Ok I have published Part 6B on its own as it didn’t get many views. I personally think this has better pictures than Part 6A so here it is. Sorry if you already looked at it.
Ok so after the cemetery stop off we headed into town a short distance down the road. Woods Point is an old gold mining town and is clinging to life somehow. There are still working gold mines in the area and it serves a surprising amount of local population (94 in the 2006 census) it even has a police station! It really needs one as its a long way to the nearest civilisation and on pretty rough gravel roads. Most importantly it has a pub which was the only place open on Saturday afternoon, not that there is many other shops here anyway.
Here is the only fuel outlet for a long way. Although it looks abandoned it still sells fuel. These days sales are shared between the General store (diesel) and the pub (unleaded). Not sure why that arrangement exists. TTB thinks it’s super here.
Ever wondered what a rim looks like after being driven on a gravel road without a tyre for who knows how long? Well you can stop wondering now. Not my cigarette butt, unfortunately I didn’t notice it until cropping the picture.
The town is built along the banks of the Goulburn River. There were some people making use of one of the towns attractions, a mini golf course.
TTB parked on the Main Street.
This old Wolsley was just beside the shed in the previous picture. Just meters from the road.
I suspect quite a few cars made a one way journey to Woods Point over the years.
There are some old relics of the gold mining from years gone by beside the road, no information plaques though.
Going by the number plate I’d safely say the International truck was built in 1945. ;)
There are a lot of these miners cottages still in use, many over 100 years old. They are made small as they were moved around to different sites sometimes. Some were dragged on skids by Bullock teams and others were easily dismantled and moved as flat packs. Not sure why they didn’t just put wheels on them?
Old FJ Land Crusier UTE!!
Another old truck parked just off the Main Street. Looks like this ex-Army truck might still run. You could have a fun time on the 4x4 tracks in the area in this.
TTB out front of the Commercial Hotel in Woods Point.
So it’s 4:30 in the afternoon on Saturday, beer o’clock. Talking with the publican it turns out we were only the second car to turn up for the day!
Inside the pub was all kinds of interesting paraphernalia. Unfortunately it was very dark and my phone camera didn’t work well in there. I did get the shot above and although it’s a rubbish picture I’ve included it as the stuffed bird is Australia’s largest bird of prey, the Wedge tailed eagle.
The beer garden outside had a lot of strange old things dotted around. I just got a couple of shots of the Austin A40, yet another one way traveller.
Ok so that’s pretty much Woods Point done. Time to head home, there’s still a few things to see on the way so off we go.
The next ‘town’ is Matlock. It’s really a few houses and no shops.
Some of the houses are visible on the hill in the distance. We didn’t stop there.
Just a little history of the area.
One of the views across the range on the way out.
More views...
180 deg Panoramic shot, TTB just to the right of centre.
Here’s an old underground Fire refuge/bunker. Theres no info on when it was made but judging by the plant growth around it it’s been there a long time.
The entrance leads into a corridor that has two 90 bends to reduce the chance of flames cooking the people inside. It was pitch black in there and I wasn’t able to get any pictures. It is an empty concrete room about the size of a large elevator. Probably squeeze 20 people in there, maybe more.
Looking out.
I had a mate tag along for the drive as he knows this area very well. In the winter months he is up here every weekend hunting Deer. Here he is entering another bunker further along the road.
Another vista across the Great Dividing Range.
We stopped briefly at the Reefton Hotel. Strange thing is it’s not actually in Reefton. During the gold rush it was moved from Reefton and was on the way to Warburton. When they got to the bridge at it wasn’t possible to get it across the bridge. It was moved to the side of the road and has been there ever since. I had trouble finding any info but have linked a local newspaper article from a few years back, it covers some brief history of the pub. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/…
The old wooden bridge is only used for pedestrians now but not for much longer by the looks of it.
A public telephone booth and Australia Post box, not sure if it’s of interest or not to overseas readers so I included it just I case.
This is another local landmark from the gold rush days. I’m told that Chinese gold miners got crafty and blasted a tunnel through a section of mountain that the Yarra River snaked it’s way around. The purpose of the tunnel was to redirect the flow of water exposing the river bed. This made retrieving the gold a lot easier and was a lucrative undertaking apparently. There is a smaller tunnel down stream known as the Little Peninsula Tunnel.
Steep stairs lead down the side of the hill to the river.
The tunnel exit is just visible in the rock face. People go through these tunnels in car inner tubes, kayaks and canoes.
Ok we finally made it. I hope you found this road trip interesting.
TTB says g’day.