Characteristics
Queenstown is firstly and lastly a mining town. After seeing so many trees,
your first glimpse of Queens-town may come as a shock because the hills
around the town are denuded of greenery. This has been caused by a combination
of tree felling, sulphur, fire and rainfall.
As the Lyell Highway descends steeply into Queenstown via the Linda Valley,
there is a panoramic view of naked hills strewn with multi-coloured boulders
which reflect the sun's rays. In the evening, the setting sun causes the
mountains and hills to change from shades of brilliant gold to hues of
deep pink. It is an unforgettable sight.
Climate
The area averages only 1750 hours of sunshine in a year, while it rains
on an average of 320 days per year. The annual rainfall is over 3000mm
(118 ins).
How to Get There By Bus
Tasmania's Own Redline Coaches have services between Hobart, Burnie, Strahan
and Queenstown.
By Road
Queenstown is 254km (158 miles) north-west of Hobart along the Lyell Highway,
and 175km (109 miles) south-west of Burnie along the Waratah and Zeehan
Highways.
Tourist Information
Visitor information can be obtained from the hotels and motels in the area.
There is a City Guide map in Driffield Street at the end of Orr Street.
Accommodation
Following is a selection of accommodation with prices for a double room
per night, which should be used as a guide only. The telephone area code
is 03.
Points of Interest
In November 1883, Steve Karlson and Mick McDonough, who had only arrived
in the Linda Valley the day before, discovered a strange iron outcrop
which rose about 25 ft above the surface. This was the famous Iron Blow,
where mining of the riches of Mt Lyell began. About two weeks later,
the diggers pegged out a fifty acre lease, in the centre of which was
the Blow. They suspected that the Blow was the source of the gold they
washed in the creek below the outcrop. The Blow was worked as a gold
mine for ten years, with everybody ignoring the millions of pounds of
copper in it.
The Mount Lyell gold mine was bought by Bowes Kelly in 1891, and he formed
the Mt Lyell Mining Company in Melbourne. But in that year gold mining
at Mt Lyell came to an end, although it has always remained a welcome by-product.
The directors of the company brought Edward Dyer Peters, a world authority
on copper smelting, from the USA, and he conducted a successful smelting
trial at the Argenton smelter, four miles south of Zeehan.
The present Mt Lyell Mining and Railway Company, one of the oldest mining
companies in Australia, was formed in 1893, after the previous company
had been dissolved for financial reasons. The new company failed to raise
enough money for an extensive development programme, and mining at the
Blow nearly came to a stop. Then an incredulously rich silver seam with
an average of over a thousand ounces of silver to the ton was discovered
by Dr Peters. This lucky discovery helped the young company out of its
financial difficulties.
In 1895, Robert Carl Sticht, another American, but this time a metallurgist,
was given a free hand by the directors of the company to design the first
Mt Lyell smelters. His pyritic smelting process, which represented an important
advance in the technology of copper smelting, became famous and was copied
in many countries.
By 1891, the little shanty town of Penghana had sprung up around the smelters,
but in 1896 it was wiped out by fire. The refugees set up home in a newly
planned town on the banks of the Queen River, and called it, appropriately
enough, Queenstown. In the same year the Queenstown Hotel was built.
An historic tour walk has been mapped out around the town, and information
plaques have been erected at places of interest. No stay in Queenstown
would be complete without a visit to the Mt Lyell Mine. Guided tours are
available and depart from Farmer's Store in Driffield Street, 6471 2388.
Tours are of approximately two hours' duration, and include viewing the
mine workings and the Mining Museum.
The Eric Thomas Galley Museum, cnr Driffield & Sticht Streets, features
displays of old photographs dealing with the West Coast, as well as items
of household equipment and personal effects in use during the early days.
The museum is open daily, except Saturday mornings, and a small admission
fee is charged, 6471 1483.
Miners Siding in Driffield Street is a Queenstown Centenary Park Development,
and incorporates the Miners Sunday Sculpture by Stephen Walker. The sculpture
is made of bronze and Huon Pine, and depicts an early miner and his family
on the day of rest, and the changes that transformed a rough miners' camp
to a town and community. Part of the Miners Siding Park has been developed
as a rainforest, with many species that occur mainly in Western Tasmania.
Also in the Park is a restored ABT Locomotive, which was part of the system
that was the only transport link between Queenstown and the outside world
until 1932.
Iron Blow, the original gold mine, is situated north of the town at Gormanston,
2km off the Lyell Highway. The site has been developed as an area of historic
and scenic interest, and offers excellent panoramic views over the mountains
and Linda Valley.
The Crotty and South West Access Road turns off the Lyell Highway 10km
(6 miles) north of the town, and was once the railway line for the North
Lyell Copper Co. It provides access to the Darwin Meteorite Crater, the
Franklin River, Fincham Park, Kelly Basin, the King Power Development and
Crotty Camp.
Lake Margaret, north of Queens-town, was one of Tasmania's first hydro
electric schemes and was built and owned by the Mt Lyell Co in 1914. The
station and village remain as they were in the 1900s, with the original
machines still working. A 2134m (7000 ft) wooden stave pipeline still delivers
water from the lake to the Penstock, and a walk up the hill provides unparalleled
views of the rugged West Coast.
On the Zeehan Highway, 14km (9 miles) from Queenstown, there is a balancing
rock which gives an insight into the unique geology of the area. The parking
area here offers views over the glacial valleys of the Henty and Yolande
Rivers. There are information plaques, and sign-post to the rock.
Facilities
Swimming pool, golf course, gem fossicking and gold panning.
Outlying Attractions Zeehan
Zeehan is 33km (21 miles) north of Queenstown, and the town boomed when
rich silver-lead deposits were discovered in 1882. By the turn of the century
it was a town of 5000, and an entertainment 'capital' - Dame Nellie Melba
and Enrico Caruso performed here. But, the ore ran out and the town declined
before the beginning of World War I. A number of buildings have survived
from its boom time including the Gaiety Theatre, St Luke's Church and the
Post Office.
The West Coast Pioneers' Memorial Museum is housed in the old School of
Mines, and is divided into five main categories of exhibits - a mineral
collection; historical items relating to the West Coast; modern mining
on the West Coast; locomotives and tracked mining equipment; and exhibits
of Tasmanian animals and birds, with artefacts of the extinct Tasmanian
Aborigines.
Places to visit around Zeehan include Trial Harbour (20km - 12 miles),
Heemskirk Falls (19km - 12 miles), Granville Harbour (40km - 25 miles),
and the Lower Pieman Dam (50km - 31 miles). Both harbours are popular with
fishermen seeking crayfish and abalone.
Strahan
Situated on Macquarie Harbour, 36km (22 miles) south-west of Queenstown,
Strahan dates back to the convict days when it was a dreaded place. Many
of the convicts who were sent to Sarah Island in Macquarie Harbour found
life there was hell on earth, and death was seldom from natural causes.
The closure of many mines on the West Coast, and the building of the railway
line from Zeehan to Burnie led to the decline of Strahan, and today it
is a fishing port, holiday village, and a base for trips into the wilderness
area around the Gordon River. From Strahan you can take a flight on a sea
plane over the peaks of Frenchmans Cap National Park, majestic Lake Peddar,
the rapids and gorges of the Franklin River, and then land on the tranquil
Gordon River. For further information contact Wilderness Air, 6471 7280.
Another adventure is a half-day scenic cruise on a motor launch which will
take you from Macquarie Harbour to the Gordon River, pull into Heritage
Landing to walk through a rainforest on an elevated walkway to view a 2000-year-old
Huon Pine, and return to Strahan via the infamous Sarah Island and Hell's
Gates, the notorious entrance of Macquarie Harbour. For further information
contact Gordon River Cruises, 6471 4300.
The interesting Strahan Visitors Centre is on the Esplanade, 6471 7622,
and in addition to local tourist information they have details of the history
and heritage of the region.
Frenchman's Cap
The mountain is part of the Wild Rivers National Park, and the Lyell Highway
passes close to the northern edge of the park. There are several bushwalks
in the area. You can take a short walk to view the white quartz dome
of the Cap and look out over the Franklin River, or if you have more
time, you can walk right into the rainforest.For more information, contact
the Parks & Wildlife Service in Queens-town, (03) 6471 2511.
