 |
| Camp Kitchen |
Our night and subsequent day at Mt
Morgan were very pleasant.
Absolute cracker of a caravan
park. The Silver Wattle Caravan Park, just a small, family run business, owned and run by a young couple who
have travelled about Australia and gathered all the ideas they liked best and
tried to put them into their own park.
As I say, it's small ... a few
cabins and twenty five sites ... but it's fabulous. The amenities were
clean and really well maintained ... you turned the lights on and off like it
was your bathroom at home. When we arrived, we were told to pick a spot we
liked, given four huge eggs from their chickens and a ten minutes description
of what there was to do in Mt Morgan and a potted history of the place. The
camp kitchen had a full size fridge/freezer, microwave, gas bbq, tv, cutlery,
plates, cups, spoons, toaster, electric kettle, condiments, tea towels ... and
a pizza oven! There is a constant feeling of brightness about the place and owners, Sarah and Mark, are improving the place daily. Old cabins are being demolished and new ones put in their place.
It was all built into the style of
an old shearers hut, with authentic slabs and corrugated iron roof. At one end
was a camp fire ring, which they apologised for not firing up at night, where
they normally have happy hour and shout guests nibblies! Outside the camp kitchen
is a herb garden and beside it a vegetable garden which are there for guests to
pick fresh produce from!
The owners dropped in during
dinner to see if we needed anything.
The next morning, Sue got
acquainted with their miniature horse which they bought on Gumtree. It had
looked bigger in the photos. It is used as their lawn mower and provides
fertiliser for the veggie garden.
All of this, plus a powered,
level, shared site in return for $25 a night and a weekly rate which translates
to a bit over $18 a night. The best value on the road in all the hundreds of
thousands of kilometres we have travelled around Australia since 1978.
This morning, after bacon and eggs
which were nearly two centimetres thick, we went into Mt Morgan, starting at
the two look outs. The town has been built in a shallow bowl between and
including short, sharp hills, through which the Dee River flows. It exists
because gold was mined here from 1882. Silver and copper have also been mined
in profitable quantities. The post office opened in 1885 and is one of the very
substantial buildings in this heritage listed town. Like Mount Isa, only on a
much smaller scale, the town is dominated by the now dormant mine which
occupies its western side.
 |
| Mt Morgan Railway Museum |
Mt Morgan is also important for
the establishment of the railway line in 1898, at the behest of the mine which
had transported gold by wagons down the rough track off the steep range and
across the plain to Rockhampton to the north. The track, built up the mountain
called Razorback, included a Swiss breaking system which used a notched rack
which was laid beside the rails and special bogies fitted between the wheels
with ratchet wheels which locked into the rack race. The climb and descent was
so steep, it was the only way of making sure a lack of traction didn't occur in
heavily laden trains. An example of the system is on display at the Railway
museum ... along with some interesting photos, railway associated paraphernalia
and a few examples of rolling stock.
The town has some very interesting
buildings.
The first state secondary school
in Qld still stands on the Burnett Highway, which runs through the centre of
town. A tall, two storey building constructed of sturdy brick, despite being
103 years old, still looks as though it could last several more hundred years.
The School of Arts is the biggest
public hall I have ever seen in rural Australia, with a full stage, an upstairs
balcony with seating to view the stage and a high, high ceiling. It has been
recently painted and looks in great nick.
Across the road is what used to be
a pub but is now a private residence. It has a turret on the top which was used
as a spotter's tower during WWII so that Mt Morgan would have an early warning
if Japanese soldiers came over the range ... no, I haven't been drinking.
There are several murals painted
on buildings depicting early life in My Morgan and their public toilet block is
in the middle of the main street ... not halfway along ... I actually mean in
the middle of the street. Perhaps that's because of all the drinking which used
to happen in a town that once had 27 pubs and where beer used to be fetched in
billy cans (cutters) and run out to the mine at the end of a shift. Every year,
the tradition continues with a relay race for four runners who carry a cutter
of beer between the remaining four pubs, with final runner chugging the cutter.
We went out to "The Big
Dam" for lunch, which was, surprisingly enough, a big dam and the source
of the town's water supply.
 |
| Themed shopping at Rockhampton |
Having been told of the
treacherous road which finishes the climb up the Mt Morgan Range and then
descends the Burnett Highway down to the plain and Rockhampton, we set out with
some degree of trepidation: me with none, Sue with maybe 3 degrees. After all,
the lady at the railway museum won't drive it, for fear of her very life ...
not life ... no, no ... more important than that ... her VERY life.
All a bit of a fizzer really. Speed
limit of 40km/hr. Lots of tight bends and a steep road. I just placed the
cruise control on 40 and steered the car down the hill without touching the
brake pedal once. Technology 1, steep mountain road 0.
We went on to Rockhampton, settled
in, did some shopping, planning, eating,
laughing (it was Micallef night).
