So much history in Charters Towers

What did we do as soon as we arrived in Charters Towers?  Well we plugged into the power and turned on the air conditioner.  It was hot but not unbearable but we wanted Kayla to have her daytime name so whilst I waited for the van to cool down I took her for a drive.  One (me) does not really want their child to wake up hot and cranky from her nap so the luxury of the air conditioner is greatly appreciated.

Once rest time was over we headed off to the Information centre to find out what Charters Towers had to offer.  The main street has certainly kept the old charm appearance about it in regards to the buildings which makes it look beautiful.  Unfortunately we couldn’t go to the old Stock Exchange as it was closed for a private function.  Instead we decided to head up to the lookout, from here you can see all of Charters Towers and right out to the ranges.  There are also old war bunkers scattered around and open mines from the gold rush era.  Quite a bit of time can be spent exploring this and if you are feeling energetic you can walk from the bottom to the top (we opted to drive). 

Checking out the main street.

 

Next we headed out to the Burdekin River weir which was a short drive out of town.  It is amazing how you can be driving through scrubby, dry land and then at the end there is a nice big green park space with a massive river in front of you.  I tried to take photos to show how large it could be, but the reality is that nothing I took showed it.  Now whilst we were here it was just a little flow over the weir, but this river is known to have some mighty floods come down it, covering the bridge and closing the road.  It is just hard to fathom that much water flowing through it.

The main water supply for Charters Towers.

The weir.

Trying to capture just how wide and big the river is.

 

Our evening was spent enjoying the pool at the caravan park and Hamish even went and played with some of the kids who were there on a school camp.  It was really nice enjoying the cool of the evening outside after the heat of the day.  We even got excited as a few more caravans had arrived – were we the only silly ones heading west, or maybe we weren’t!

The next day we had decided to do the Gold Battery.  We plan our day and the sights we see around the heat of the day.  Natural free sights are done first thing or late afternoon when it is nice and cool, next around opening hours we do any attractions that aren’t air conditioned, leaving the nice cool air conditioned ones for the worst part of the day.  This actually works really well and if we turn on the van air conditioner about 2 hours before we want to have a rest we come back to a relatively cool van.  So far we are only using the air conditioner in the middle of the day, however I am sure that is going to change soon as my Mum kindly sent me the temperature forecast for the next 7 days out in Longreach

So needless to say with that in mind we were at the Gold Battery right on opening time for its first tour.  Whilst we love checking out these old museums, I do find myself wondering at the start how the kids are going to find it.  History is a lot to take in and the majority of time they really don’t find it exciting.  Lucky for us either the kids really wanted their reward sticker for the day or they did actually find it exciting but we got through 90% of the tour before Hamish got a bit over it.  Though being the trooper he is, we were able to finish the tour.  We really enjoyed it and learnt so much, however I am so grateful to have not lived in that generation, it was a tough life and I take my hat off to them as I don’t think I would have survived long.

Such an important part of the Gold Rush era.

Been out of action for a while.

Massive building with so much history.

Hamish in front of the cooling area.

 

We decided to reward ourselves with morning tea at the Old Stock Exchange.  It really would have been an icon back in the day as it is so impressive now.  The little coffee shop that is there does wonderful foods and drinks so we could sit back and eat whilst we took it all in.  I did wonder why the end was not enclosed but of course then I remembered they didn’t have the cooling we have today, so would have left it open to capture the cool breeze that was flowing through.

The beautiful old building.

Hamish and Jason relaxing.

Little miss cheeky with her baby doll.

 

Next we were heading back out to the main Burdekin River crossing as you drive from Townsville.  Here they have a massive pole which marks all the flood levels.  Until you park at the bottom and look up you just don’t realise how high it can get.  This pole also isn’t located at the bottom of the river; it is on the Charters Towers side at the end of the bridge, so you are already half way up the river bank!  Let’s just say I don’t want to be anywhere near there when the next lot of water is coming down.

So yep in most of the bad ones the can and I would be under water.

It is a long way to the top.

Looking back down the river to the railway bridge.

 

It is great to have some down time each day whilst Kayla is asleep as I think we really crave it.  Hamish doesn’t have a sleep, but if we give him the iPad or put a movie on for him then he is happy and quiet for a good hour.  Then after a decent rest we can go and jump in the pool whilst waiting for it to cool down some more.  Finally late in the afternoon we will take the kids to the local park.  Charters Towers had quite a few beautiful green parks to escape the summer heat and burn off some of the energy the kids had before bedtime. 

Lovely billabong and statue in the park.

Another statue in the park.

Hamish climbing the hill.

Kayla having a swing.

 

Today we even saw the biggest van we have seen yet.  A massive 5th wheeler rolled in for the night.  We were amazed by its size and I was imagining what it was like inside and how much room they must have.  Then as we walked past we realised that there was a boat inside.  Not just any boat but a decent size looking one, so there goes half of their space, but my gosh I think I have seen everything now!

 

The view from our van.