We headed out of
Strahan this beautiful sunny morning. The road out was windy and hilly, but with very light traffic. The trip was fairly short, mostly in forest and towards
Queenstown there was a great
lookout that gave a view of the Lynchford/Queen River valley. We booked into the caravan park and after lunch went for a drive. The first stop was to the Museum/
Information centre, this was a great display of the history of the area with lots of documents and photo's. There was something for every person from mining to school to Medical. In the main street there is the "Mining Siding" which is a memorial to miners as
well as a display of a number of copper Plaques by a Tasmanian Artist Stephen Walker.
The
lookout above the town called "Spion Kop" had a great view of the town and the
mine, the walk to the top was very steep and not for the frail.
The next stop was the "Iron Blow Lookout" 5km out of town on the road towards
Hobart. This gave a great view of the original open cut
mine and you get to walk out on a canter levered walkway to look straight down on the open cut. As
well as the
old mine the
lookout gave a great view of Gormanston, the Linda Valley to
Lake Burbury and the mountains.
Miners Siding
Sculpture at Miners Siding
Gravel football oval from Spion Kop
One of the plaques at Iron Blow Lookout
Cantilever walkway at Iron Blow Lookout
Original open Cut from Iron Blow Lookout
View of Gormanston