12th August 2011 to 25th August 2011

12 August 2011

Once again we packed up the camp and moved on to Ravenswood which is inland and higher elevation than Townsville, with the intention of visiting Dalrymple Dam.  We arrived at about 1.00pm and rejoined Val and Barry (2) and set up the new camp which we found would not let us receive TV at all well whilst Val and Barry could receive 21 channels despite us trying with the same type antenna and a superior antenna, plus no-one else in the campsite can receive anything other than those using a satellite dish.  We have a dish but our decoder doesn’t decode digital programs and SC10 is digital and is the preferred channel.  There is a group of campers here for the weekend from the Townsville 4WD Club who come out once a year and tidy up the cemetery as a community gesture.  Being ex members of the Red Dog 4WD Club we had a chat with them and told the story about Red Dog, the film of which has recently been released in cinemas.

13^th August 2011

We drove the 40km out to the Dam which is basically what we would call a weir, albeit a big one, although it did have a few sluice gates on one side. 

At the moment there is some water overflowing the wall so the road that crosses below the wall is closed to traffic but offers an interesting effect as the water flows down the wall, along the river bed for a short distance and then drops into a waterfall amongst the rocks on the riverbed.  The waterfall looks fairly small  from the viewing platform but is probably a lot deeper than it appears as it is producing some spray rising into the atmosphere.  The discolouration on the side walls of the weir indicate that there is at least a metre rise in the water level in the rainy season, which also accounts for the ‘Saddle Dam Walls’ between the hills to increase the containment area.  With the crossing road being barricaded off we were unable drive, or walk, down the road to get a really close view, so had to be content with the view from the lookout platform. 

The adjacent caravan park is rather desolate, whereas the showgrounds at Ravenswood is shady with 2 hotels available and numerous points of interest as the result of an old disused mine and a new open cut mine nearby plus a quartz outcrop called ‘White Blow’.  On the drive to, and from, the dam we crossed several creeks complete with cattle in the shade and using the remaining pools of water and at one stage came across two Wedge Tailed Eagles but unfortunately they didn’t hang around for photos.

14^th August 2011

We walked into town to wander the main street to take photos of the Catholic church, ambulance station, hotels, post office, miners hut and a few other points of interest and then drove to the more out of the way spots, such as a quartz hill called ‘White Blow’ and finally up to the mine look out for a view over the open cut mine (hole). 

The walk included checking the menus at both hotels and based on the menu and prices we elected to have the evening meal at the Imperial Hotel.  When we arrived there in the evening the menu had changed, the chef had changed and the prices had appreciably changed, so our minds were changed and went to the Railway Hotel. 

This was fortunate as we met several other couples from the caravan park in the Hotel and all joined forces on one long table to share experiences and tales.  The meal wasn’t exactly brilliant but the company was good and we found out some useful information for another cheap stop off point near Charters Towers.  We also received an email from Neil and Linda letting us know about the troubles that they encountered trying to find a caravan park that takes dogs and actually have vacancies in Townsville, so that may be one town we don’t both with.

15^th August 2011

As arranged, we met Val and Barry (2) on the first tee of the local 9 hole golf club for free game of the interesting course.  It is maintained by the local mining company and has grass greens but the grass used is kikuyu, and therefore not a smooth surface, even after removing the roo poo prior to putting.  There is a bid by Optus to take over the land for telecommunication purposes in preference to community purpose so there is a good chance that the golf course will be another thing of the past for this town.  After lunch we moved the van to another site to get out from under the large overhanging tree which was providing the birds with bombing raids and covering the van, and hopefully to improve the TV reception, however the later part failed miserably but the shower water should run away better.

16^th August 2011

Took an 80km drive into Charters Towers to have a quick look around and do a bit of shopping.  The town has many of the old buildings from the gold rush days and plenty of statues around to help gain the history of the place.  We will be moving here at the end of t5he week and will have to do a town heritage walk.  On the way home we diverted into our next caravan park for a look as it was recommended to us during our dinner a few nights ago as a great place to stop for a while and it exactly that.  It is alongside the Burdekin River which floods to a level that almost covers the fixed buildings of the campsite, usually as the result of a cyclone but we will be heading south again before then.

17^th August 2011

We spent a fair amount of the day setting up the newly purchased digital decoder and can now receive more channels than you can point a stick at, including SC10 and channels from other States so we can now check on WA news, etc.  Unfortunately the old analogue decoder is now only a paper weight as it is only a matter of time before all analogue signals will vanish.  Merry took on the job of iron Woody’s trousers ready for his big day tomorrow at the Vietnam Veteran’s Ceremony, alongside 2 groups of Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Clubs that have arrived in town on their Harley Davidson’s.   One group camped at the showgrounds whilst the other group camped at the Railway Hotel.

18^th August 2011

We checked that Woody was properly tarted up and that his medals were set correctly on his jacket, although he had the Bikies set them up for him last night, and then attended the ceremony outside the courthouse.  It was a small but moving ceremony with about 20 veterans (bikies) and Woody but also included the kids from the local primary school, a few local spectators and tourists.  Between the 21Vets there was an impressive array of medals ranging from none to ten but we don’t know what any of them were for, but just being there and surviving deserves one.  After the ceremony we made for the Golf course for another 9 holes seeing as it is free in Ravenswood and Foxy can come round with us.  However, overall this round of golf was not as satisfying as the previous round but in Barry’s case it is still considered okay considering the surgeon who grafted a slice of his hip bone into his wrist, claimed he would not be able to play golf again.  Then again, some of his old golfing friends would probably claim he never could.

19^th August 2011

We walked into town and out past the Imperial Hotel in the general direction of the cemetery to check out the job done by the 4WD club.  After we had walked past the local school the road returned to dirt and around the next bend we could see the cemetery in the distance so returned to the caravan and promised to drive out there tomorrow.  The return journey was via a slightly different route which took us past some of the remnants of the Deep Mine Mill.

20^th August 2011

We took the promised drive to the cemetery-established in 1875 which was looking very tidy since the visit from the 4WD club.  As is the case with so many of these pioneer cemeteries there were numerous tiny graves for very small children, a few of whom died of blood poisoning as a result of picking pimples.  On the return journey we deviated to take a photo of the mine site processing plant and then drove up to the lookout again for more photos of the town and surrounds.  Being the weekend the park has increased from 3 caravans to 13 in the course of the afternoon.

21^st August 2011

We had another slightly better game of golf today but despite the non-brilliant golf we and Foxy enjoyed the walk.  We seem to be the only people using the course yet the greens and tees are watered and mowed regularly courtesy of the Carpentaria Gold Mines.  The fairways are all brown dry grass but it would be interesting to see this course during the rainy season, but rain or shine it is not a good idea to go off the fairways as the grass is knee high and thick, plus hiding roos and other not so nice surprises.

22^nd August 2011

Once again we packed up our site and moved about 80km to Bivouac Junction which is about 22km short of Charters Towers on the banks of the Burdekin River and is also quite cheap but pleasant.  The only downside, which is similar to Ravenswood, is the very poor TV reception and the site we are on is not suitable for satellite dish reception because of the trees in the way.  The camp site has The Drovers Kitchen which has a log fire burning each night for socialising with an occasional performer of some kind and also has chickens and peacocks roaming through the camp, and wallabies feeding between the camp and the river.

23^rd August 2011

Surprise, surprise, we have spent much of the morning taking down our annex and moving to another site which offers a clear view of the sky to the north-east and now have heaps of TV channels to choose from.  As a result of this moving, we postponed our intended photographic trip Charters Towers until tomorrow so long as the weather doesn’t turn bad, which is a possibility as it is already slightly threatening.   We did take a stroll down to the river for a look at the junction of the Burdekin and the Finning Rivers.

24^th August 2011

We went into Charters Towers along with Val and Barry (2) after crossing the road to view the railway bridge at close quarters and then did the heritage walk as the town rightfully boasts many interesting old buildings and included a visit to the Miners Cottage Museum where they teach you the art of gold panning. 

 The museum side of things wasn’t too flash as it was too cluttered to appreciate any individual item and is therefore, not on our list of recommendations.  However, the theatre/cinema is well worth a look inside, especially the box office area.  We were also going to do the drive around the town to find the parks and statues but our company piked out, so that will happen another day.

25^th August 2011

Today was partially spent being taught the use of the Photoshop program to allow us to improve our photos by removing unwanted items, such as the odd bird flying through just at the wrong time that looks like a black blob in the picture, sun spots and power lines.  It will also allow us to join a series of photos to make a panorama although Barry’s camera does that within the camera and Merry’s allows it to stitch together in the computer.  However, it will allow us to alter any that do not work out right due to the camera not being held level for all of the photos.   Barry is particularly interested in making a montage of several highlight photos from different locations that blend together.