Chillagoe Way Out Bush

Yet another adventurous weekend took us on a drive North from Dimbulah (2.5 hours from Cairns) along the dirt road leading to the Hodgkinson Goldfields via Tyrconnell Mine and Mount Mulligan.

We went halfway along the dirt road, following scenic ridgelines, before ducking back to Dimbulah because it looked like rain was going to pour down and make the road impassable.

As soon as we arrived back in Dimbulah, we saw the road was cordoned off for the Chillagoe to Mareeba Wheelbarrow Race which is held each year to remember the miners who used to trek huge distances from minesite to minesite pushing a barrow with their possessions strapped on top.

Times have changed and the racing extends over over 150km to now involve teams of wheelbarrow pushers with each team in a vehicle, preferably a Coaster minibus, one person pushing the wheelbarrow for a quick spurt in front, before a replacement hops out of the vehicle and takes over. 

The race covers three days in three stages. All kinds were running in the race, flaming red-haired bushboys, nimble workout ladies, and even a really fit older guy in his late sixties it seemed. For those caught short, there were portaloos standing sentinel at halfway points.

On the way, we drove through the delightful old atmospheric towns of Petford and Almaden with historic railway stations.

We saw incredible soil erosion around Almaden railway station. A deeply rutted red and yellow moonscape.

The road between Almaden and Chillagoe was very scenic. We also saw a reminder of Aussie humour.

We camped at the Fossil House Homestead, a lovely site beside a creek outside Chillagoe. The stars at night are stupendous, bright specks shining out of a sky untroubled by light pollution and accompanied by a sickle moon. As we turned in, four kookaburras came to roost on a branch overhead and had a hilarious cackle and laughing session to bed down. In the morning, the donkey hot water system was lit by pushing logs under its belly.

In the morning the skies were clear and we drove out to the site of the old Chillagoe smelters, once powerhouses of the local economy in the early 1900s, smelting copper, zinc and gold.

A thick slag heap, an accumulation of waste produced by the smelting process, was dotting the landscape. Horse-drawn trolleys on rail lines carried slag in bell-shape pots to the heap.

Next we took a dirt road to the Ramparts, a stunning outcrop of limestone cliffs where we climbed to a lookout under a rock overhang where the stones were worn smooth by thousands of years of aboriginals visiting and painting rock art on the walls.

Balancing Rock teeters on the skyline in amongst limestone pinnacles embedded in a great bush walk.

Last stops for the day were a look at the Bauhinia and Pompeii cave entrances, a tiny dodgy, steep entrance into darkness, not quite our thing this time round;

Returning to town, we dropped into the centre with its old hotel, quirky bank vault, general store and a delightful feel of years past to the whole place.

Then we took a look at Tom Prior's Ford Museum where Tom was revving the engines of his beauties, trucks and sedans, ranging in age from WWII to late 90s.