Charters Towers - Townsville

Strangely enough, we were pretty keen to move out of the truckstop, so after a really quick breakfast we were on the road by 8:30 a.m. Our record so far!

Looking pleased as Peter told them any gold they found
they could keep! 

We drove out to find the Venus Battery at Millchester where we were the only visitors for the first tour of the day. Peter, the tour guide, was a 4th generation miner and passionate about restoring the Battery. It was in use from the 1870s right up to 1975. He guided us through the whole process of gold milling from the horse-drawn drays arriving laden with quartz at the weighbridge, through the battery stampers, the chemical processes and finally out to the tailings piles. We were all fascinated and the 2 hours disappeared quickly. As we departed Peter let the kids pick through some drill core samples which all contained some sparkle, so they were all thrilled.



420m above Charters Towers
on Tower Hill

 We drove up Tower Hill to catch the views and to see where Jupiter, the 10 year old Aboriginal boy, discovered gold in 1872. Marcus and Lachlan had obviously taken the history lesson to heart, as while we explored WW2 bunkers, the Pyrites chimney site and admired the view, they spent their time trying to find their fortune and crack open quartz rocks!

We drove back into town to look at the old Assay Rooms, where the gold was checked for purity. Jackson remarked that the science equipment was pretty much the same as the gear he uses in science now!

After a late lunch, we headed towards Townsville with the Blunderbuss full of tired and cranky kids. Fortunately we saw some dead kangaroo carcasses, and one wild pig playing chicken on the road, so that cheered them up. Ella fell asleep for a while which reduced the fighting. A bit.

As we have been driving the last couple of days, we have been losing layers of clothing as fast as we are losing degrees of latitude! It is hot out here!

Fortunately we saw this sign before committing ourselves to another 400 km drive! It took us about an hour to get to Townsville, and then another 30 minutes to find the very last site at the third caravan park we tried. Driving through the city traffic with dodgy directions and limited vision was not fun, but when we arrived at the van park it was worth it. The park is right on the waterfront and after dinner we took a long walk along the beach. The boys enjoyed being commandos trying to sneak back without being seen, and Ella had a ball on her wheelie heelies, which she can use fairly well now. She does ensure that I have a pocket full of bandaids before setting out though!

Stay tuned ...