This trip we where lucky enough to be able to camp at a shack in Linda to avoid the chaos of the long weekend so we could go and check out the Kelly Basin and surrounding area’s.
Mt McCall Track.
After arriving on Friday night setting up and enjoying a few beers we where keen to get out and start exploring so we were up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and ready to go.
This was a little worrying as we knew there where some spectacular views in store for the day that may be missed but there was way to much organising that went on behind the scene from Heidi and Dirk to get a key from Parks and Wildlife to get access to the Mt McCall track to put it off any longer, So we met with Parks in Queenstown got our vehicles Quarantined and we were off. First stop was the gate.
After getting to the car park we thought it would be silly not to walk down to the Franklin River after coming so far and at this stage we where all pretty happy about it.
The track started pretty steep following an old pipe line down a hill which wasn’t to bad until we came across the pegs and chain.
At the time we thought this might of only been for a short section but it lasted for a majority of the way down and where there wasn’t chain it was ladders disguised as stairs. The walking track is 530m long and drops nearly 280m to give an idea of how steep it is. Although this was Tourcher there were some good views along the way
This was pretty interesting as it gives an idea of how they ran the pipeline and the tram-line down this incredibly steep hill to from what I can gather start building.
Just before the knees where about to collapse we thankfully made it to the bottom and it was well worth the effort as the views were pretty good.
After dying and coming back to life a few times climbing back up the hill we had some lunch at the picnic area and then started the climb back out in the busses. Although the bottom of the track is pretty steep it isn’t much of a challenge in the dry so there weren’t many dramas on the way out.
Mt Huxley Track.
From here we decided to go and tackle the Mt Huxley track as it is rated hard on the Parks and wildlife site. Unless you have printed out directions or marked it on a GPS it is hard to follow as there are tracks going of in every direction. Like the Mt McCall track its hardness was slightly overrated this track although very steep in some areas would be classed as a medium in the dry but in the wet may be a different story. Once again though like everywhere in this area the views were great and it was well worth the drive.
After a massive day exploring we headed back to camp and then to the pub for a much-needed beer and meal.
Pillinger.
The next morning we where up early once again to go and check out the Kelly Basin (Pillinger) which is now a ghost town but once serviced up to 1000 people and was the only route to Queenstown for the Ore to be transferred from mines to ship. Unfortunately though the start of the track is closed because of an apparent landslide
It’s not until you get to the Bird River Bridge (which is where the car park should have been) that the history trail starts.
2 of the 3 boilers that were used. These boilers even in their day where a ticking time-bomb. The poms at the time sent us single riveted boilers when the standard was double riveted to stop or help prevent explosions when or if the boiler was ever let to run dry. Even back in those days the energy these would have created would have been impressive and would have no doubt flattened the surrounding area if it did ever explode. More info on Pillinger here.
As the walk was so far in we didn’t get the chance to have a look at West Pillinger which I have heard is just as impressive so we decided to save it for next time and make our way back out to the vehicles. By the time we got to about a km before the cars I think everyone was about ready to collapse but the thought of the beer in the fridges kept everyone going and we finally made it out after a 23km round trip of walking. From here anything involving walking was out of the question so it was vehicle only and Dirk found out the night before where the old township of Crotty was located so we thought we would go and try our luck but unfortunately there was just a little bit too much water in Lake Burbury to see it. So we went back to the shack and drank some more beer to numb the pain of the legs.
Mt Jukes Mines.
The next morning before we packed and headed for the hills we thought we would do yet another run back towards Lake Burbury and check out the Jukes Propriety Mines located near the lookout and we where quite surprised at what we found these mines where in great condition and very well-preserved.
Until Next time Happy Travels
Cheers
Tassietravelsblog.
Full Video here.