Travel: Charters Towers, Qld

Charters Towers has a golden past and the Ghosts of Gold brochure leads visitors through its rich romantic history. The ghosts may not be visible, but their presence is felt in the National Trust precincts of a once bustling city known as "The World".

At the city's eastern approach, golden statues of country musicians indicate the vibrant spirit of Charters Towers today, but nearby Centenary Park honours the past - in the form of the first gold discovery.

Life-sized figures surrounding a billabong represent the 1871 prospecting party led by Hugh Mosman, with George Clarke, James Fraser and young guide Jupiter Mosman. Legend tells that a thunderclap stampeded their pack horses and Jupiter found gold while searching for them near hills called the Tors.

Miners poured in and a city grew around the Tors. Civic leaders named the Charters Tors (later 'Towers') after Gold Commissioner William Charters. By 1900 The World boasted world-class features, including Australia's only Stock Exchange outside a capital. Thirty thousand residents were served by a brewery, 92 hotels, dance clubs (brothels), The Northern Miner newspaper, street lighting, pumped water, telegraph facilities and rail and phone connections to Townsville, 135km east.

Nearly seven million ounces of gold were won by 1911, but yields then fell and the population dwindled. The boom was over, but meanwhile Charters Towers and neighbouring Dalrymple Shire had created a diverse economy.

Gold wealth had produced demands for educational facilities, with colleges educating both local and boarding students. A School of Mines (1901) became Australia's primary source of mining engineers and metallurgists. Dalrymple developed a beef industry that today produces more cattle than any other Qld shire.

World War II produced another economic boom: over 20,000 Australian and American service personnel were stationed in Charters Towers and Dalrymple Shire. Munition bunkers on Tower Hill are relics of that period.

Thousands of veterans have since visited their 'wartime home', as have their descendants. They join other visitors in pushing the newest boom to reach Charters Towers - tourism.

While many gold towns have tried to recreate their heritage, Charters Towers' history has remained intact: The Northern Miner premises remains; a former Australian bank of commerce accommodates an imposing foyer for The World Theatre, plus an adjoining hi-tech theatre/cinema complex; City Hall was once Qld National Bank and former private mansions grace college grounds. Few towns have such picturesque police, ambulance and post office buildings still in use.

The Stock Exchange is undoubtedly the most famous landmark on the Ghosts of Gold trail. Alexander Malcolm built this glass-roofed structure in 1887, planning a 'Royal Arcade', with boutiques rivalling those of London. Instead it became occupied by the Stock Exchange.

Today the mosaic-tiled arcade features interactive audio visual displays illustrating times when fortunes were won and lost within days. Audio mobiles enact the exchange's thrice-daily "call" from an upstairs wrought iron bridge.

On the Ghosts of Gold trail, watch for 150mm iron rings in gutters outside older hotels. Steadying ropes were fed through these rings while beer kegs were rolled from delivery wagons down into hotel cellars.

Along the trail check out crafts and folk art at the Miners Cottage Museum. Drop into Zara Clark Folk Museum, which displays historic vehicles and equipment, including an operational 'flying fox' cash transfer system. Headstones in the old cemetery tell tragic tales of lives lost in the boom years.

A short drive from town is Venus Battery. Visitors can see the battery operating and learn how it was built, browse interactive displays and watch Ghosts of Gold on an innovative water screen.

Tower Hill Lookout provides a Charters Towers overview, featuring plaques describing pioneering identities and an amphitheatre for historical film showings.

The best time to visit the area is during country music celebrations - April's annual Towers Bonza Bash is the only festival devoted entirely to Australian musical compositions.

On the May (Qld Labor Day) long weekend, Charters Towers Country Music Festival features the country's largest amateur music talent quest.

Whether you are a fossicker, photographer, history buff, country music lover, architecture enthusiast or collector of nostalgic memorabilia, Charters Towers offers fascinating recreational outlets to satisfy any or all of these passions.

Camping
Approaching from Townsville, boil the billy 20km east at Macrossan Park on the Burdekin River, near where famous explorer Ludwig Leichhardt camped.

On the Lynd Highway, you can lay your swag 43km north of Charters at Fletcher Creek and enjoy birds and butterflies at an historic telegraph camp. Both camps have picnic tables, showers and toilets.

Dalrymple Caravan Park