Day 26 – Saturday 14 August 2021 – 280km

An easy start today and an easy drive from Georgetown to Forsayth, a bit over 40km through rolling hills and around 8km of good dirt. We booked the last spot at the Forsayth van park before we left & when we arrived, we are put in the overflow spot across the road next to a shady tree.  We take a walk around town after we set the van up & had a look at the old Forsayth railway station and nearby park. The train runs once a week from Cairns carrying tourists and is called the Savannahlander, it runs on a 3 foot 6 inch gauge track. The track was laid during the days of the gold rush in this part of Queensland. It is interesting, there are so many old gold mining towns in this area that were once thriving and now most of them are gone, some the only evidence is a lonely cemetery in the bush. The current population of Forsayth is 54 people.

Next we take a drive to another old gold town, Einasleigh on the Copperfield River that is around 54km away, mostly bitumen, with about 8km of good dirt. This place is even smaller than Forsayth and we stop at the old two story pub for a steak sandwich, really tender meat. We chat to a few people at the pub then cross the road to the Copperfield Gorge. This is a small beautiful deep gorge cut out of the river & has a long pool of water the length of the gorge. There is no water flowing in the river so the waterfall at the beginning of the gorge is not flowing. There are a few volcanic plugs standing out nearby that punctuate the scenery and give the view a nice boost.

The drive back is just as beautiful with a few wandering cattle keeping me on my toes and we get back to Forsayth around 3.30pm, sit in the shade and have a rest looking out at the nearby hills.

Another caravan pulls up close to us, they got the last overflow spot it seems too. There are 6 caravans in here who must have all got the last overflow spot.  Everyone is very friendly, we chatted while having drinks about different travel experiences & then it was dinner making time.

I walked across the road with Tereza to the amenity block & it seems that there are a couple of peeping snakes who decide to look down from the rafter while one uses the showers or the toilets.  (A couple of pythons chasing frogs) Tereza is relieved that tonight they were only interested in the boys (must have been girl snakes). Quite a lot of Australia is closed down because of the Covid outbreaks.  We are hoping not to come across any infected area. Another great day.