GEORGETOWN QLD.

Georgetown in the gulf of Carpenteria is a quiet town these days with tourists passing through in the cooler months and large cattle stations surrounding the town, but it was once the site of a gold rush and played an important part with an overland telegraph station that provided crucial information to Cape York especially during critical times like WW11. I’ve stayed in Georgetown a few times and found it a great base to setup and explore the surrounding area.

The Ewamian people have called this place home since dream-time and their area covers an impressive 2.9 million hectares which they now have native title over. Covering open plains, ruggered mountain areas due to volcanic activity the area has a rich and diverse landscape.

Europeans came through the area as early as 1850 and when gold was found a few years later, there was an influx of nearly 3,000 people looking for their fortune. A town was set up by 1869 with plenty of hotels, a post office, schools and police station. Unfortunately the gold was short-lived back then and prospectors moved further north to the Palmer River gold fields in Cape York. It was generally known as a ‘lazy mans’ gold field as most gold was found on top of the ground.

Move on to today and many tourists make Georgetown their midway stop over as they travel the Savannah Way and to explore this amazing area. The local information centre, also known as the TerrEstrial centre has a collection of over 4,500 minerals displayed inside which belong to Ted Elliott who has collected these minerals and gems from all around the world.

They also have pastoral and early history displays plus a fascination section on the local Ewamian people. Around town there’s a river walk highlighting local trees and a viewing platform when the river is in flood. Just near the local park, an old gold stamper is bolted to the ground where it was used back in the late 1800’s.

In South Street, an unusual building called the Antbed house which was build by using bricks that used materials from termite mounds, now in a restoration stage.

On the outskirts of town there’s a large Kapok seed pod as an art display which is Georgetown's local tree. Known to the local Ewamian people where they used it to make carvings, coffins and dugout canoes from.

To the west of Georgetown there’s the old Cumberland gold mine site which was in operation for just under 10 years finally closing in 1897 due to hardships, today a lone chimney stands as a silent reminder as to what used to be. Here at the Cumberland mine site, there’s free camping beside a dam which was built for the towns water supply in the late 1800’s. With a huge viewing deck its a beautiful place to watch the bird-life, even in the drier times. In the camping area there are bins, information boards for an insight into the mines history and more.

When gold was found in Georgetown it opened up several new areas to the south that included the little town of Forsyth and further east, Einasleigh. These two towns survived a little longer than Georgetown as a rail line was built to move mine material back up to Chillagoe for processing. Today the line is used by the Savannahlander tourist train company for tourism which attracts thousands of visitors a year.

Einasleigh once had a large working copper mine but since closure the only surviving building in town is the local hotel, but across the road is the stunning Copperfield Gorge with amazing rock formations created over millions of years.

Probably the most visited tourist location in the area would be Cobbold Gorge where incredible geological formations have created narrow rivers through rock gorges. Created just 1,700 years ago these gorges have walls up to 30 meters high and where visitors can jump on a guided tour to hear just how they formed and how significant they are.

From the outside, Georgetown may just seem like a sleepy little town but its what’s in the surrounding area that has many visitors come back year after year. There are station stays and plenty of areas where the die hard rock and gold fossickers can explore and dig to their hearts content. It’s definitely worth a stop for a few days. 

WHERE IS GEORGETOWN

Georgetown is situated on the Gulf Developmental Road which links Cairns 380km to the east and Normanton 300km to the west and is located on the Etheridge River.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO

Georgetown is a great place to set up base for a few days to explore surrounding natural highlights, local history or to try your hand at fossicking. To the south there's the stunning Cobbold and Copperfield Gorge, local town of Forsyth or the lone pub at Einasleigh. The Georgetown Information Centre is the one stop place for all travel information throughout the area.