them at school.We are heading north on the 'Gregory Great Developmental Road'. People have convinced us it is pretty good these days, all sealed and only a couple of small sections where it is single lane. Not too bumpy yet, so I can blog with the Travelpod App! Just passed another cattle truck heading to the cattle yards with more export stock. Now there is a huge free camp site, only half an hour from Charters. It is called 'Fletchers Creek'.
I think there is some controversy brewing about the number of days people are going to be able to camp there. A free camper stopped Erica in the street on Monday and spoke to her about it. We assumed they come to the spot regularly and the guy told her they had spent $300 in the town, while they had been staying there. We are travelling beside the huge Burdekin River. There is a little bit of irrigation and the countryside is looking so much better than the area we came through on Sunday. We have also had a small mob of deer cross the road. They were in too much of a hurry to get a snap. Peter said that the stockie told him yesterday "That it has been a bit dry in patches up here, but on the whole it is not too bad. When cattle are in poor condition it is because the station is overstocked"!We also spoke with Barry and Shirley this morning. They are down the bottom of NSW now and have been in the thick of the bad weather. They just stayed put in a caravan park and weathered the storms.
The park was protected enough that the winds weren't too bad. They experienced 5 inches of rain though. Gee! Just a quarter of that would have been nice back home. Still nothing much at the farm. Praying that Thursday might bring something more.Two hours out of Charters we crossed the 'Clarke River' with an 'E'. Bit of a joke in the family about the 'E's'. There used to be a 'Clark Gold Mine' at Charters Towers. No 'E' in that one Nicole. The 'Clarke River' is a 'BIG' one when in flood. It has the potential to be 7 metres deep. Now that would be something to see. We've not seen markers showing that depth before! Maybe that is an indication of the country we are travelling into.Morning tea stop was at 'Greenvale', home of Slim Dusty's iconic song 'Three Rivers Hotel'. We would have had morning tea there, but it was instant, make it yourself and we had seen what was available while filling up with fuel at the roadhouse! The smell of a toasted sandwich was too tempting for Pete.
So we had a walk around and 'Yes' had to get some more photos of Slim. Locals argue that it was the unique character of the area that inspired the song to be written by Sam Coster. Others say it was the atmosphere of the wet mess at the junction of the 'Star and Burdekin Rivers', where yarns about the outback way of life were spun. It seems neither is entirely true and Wikipedia has something else again. Once again it is all about making the most of the opportunities that will get the tourists to stop and travel these outback roads. Which in turn helps get the numbers on the roads and further funding. They sure aren't going to upgrade the roads for the pastoralists! I think this is the more likely story: Sam Coster was working for Theiss Bros as a grader driver on the northern railway line when the song was written. 1974 was a very active wet season and on a boozey day, with plenty of water running around the 'Mess', the 'Three Rivers Hotel' was created when men dug improvised drainage, to channel the water away.
Whatever was the story, we felt Greenvale was 'A Little Oasis in the Outback' and you could easily spend half a day there. We decided we could play 9 holes of golf and then finish the day with a meal at the 'Three Rivers Hotel'! The town of Greenvale was created during the mining boom of the 1970's and was once home of the largest nickel mines in the southern hemisphere. Despite the closure of the original mine, the town has endured and the population of 300 is hoping for the success of mixed metal mining in the area now. We have travelled on three 'Developmental' roads today. The Gregory Great Developmental Road, Kennedy Savannah and the Gulf Savannah. The last 37 kms was on the Gulf Savannah to Mount Surprise. For the first time since May we were heading west and if we kept going, we would be at the bottom of the Gulf of Carpentaria! To our 'Surprise' the roads have been quite good today. We do feel it is nearly time Queensland got rid of the 'Developmental' bit on these highways. There were a couple of sections of the single lane bitumen that was not nice to meet a road train on. We met two travelling together and you sure need to be able to pull off the road! But they are working on a number of sections and it won't be long before the road is far more than a 'Developmental' one! There are a few tourist attractions to see in this area and the 'Bedrock Caravan Park' that we are staying in, has quite a story as well. It is owned by Joe and Jo! They purchased 9 acres of rocks and noxious weeds in 1994 and thought they may try growing commercial pumpkins on some of it, to supplement the income. Then they noticed all the caravans that were going through Mount Surprise. So they decided to be even more ambitious and give the caravan park a go! Jo says for every rock they removed there were another 10 mates. Hence the name! They opened in June 1998, with 8 powered sites, 6 unpowered and 2 cabins. Now they have a thriving business with 58 bays, 35 cabins and no more room to expand. Every year they made improvements and in 2009, reached the back fence, which they say was a celebration! They have planted over 5,000 trees, carted 15,000 metres of soil and sown 7 acres of lawn to create their 'little oasis'. Lots of staff too. People who come for just the dry season and then go touring for the rest of the year. When you book in, you are given a folder with park and tour info in it and 'their story'. Great idea. Meals are available every night. Tonight it was pizza. There is more to this name 'Bedrock' than the 'bed of rocks' I do believe! The caravan park sign has characters from 'The Simpsons TV Show' on it! I will have to get the grandies to 'Draw the Picture for Me'! I can't find anything on the internet that explains it well enough! Get with it Nanni!!
Whatever was the story, we felt Greenvale was 'A Little Oasis in the Outback' and you could easily spend half a day there. We decided we could play 9 holes of golf and then finish the day with a meal at the 'Three Rivers Hotel'! The town of Greenvale was created during the mining boom of the 1970's and was once home of the largest nickel mines in the southern hemisphere. Despite the closure of the original mine, the town has endured and the population of 300 is hoping for the success of mixed metal mining in the area now. We have travelled on three 'Developmental' roads today. The Gregory Great Developmental Road, Kennedy Savannah and the Gulf Savannah. The last 37 kms was on the Gulf Savannah to Mount Surprise. For the first time since May we were heading west and if we kept going, we would be at the bottom of the Gulf of Carpentaria! To our 'Surprise' the roads have been quite good today. We do feel it is nearly time Queensland got rid of the 'Developmental' bit on these highways. There were a couple of sections of the single lane bitumen that was not nice to meet a road train on. We met two travelling together and you sure need to be able to pull off the road! But they are working on a number of sections and it won't be long before the road is far more than a 'Developmental' one! There are a few tourist attractions to see in this area and the 'Bedrock Caravan Park' that we are staying in, has quite a story as well. It is owned by Joe and Jo! They purchased 9 acres of rocks and noxious weeds in 1994 and thought they may try growing commercial pumpkins on some of it, to supplement the income. Then they noticed all the caravans that were going through Mount Surprise. So they decided to be even more ambitious and give the caravan park a go! Jo says for every rock they removed there were another 10 mates. Hence the name! They opened in June 1998, with 8 powered sites, 6 unpowered and 2 cabins. Now they have a thriving business with 58 bays, 35 cabins and no more room to expand. Every year they made improvements and in 2009, reached the back fence, which they say was a celebration! They have planted over 5,000 trees, carted 15,000 metres of soil and sown 7 acres of lawn to create their 'little oasis'. Lots of staff too. People who come for just the dry season and then go touring for the rest of the year. When you book in, you are given a folder with park and tour info in it and 'their story'. Great idea. Meals are available every night. Tonight it was pizza. There is more to this name 'Bedrock' than the 'bed of rocks' I do believe! The caravan park sign has characters from 'The Simpsons TV Show' on it! I will have to get the grandies to 'Draw the Picture for Me'! I can't find anything on the internet that explains it well enough! Get with it Nanni!!
14 photos
2025-05-22