The End of an Era

After six years of nomadic life we have decided to settle down in one place.

We have had an amazing time travelling around in our Bushtracker Caravan.  We've seen so much of this fantastic country.  Our caravan has travelled about 65,000km and we've done about 160,000km in our Toyota Landcruiser.  We've ticked many places off our "bucket list" - there are still some remaining for us to visit.  

We've met a huge number of amazing people and we've formed some firm friendships.

One of our aims over the last 6 years has been to find a place where we'd like to settle down.  We've decided on Townsville in Far North Queensland.

Over the past 6 months we've been building our new home and now we've moved in.  We'll continue to travel within Australia and internationally, so check back to our blog from time to time to see where we are.

Checking Out the Burdekin Dam

We've made a day trip to the Burdekin Dam today.  It's located about 80km from Ravenswood and we wanted to check out the campground before committing to spending a few days there.  I'm doing the blog now because there's no phone or wifi coverage in the area, so we'll be having a technology free week when we are there.

The dam and Lake Dalrymple are managed by Sun Water and they also maintain the campground. It will be nice to have some green grass after the dust and brownness of Ravenswood.  The lake is stocked with fish and this is a popular camping and fishing spot for Townsville residents.  There's no camping close to the foreshore, possible because freshwater and estuarine (salties) crocodiles are found in the area.









Ludwig Leichhart explored this area widely.  Most of his campsites were flooded after the dam was built.

Relaxing in Ravenswood

We've often passed the turnoff to Ravenswood, between Charters Towers and Townsville, and have said, "we should go there one day".  That day has come at last and we've been camped at the Ravenswood Showgrounds for the past 5 days.

Ravenswood is a small historic mining town about 80 km from Charters Towers and 120km from Townsville on the Burdekin Dam Road.  These days it has a population of about 500 which includes those associated with the Carpentaria Gold open cut mine.  In it's heyday, about 100 years ago, there was a population of 4,500 serviced by 38 pubs and many other businesses.

A walk to the mine lookout provides great views and an interpretive display of the history of mining at Ravenswood.  There is also an interesting collection of old mining equipment.  Nearby is the Old Arch Bridge.

There are many historic buildings throughout the town and several have been renovated and repainted.  St Patricks Community Church overlooks the town.  It will be moved soon when the mine has a major expansion.  The gold rush began here in 1868 and next year (2018) the town will celebrate 150 years with a festival in October.

Thorpes Building is maintained as a gift shop selling pottery, mosaics, craft and other gifts.  The owner is a potter and mosaic artist and at the back of the shop is a sculpture garden.

The building also houses a comprehensive historical display with many items relating to the family and Ravenswood.

There are 2 historic pubs in town.  The Imperial Hotel has impressive French leadlight windows.  The Railway Hotel also has lovely leadlight windows and doors and houses some vintage motorcycles.  We've patronised both establishments and we've also been able to wander upstairs where the guest rooms are maintained in vintage decor.

The Ravenswood Art Trail is a walking tour past the old buildings and sculptures throughout the town.

The Court House and Museum occupied us for over an hour while we wandered back in time.  There are several buildings open.  The main building is the old Court House and it has a good collection of historical documents relation to the town.  Another building has a display of minerals and mining history.  A third building has several renovated tractors, buggies and other vehicles, including a hearse.

Next to the Museum is the location of the home of A.L. Wilson who listed the mail Ravenswood mines on the London Stock Exchange in 1899.

A few kms east of Ravenswood, just off the Ravenswood-Ayr Road is White Blow.  This huge mound of quartz is unusual because quartz is usually found in a seam, not as a huge mound.

We'll be here for a few more days before moving to the Burdekin Dam Campground.  Our communications here have been limited and intermittent.

Our New Family Member

On our return to Townsville we increased our family by 1.  Rusty the Australian Cattle Dog has settled in to caravan life.

He loves the car, the beach, going for walks, playing with his toys and chasing balls.  He also likes organising his humans...

Cooktown, even further north

When we left Mareeba on the Atherton Tablelands, we decided to spend a week in Cooktown before making our way back to Townsville.  It's only a few hours drive to this small coastal port town at the mouth of the Endeavour River towards the south of the Cape York Peninsula.

We spent a day here a few years ago and it's been on out list of "places to go back to" since then, so it was nice to be able to explore at a leisurely pace.  We booked into the Cooktown Caravan Park, a very friendly small bush park.







Cooktown is named after Lieutenant James Cook and the Endeavour River is named after his ship.  In 1770, the Endeavour ran aground and was holed on the reef near Cape Tribulation.  Cook and his crew managed to float the ship into the estuary near Cooktown and it was beached and repaired over a number of weeks.  In order to refloat the ship some 50 tons weight was thrown overboard.







The lookout on Grassy Hill provides commanding views and is a popular spot to watch the sunset accompanied by a glass of wine and some nibbles.

There are many interesting buildings and galleries throughout the town.  The James Cook Museum is a National Trust facility which has excellent exhibits and interpretation from Indigenous, Chinese and European perspectives.  

Exhibit highlights are the original HM Bark Endeavour anchor and cannon, Cook's diary extracts and stories from local Aboriginal elders.

The Cooktown Information Centre is located near the Botanic Gardens - Nature's Powerhouse.  We spent a pleasant morning walking along the paths looking at the tropical plants.

After our walk through the gardens we drove to picturesque Finch Bay.

One morning we loaded the car with our drinks and lunch and drove towards the Bloomfield Track.  We had seen the southern end of the track from Cape Tribulation on our several trips there and this time we wanted to see the northern end.  We had morning tea at the Black Cockatoo Gallery with it's lovely leadlight doors.

On our way south we drove alongside the Annan River.

We stopped off at the Wujal Wujal Gallery to look at the artworks and then drove on to look at the Bloomfield Falls before returning to Cooktown.

About 20km south of Cooktown is Black Mountain.  This impressive sight is a granite volcanic mountain.  The granite is actually pale grey but it appears black due to the algae growing on the rock.