East to the Coast

From the Outback we set the compass eastwards towards the coast for a few days in Charters Towers on our way to Townsville for Christmas.

Charters Towers is a  pioneer gold mining town.  There are still many mineshafts in the area and much evidence of the old mining industry.  The town itself has many old buildings which have been well maintained.  We called into the information centre and picked up the CD and map ($5 + $10 refundable deposit) to do the self-drive tour around the town and environs.  The tour took about 90 minutes and took us past all the sites.

Charters Towers is overlooked by Tower Hill which provides great views of the town and hinterland.  Rock wallabies live on the hill and we saw them hopping around on the rocks near the top of the hill.  At the top is an amphitheatre and interpretive panels about the history of the town. 
Charters Towers was host to a large defence base in World War II and there are a number of munitions bunkers on Tower Hill.

 

We stayed in the Charters Towers Tourist Park which was next to a big sports field which was hosting the State Schoolboys Cricket Tournament.  One thing we have noticed is that the cabin accommodation in the caravan parks is generally full with only van and tent sites available.  Not a problem for us with our van but anyone relying on cabins would need to book.


It's only 140km from Townsville so is a good place for a day trip as there's plenty to see.