This part of the Queensland contains some of the most beautiful outback scenery in the country. With its iconic gum trees and bright orange dirt tracks, the road from Forsayth to Einasleigh is one of those iconic bush tracks. As we pulled in to Einasleigh in the Gulf Country it wasn’t the surrounding rock cliff escarpments or the majestic Flying Doctor plane perched at the end of the runway that got my attention. It was the town sign.
It was beautifully hand crafted and varnished piece of gum tree. and I wondered if there was any significance of this artistic gesture. Here we go again I thought to myself, another example of post modern art work in a remote rural town, my communication lecturer at uni would have been so proud. The juxtaposition of this dead hardwood tree, lovingly lacquered and polished and the modern Einasleigh sign with its map showing the position of Einasleigh in the district, told me there was something more to this town than just a pub and an air strip.
I thought to myself (because my family have become sick of listening to my ramblings), does the sign herald an awareness that this community is a part of something bigger. Or do they have too much time on their hands and could they just not find a couple of steel poles to mount the sign on?? This juxtaposition intrigued me, and it wasn’t the first time I had seen this in a remote or regional town. The old and the new side by side together and the sum of the two parts creating something entirely different.
If you live in a city and don’t really venture this far into the Australian outback you might not have come across a true outback community. They tend to herald back to the past, and while technology has more than reached these communities, the pace of life is slower and issues are more considered. The community consciousness is rooted in the seasons and the means of production. This contrasts the faster service culture that prevails in city communities. It was not that long ago that this outback culture was Australia’s dominant culture, and in some ways it may still prevail in the silent majority.
This is pretty deep for an old swaggie but there is something reassuring in getting back to this simpler way of life (if only for a short visit) and seeing how the European culture that came to this area over a hundred and sixty years ago was forged by this land and its harsh environment into the nation of Australia.
The aboriginal people have always said they don’t own the country, the country owns them and now may be this is more true than we realise. Has the country forged us into what we are or were. Is our culture becoming homogenous because of our technology and the convenience of city living.
I had read as much as I could about Einasleigh before going on our trip, and I understood a little about the copper and the railway, but it didn’t really gel with me why this place still existed. All I had managed to find was a couple of old photos of the pub and the gorge. I was keen to find out more about this interesting but isolated part of the world.
It was another energy sapping day where the heat was hot, the dirt road dirty and the grass was so dry we were expecting it to instantaneously combust as we drove into town. In regional centres (Other than Mt Isa and Charleville) it is unusual to see a Royal Flying Doctor plane sitting on the tarmac in the middle of town, this is something you would only normally see parked on a rural airstrip on a station somewhere remote. But there it was a sparkling clean red, blue and white King Air aeroplane.
In rural areas the monthly visits from the flying doctors are a life line for remote communities. And on this day the doctor and nurse were running one of their regular health clinics.
It was wasn’t difficult to get your bearing around town, the airport was easy to find as there was a the giant King Air aeroplane facing down the runway. The pub was pretty much next to the airport which just happens to be the biggest building in town and one you can’t miss. I thought to myself now that’s a pretty awesome piece of town planning.
We arrived in Einasleigh from Forsyth on our trip around the Gulf. Our destination was Porcupine Gorge near Hughenden. The town of Einasleigh is one of the five main towns that make up the Etheridge Shire region. It is situated in the Gulf slightly south west of the Undara Lava Tubes and south of Mount Surprise.
The roads in this area are all dirt but are wide and well maintained, apart from the obligatory corrugations they are easy to navigate. The landscape here is that of the iconic Australian bush. It brings back memories of the movie”Sunday Too Far Away”, where Jack Thompson the main character “Foley” falls asleep at the wheel of his car on the way out to a shearing job and he rolls it down the road, a road not too dissimilar to the one shown below. He gets out of his car, leaves it on its side and keeps walking until he gets to the pub.
If you have never seen that movie it’s an Australian classic and says a lot about the quintessential Australian culture. A culture that still exists if you look for it out here, an honest, all together against the elements (and the government man).
History
There were two driving forces that drew people to the hot desolate places of North Queensland, pastoral holdings (cattle and sheep) and mining (Gold, Copper, Tin and Silver). This all seemed to happen at around the same time when Queensland’s bountiful natural resources were being opened up to a hungry world in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. Einasleigh was one such town.
It was the pastoralists looking for sweat grass land to grow fat cattle and sheep that established the area in 1860, but it was copper that was first discovered in this region in the early 1860’s. The establishment of Bowen as a deep water harbour town in 1860 led to the exploration of the northern most parts the country and the subsequent discovery of gold at Ravenswood, then Charters Towers, Etheridge Shire and Palmer River. Miners and Swaggies spread out along the tracks and ancient aboriginal pathways.
The original Einasleigh Mine was established on the Einasleigh River which is just South of the town the was named Copperfield after the river on which it was established, the Copperfield River……strangely enough:). This mine was established during the 1860’s by Richard Daintree and William Hann, as time went on copper price fluctuations and increasing transport costs to Townsville made the mine less profitable and it was abandoned.
But by 1890 copper prices again made the endeavour profitable and 12 mining leases were established. Interestingly, the location of Daintree and Hann’s open cut mine after Daintree’s death in 1878 was a mystery. That was until 1900 when John Moffat of the Chilligoe Railway and Mining Company rediscovered and purchased the lease, and then built his railway line through the town. This is when the fortunes of the town really started to change.
The railway line that connected the Chilligoe Copper Smelter to Einasleigh was called the Etheridge Line after the shire. It was built from Chilligoe to Mount Surprise in 1908, then from Mount Surprise to Einasleigh in 1909, but didn’t get to Forsayth until later in 1910 due to industrial conflict. During the life of the railway and the end of full scale mining during World War One, 8237 tons of copper, 64,900 grams of gold and 372,800 grams of silver were extracted from the region.
These days the rail line brings tourists out to Forsayth for a visit to Cobbold Gorge. One of the unique features of this town is the deep gorge on its southern side. This gorge is a spectacular but under publicised natural feature of the area.
We didn’t stay long in Einasleigh as we were on a bigger road trip. The road out of town goes over the Copperfield River, past the Einasleigh Rail Bridge. It soon turns to dirt right up until about five kilometres before the Lynd Road House. Along the way there is plenty of wild life and an unexpected Oasis about 20 kilometres on with a small weir near Carpentaria Station. It crosses the Einasleigh River.
The future of these small towns is no doubt linked to its past history but also to its future, a strong tourist focus will see much needed revenue. I drove out of town sill confused over the enigma that it was. But intrigued by its amazing history and longevity.
The Lynd Road House came faster than we expected and we had the choice, turn left and follow the Kennedy Development Road (63) to Cairns or back to Townsville. We turned right and headed to check out Porcupine Gorge.
We were there in late September and the temperature was already in the late 30’s. This is definitely not the place to be in the hight of summer, but I’m going back in July on my bike to explore more of this town’s unique and interesting history. If you are interested in mines and rail lines this is definitely the place for you.
Thinking back on the enigma of Einasleigh, may be its not such an enigma, maybe its there to remind us of what and who we actually are.
Safe travels as always and I’ll see you on the road – Cheers Swaggie:)
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