Robert and Judith's Gap Year: Aug 12-13 Charters Towers

Charters Towers is an old gold mining town about 130 kms inland from Townsville. We would have been happy to spend just the one day/night checking out the town, but we were surprised to meet up with Margaret and her husband Greg in a chance meeting at the Information Centre. I used to work with Margaret at Kemcor/Qenos. We checked into the same caravan park for 2 nights.

The first night we enjoyed a simple meal provided by the caravan park. A nice idea, with the proceeds going to the Flying Doctor Service. Charters had a big bike racing carnival on the following day, which was good fun to see the kids riding around the town's streets. We also checked out a few of the town's old buildings, including a grand old house that is now part of a school that just happened to have their annual fete on. That gave us an opportunity to walk through it, thanks to the nice lady on the cake stall on the veranda.

We went to the "Miner's Cottage" and I tried my hand at panning for gold. Quite inspiring - I will definitely be wanting a panning dish to try out on the Victorian goldfields.

The second night was a big night out at the Drive-In Theatre. Yes, there is still a working drive-in theatre at Charters Towers. And it was a double feature. "Hoodwinked Too" and the final Harry Potter film. Just quietly, I think we both liked the animated "Hoodwinked Too" better.