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Friday 1st November - Clermont

Can you believe that in 54 days time it will be Christmas Eve. Now don't say you haven't been warned, so if you need to start thinking about Christmas then now is a good time. 20.2 last night and upto 37.2 today. Quite a warm one as it's hot and humid after last nights rain. Humidity today got to 97%.

So we are off for a drive around Clermont today. On the back of the caravan map, they tell you the touristy things to see around town. Well, excepting the drive out to Theresa Creek Dam, these other four sites can be done very quickly. While it is a small town, it's really quite quaint, has very large wide streets and is peaceful. It's certainly not as big as I was expecting as the main street is smaller than Monto, and that was just a country town.

First stop was the railway station and truck murals. These four murals each contain a green frog that can be found. Then off to the old Australia Post building, Hoods Lagoon and then to the piano up a tree. Yes, there is a piano up a tree as the photos show. From there it was a 15km drive out to Theresa Creek Dam. You can camp out here for a small fee but you need to be self contained as all there is are amenities blocks. On the way back we saw the Coppefield Chimney and the Copperfield General Store.

Clermont was established in 1862, after gold was discovered and is one of the oldest inland towns in Queensland. In 1916 there was a major flood where 65 people perished and the town was flooded. The marker shows the water height and the piano in the tree is actually a replica of one of three pianos that were found in trees after the flood. Copperfield was declared a Municipality in 1874, after copper was first discovered in 1861. This was to become the first mine in Queensland. At it's peak the town had over 2000 residents comprising of Australians, Chinese and Welsh nationalities. By 1895 this population had declined to 85 and the mine finally closed in 1907. All that remains of the town today is the chimney, store and cemetery. If you like fossicking for gem stones or gold there are over 900 square kilometres on the Sapphire Gemfields waiting to be explored. So ends todays' history lesson.

It's easy to see that the locals support the Adani Mine Project, as there are signs everywhere with 'Start Adani Now'.

I heard some music playing in the afternoon and then Clive comes in and asks me if I would like an ice cream. If was a truck like the Mr. Whippy, so we both had a vanilla and chocolate topping cup and also bought Ol' Mate one, the prospector fellow next door. He'd had better luck out there today and was very thankful, as he was tossing up whether to get one or not. I couldn't eat all of mine so it's going in the freezer for another day. What an enterprising idea, driving around the van park selling to people.




Clermont
Railway Station.


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No passenger
trains anymore.

Gai patiently
waiting.

Commercial
Hotel.


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Train
murals.

Can you find the
green frog?.


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Clermont
Post Office.


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Hoods
Lagoon.


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Very wide
streets.

1916 Flood
Memorial.


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Marker shows
water height.


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Piano up
a tree.


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Theresa Creek
Dam.


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Tractor on
a pole.


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Copperfield
Chimney.


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Copperfield
Store.


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Inside the
store.


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Pioneer
Park.

An old
Queenslander.

Curly-top
ice cream.

Gai enjoying
the ice cream.

Kangaroos in
the park.


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Sunset
.

Sulphur crested
cockatoo.


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Sunset
.


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