Ayr and vicinity in Queensland Australia as seen by HomeBoy, Liz and Allan

<body bgcolor=#000000 text=#FFFFFF> <p align=center><font size=4>Frames must be enabled in your browser to properly view this page. If you are staying in Ayr, the old gold ghost town of Ravenwood is just a short drive away..if you are adventurous. The road meanders west of Home, a small sugar mill town south of Ayr. Going west you have to pay attention to the signs at the country road intersections or you will as lost as a Yank in winter. Since the only road is dirt and gravel..there are few bridges over the creeks so you have to go down the creek bank and back up the other side at sharp angles. On the way you are more than likely to find cattle lying in the road..so take it slow and easy. As you can see from the pictures of the gravel, some if it is as sharp as glass..and we know. We learned the hard way to take it easy crossing the creeks because that sharp gravel will cut a sidewall and leaving you walking if you don't have a spare or spares. When you are taking off cross country in the outback, carry two rather than one spare..cause chances are one won't be enough. There is a main hotel in Ravenwood, one of the few last remenents of the Gold Rush days. Seeing this horse roaming the main road through town brought the thought to mind that this was a one horse town. The hotel bar is original, complete with a hand carved bar. We had lunch there, eating out back, out of the hot west sun. The inside of the hotel is historic with the same beds and curtains that it had in the 1800s. I wonder what kind of deals were made in those rooms for women, claims and gold. Out the side window of the second floor is a view of another hotel, within easy rifle shot for a marksman. About all that is left of the mining is rusting mining equipment and smoke stacks and piles of crushed rock, called tailings. Men at work, eager for gold built shacks without worrying about if the wall or window was straight or plumb. Now days the post office is the center of commerce. Petrol is available north of town. If you are planning to fossick, beware of shotguns, saved for claim jumpers.</font></p><script type="text/javascript">  </script> <noscript> <img src=/cgi-bin/ax.cgi?trans.gif height=1 width=1 alt= /> </noscript>