This morning I was up early as usual in preparation to go for a cycle ride. About 0600 I looked out to see if the sun was coming up to find that it was showering. As I have had several falls with damp roads, I decided against riding. The only option left was for me to do the accumulated washing.
As I was about early, I managed to among the first to claim a washing machine. It completed its job by around 0700. Being a damp morning, I decided that the drier was the only way to go. So about 0800, the drier was complete and I folded all the clothes and had them put away by about 0815.
Soon after that operation, I said farewell to Paul and Robyn. They were aiming to get to Emerald by late in the afternoon. I am certain I will not be attempting that distance but they have commitments late into next week. They were not altogether happy with their caravan mainly for its configuration and they plan to sell it for something else that they have seen while away on their trip.
Later in the morning I went into the CBD and tried another coffee shop. The muggacino was a big improvement on yesterday. Unfortunately, there were some disabled people there and one was very loud with a high pitched voice. Thankfully, they left soon after I arrived. I felt sorry for that woman but it was hard on the ears. After that interlude, I went looking for a book shop as my current book is getting towards the end. Not much luck finding anything appealing but I am now aware of a second hand bookshop that I will visit on Monday.
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My first historical visit for the day was to the Miner’s cottage. It is a mini museum owned by a fellow that came as a surveyor to the town and decided to stay many years ago. He has collected most of the items in the museum. Many are capable of reigniting memories of my childhood while other items are from the mining that happened in the area. There was a volunteer, Tony, who is a very knowledgeable person and he told me he was 82. He is a retired civil engineer but is motivated by the mining and his day at the museum. There are an amazing number of articles relating to local mining that include many photos. There are also many smaller items that were used in assaying the gold production. I had not seen a lot of them before. My time there ended with a musical rendition on a ‘squeeze box’ played by Tony. He obviously is one of the drawcards to the museum with his personality and knowledge.
I returned back to the Karavan for lunch and a read.
A scary item I was made aware of is the use of mercury to get the gold. It was used for a long time then another extremely dangerous chemical, Cyanide, was used later. Apparently, both processes are still used but with so much more safety. About 100 years ago, there was no safety and miners absorbed both mercury vapour and cyanide not only into their bodies but also took it home on their clothes to their families with the consequence that the average age of people working and living around the mines was about 39 years old.
After a day of becoming a little better informed about mining, I went to Henry’s Cafe and Restaurant where I had another muggacino which was really good. So there are some good cafes in Charters Towers. Then back to the Karavan after a bit of a drive around and discovered the historic Civic Club which in the past was a gentleman’s club.
So ended an interesting day.
1 comment:
Hi Duncan, sounds like a pleasant interlude at Charter's Towers. I've spent most of my time indoors here in Qatar - it was 47C here today, the searing heat is unbelievable, thank God for air conditioning!
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