Towns - Savannahlander - Cairns to Chillagoe, Undara, Forsayth and Cobbold Gorge weekly

Here is a package for budget travellers. Stay at the historic Post Office Hotel in Chillagoe , Goldfields Hotel, Forsayth; and Shared facility air conditioned cabin at the Mt Surprise tourist park. Dinner ... read more

Cairns

Kuranda

Towns

Cobbold Gorge

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The Robertson River cuts through the gorge, named after an early station owner and merchant from the district, Frank Cobbold of Carpentaria Downs. With O'Brien and other partners, Cobbold developed the Cumberland mine, the richest producer on the Etheridge field throughout the 1880s. At the entrance to the gorge is John Corbett's grave. A storekeeper from the Cloncurry goldfields, he was murdered and robbed of gold while on his way from Western Creek to Normanton in 1871. Although Aborigines were blamed for his death, Corbett was probably waylaid and killed by one or more Europeans.

Cobbold Gorge was formed through sedimentation 135 million years ago. The resulting Hampstead Sandstone base rock was subjected to compression and faulting. Wet-season torrents passing through the narrow ravines have carved deep gorges, leaving permanent rock holes overlooked by spectacular sandstone cliffs. Visitors can experience the uniqueness of Cobbold Gorge by taking a guided boat tour.

Cobbold Gorge tours are only available from Easter until October 31^st.

Forsayth

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Forsayth Station

Originally known as Finnigan's Camp after the prospector who discovered gold nearby in 1871. Within a year the settlement had become Charleston township, and it continued to grow despite near desertion when its inhabitants rushed to the Palmer River Goldfield in 1874 and to the Hodgkinson in 1876. After a slump in the mid-1880s the township was again a flourishing centre by the mid-1890s, having five hotels, a school and a court of petty sessions.

Forsayth Timetable

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Savannahlander departs Forsayth:

To Cairns

Friday 8:30 am

Einasleigh

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Einasleigh

The township of Einasleigh, originally named Copperfield, was laid out in 1900 by the mining warden on a new township reserve established near the Einasleigh Company's copper mine. Although the company had been formed onLy in the previous year, already two hotels, a store, a billiard room, and butcher and baker shops were being built and funds were being collected for a school. The town briefly became the largest population centre in the shire during construction of the Chillagoe Company's Etheridge Railway in the years 1907-10. After the closure of the mine in the 1920s, however, the township almost disappeared and was saved from extinction only by its location on the railway.

Einasleigh Timetable

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Savannahlander departs Einasleigh:

To Forsayth	Thursday 2:45 pm
To Cairns	Friday 11.45

Undara Lava Tubes

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Undara Lava Tubes

Undara crater erupted 190 000 years ago, sending a molten lava flow that travelled over 160 km and soon covered an area of 1550 square kilometres. It is the Longest single lava flow recorded in the world. As the exterior lava hardened it formed tunnels, or pipes, through which molten lava continued to flow, creating Undara's black basalt tubes. Lava tubes are also found in Victoria and elsewhere in Queensland, but the most extensive system is at Undara.

Mount Surprise

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Approaching Mt Surprise

Ezra Firth took up Mount Surprise sheep run in 1861. Firth converted to cattle after selling his sheep profitably on the new Palmer River Goldfield in 1873. When the Etheridge Railway was built from Almaden to Forsayth in 1910, the Queensland Government resumed a section of the property for Mount Surprise township. In the same year the Junction Creek telegraph office, built in 1871, was moved to the town.

Mount Surprise Timetable

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Savannahlander departs Mount Surprise:

To Forsayth	Thursday 12:15 pm
To Cairns	Saturday 8:15 am

Chillagoe

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Chiilagoe Station

Chillagoe pastoral run was taken up in 1887 by William Atherton, a son of John Atherton. Traces of copper were discovered in the area soon after and a small mining settlement was established on Chillagoe Creek, but it was not until the late 1890s that mining entrepreneurs John Moffat and J.S. Reid secured the necessary capital backing to develop the copper lodes.

Almaden

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Almaden Station

During Almaden's heyday in the early 1900s a large number of railway employees and their families boosted the population of the town that today is almost deserted. Three hotels, three stores, several shops and a post office were built in this period. The railway town's importance continued until the closure of the Chillagoe Smelters in the mid-1940s. The historic Railway Hotel still trades today.

Almaden Timetable

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Savannahlander departs Almaden:

To Forsayth	Thursday 8:00 am
To Cairns	Saturday 12:10 pm

Dimbulah

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Dimbulah Station

When the rich Hodgkinson Goldfield near Mount Mulligan was discovered in 1876, grazing licences were taken up throughout the district to supply beef to the hundreds of miners who rushed to the field. Dimbulah was established about 1899 as a construction camp for the Chillagoe Railway. When the railway began operating in 1900, the station became the last locomotive watering point along the Walsh River.

Dimbulah Timetable

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Savannahlander departs Dimbulah:

To Forsayth	Wednesday 10:30 am
To Cairns	Saturday 2:40 pm

Mareeba

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Barron River bridge

A teamsters' camp developed at Granite Creek crossing near the junction of the early tracks to Trinity Inlet and Port Douglas. Here Tablelands pioneer John Atherton built a hotel, which became a Cobb and Co. coach stop in 1882. Granite Creek developed as a tent town for packers, teamsters, prospectors and railway workers. In 1893, it became a centre on the Cairns Railway when the section from Myola to Biboohra was completed. Most of the Myola settlement, including hotels, stores and other businesses, was moved to the new centre. A government survey in 1893 laid out a town centre for Granite Creek, which was renamed Mareeba. The streets were named for local pioneers and for T.J. Byrnes, the Premier of Queensland.

Mareeba Timetable

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Savannahlander departs Mareeba:

To Forsayth	Wednesday 9:08 am
To Cairns	Saturday 4:00 pm

Kuranda

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Kuranda Station

Kuranda was well established long before it was proclaimed a town in 1890. In the late 1870s, it was the "Middle Crossing" on the Barron River for prospectors and teamsters on the Thornborough - Cairns track. When work began on the first section of the Cairns Range Railway, Kuranda became a railway camp and then a station on the line to Myola that was opened in 1891.

Close to the Barron Falls and a haven from the humidity of the coast, Kuranda was soon popular as a tourist resort. The railway being the only means of access, it remained a sleepy village throughout the 1920s and 1930s, visited mainly by timber and railway workers and a growing number of local tourists. The Range road was completed in 1942 and for the duration of World War II Kuranda was a busy transit station for the Allied troops posted to Cairns and the Tablelands. In the 1960s, the town became popular as an alternative lifestyle and arts and crafts centre. The Sunday markets inaugurated in the late 1970s marked the beginning of a major tourist industry. Rural residential expansion and the upgrading of tourist facilities, together with the new Skyrail link with Cairns, have resulted in extensive redevelopment of the town.

The Savannahlander is a relaxed way to travel on the scenic Kuranda Railway. An early start and small groups allows the pace to be a little slower, so time can be taken to take in the view. Arriving early in Kuranda means you can enjoy the village atmosphere without the crowds.Mareeba

The Savannahlander does go further though and another option, if you are only interested in a day trip, is to go by train to Mareeba and transfer to a coach for the trip back to Kuranda or Cairns.

Kuranda Timetable

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Savannahlander departs Kuranda:

To Forsayth	Wednesday 8:05 am
To Cairns	Saturday 5:02 pm

Cairns

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Looking towards Cairns

Trinity Bay was named by Lieutenant James Cook of HM Bark Endeavour on Trinity Sunday in June 1770. On the previous afternoon Cook had named Cape Grafton and Green Island and, accompanied by naturalists Banks and Solander, had gone ashore near False Cape. Pearlers and beche-de-mer fishermen later established isolated camps on the bay, but it was not until 1876 that European occupation began. Cairns, named after the Governor of Queensland, became the port for the newly discovered Hodgkinson Goldfield and for the timber being taken out of the hinterland forests.

The nearby Barron River settlement of Smithfield competed for commercial dominance, but many of its residents had moved to Cairns even before the 1878 flood swept Smithfield away.

By 1878 a track had been cut from the Hodgkinson Goldfield to Island Point and Cairns was soon overshadowed by the new anchorage, later renamed Port Douglas. However, by 1880 the newly discovered Mulgrave Goldfield had brought shipping back to Cairns and in 1884 the settlement was selected ahead of Port Douglas as the terminus for the railway over the Kuranda Range to the Herberton tinfields Its future as the principal port for the region was assured.

Cairns Timetable

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Savannahlander departs Cairns:

To Forsayth

Wednesday 6:30 am