Blogs from Charters Towers, Queensland, Australia, Oceania
September 19th 2011
Today, Monday 19th September, we had a very lazy start. We had a couple of things in mind to do but they didn’t require much planning so I took the opportunity to do some washing. Later I needed to do a bit of shopping but before that we had it in mind to do a walking tour of Charters Towers’ city centre – The Square Mile. We parked in the Woolies car park as that is where we would end up for the shopping and there are no parking restrictions there. We walked the short distance to the Information Centre to return our CD and map and to get our deposit back. Much of the walking tour was to buildings nearby so we were able to commence the tour immediately. We had driven by many of ... read more
Welcome To 'The World'
Published: September 22nd 2011Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Charters Towers
September 18th 2011
As if to confirm we had made the right decision to move on, Saturday 17th September greeted us very early with the noise of kiddies cycling and shouting. Clearly their parents have no respect for the comfort of others (you can’t blame the kids) as they were let loose before 6:30am and seemingly with no supervision at all. Multiply that three or four times and you may realise why we thought it a good idea to “head for the hills” today. Traditionally, this school holiday period means a seaside holiday and with the weather forecast promising perfect seaside conditions it is not surprising that places like Rollingstone cater so obviously for young families. It influenced our thoughts about destinations today and we were convinced that an inland location would be more suited to us for a ... read more
"He's already tried to mount Isa......."
Published: August 23rd 2011Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Charters Towers
August 23rd 2011
Editors Warning.....we take no responsibility for the colourful language that our authors use and suggest you read and make deletions before allowing children to read...or then who gives a s%*t!! Hello again to those of you who are still travelling with us...... Our 6+ hour trip from Katherine turned into just over 10 hours instead. We had originally decided to stop at Renner Springs but thought let’s see how far this entourage can keep going. We left the Stuart Highway and turned east at Three Ways, stopped for gas and a toot stop, then decided to “get on the road again”. As a farewell gift from the Locals a display of an assortment of fires had started as we travelled along, although we had nothing to do with the lighting of these fires. It was like ... read more
Chinchilla To Charters Towers
Published: July 24th 2011Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Charters Towers
July 24th 2011
We left Chinchilla 20th July, after meeting up with Den’s brother & wife – Warwick & Margy. The first night was spent at Virgin Rock Free Camp (428) at Springsure. We had travelled about 480 klm’s & were all tired, & apart from a bad tank of LPG gas at Roma all’s good. The next morning was so cold we were freezing, we headed off & drove to another Free camp at Cape River (420) 110 klm’s south of Charters Towers. A lot warmer now thank goodness. Poor Warwick started to get “the shits” literally & was really sick. 22nd we headed off to Charters Towers with one sick man & Margy had to drive. We booked in to at The Charters Towers Caravan Park for 2 nights & had an easy afternoon & they had ... read more
July 8th 2011
Spent a day at Charters Towers, roaming the streets looking at all the old buildings and learning about some of the gold mining history. Then headed out to Fletcher Creek to camp for a couple of nights. Massive campground along the creek, we were just one of at least 100 others. Very dry red dirt paddock which gave us alot of grief with the tent pegs. Lots of cows grazing around us. Peter tried his luck with his new crab pot and some of Max's dog food for bait and was happily rewarded with 40 red claw. Made 3 dinners for us. Taste great bread crumbed and fried...a bit like sea scallop.... read more
Fletcher Creek Campsite
Published: September 1st 2010Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Charters Towers
August 26th 2010
The start of our second leg. The landscape is really starting to change. The soil is getting red, the land is flattening out and the trees are thinning out. We filled up the van’s water tanks at charters towers and headed out to Fletcher Creek Campsite which is about 30 kilometers out of town. A really nice site, open paddocks and near the river. There were cows in the paddocks but none came near our area. Meet a lovely family that are doing a similar trip to us. Emerson finally had some kids to play with. We hardly saw him for two days. One of the days we had morning tea together and the girls baked cinnamon scrolls in the camp oven. They turned out a treat! So if there was one appliance that I miss ... read more
From Charlie's Trousers
Published: August 13th 2009Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Charters Towers
August 13th 2009
We left Mt. Isa and drove through very boring country to Cloncurry. We stopped at the John Flynn Memorial Centre there to view an excellent display on Dr. Flynn's work - his starting the Australian Inland Mission, which became the Royal Flying Doctor Service, begun in Cloncurry in 1928. He was a man of great vision. The network depended largely on a pedal-powered radio invented by Alfred Traeger which helped open up the outback in that people on lonely stations (ranches) could transmit and receive the doctor's information. Tregear and Reverend John Flynn, discussed other services that could be made possible using the radio. Adelaide Miethke, an Adelaide schoolteacher, made the proposal for a School of the Air to be set up through the radio network and in 1950 the first lesson was broadcast. By 1956 ... read more
June 21st 2009
Charters Towers liegt 130 km südwestlich von Townsville. Die Stadt entstand in Folge des Goldrauschs Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts und war zeitweise mit bis zu 27.000 Einwohnern die zweitgrößte Stadt Queenslands nach Brisbane. Die Bevölkerung von Charters Towers ist mittlerweile auf etwa 8000 gesunken. Dennoch bleibt der Ort sehenswert, da die Gebäude und die Architektur noch Zeugnis ablegen von dem ehemaligen Reichtum der Stadt und seiner Bewohner.... read more
October 19th 2008
Hello all! I just got back from a weekend in Charters Towers. There's nothing really special about this town it's just that JP's sister Kathrine lives there and we were invited down for the Charters Towers Races. The races are a big thing here in Australia. Everyone gets really dressed up and wears big hats and feathers. So naturally I was excited to go cause I got to buy a new dress. We made a couple bets but didn't win any. Most of the day was spent drinking and eating and meeting new people. It was really fun but next time i'll know to dress up even more. I'll have to post some pictures of the get ups some people were wearing. They even had prizes for the best hat, best dressed under 15 women, best ... read more
Travel blog 22 to 29 June(Mossman to Charters Towers)
Published: June 29th 2008Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Charters Towers
June 29th 2008
A mixed week-good start as we came south to Cairns,collected our caravan,and went inland to the south to Undara tubes.These are underground tubes formed by lava flow 130 million years ago.Photos show the tube and the colours caused by iron oxide-quite unique.Then proceeded down the Great Inland Way some 400km to Charters Towers, a mining town 130km west of Townsville.During the initial part of the journey the car felt very hot inside,we stopped to check coolant and carried on when it seemed normal.However at Charters Towers I made tel. calls and went to a local garage for advice.I was told the cooling fan was not working properly and needed replacement.And so we have been here since Wed. waiting for parts which we think arrived Sat.and should be put in the car tomorrow morning.It seemed sensible to ... read more
