> THINGS TO DO & SEE 1 DAINTREE ST 8 AIRPORT 5KM 1. JOHN FLYNN PLACE M 10 POOL M ERNEST HENRY MINE 38KM M 2. CLONCURRY / MARY KATHLEEN T HENSLEY DR H 9 11 KING ST H MEMORIAL PARK COMPLEX & SCARR ST CLONCURRY UNEARTHED MUSEUM SM H SM 3. CLONCURRY CEMETERY 4. CLONCURRY’S FIRST CEMETERY > MATILDA HIGHWAY 4 5. CHINESE CEMETERY < QUAMBY 43KM SIR HUDSON FYSH DR 3 6. ROTARY LOOKOUT Mount BURKE & WILLS Isa ROADHOUSE 177KM 7. CHINAMAN CREEK DAM 119KM BURKE DEV RD 8. RACE COURSE BARKLY HIGHWAY 9. POST OFFICE SHEAFFE ST HENRY ST RAILWAY ST RAILWAY 10. COURT HOUSE 6 HOSPITAL 11. COMMUNITY PRECINCT 5 MUSGRAVE ST M C H $ P H M P P M UTILITIES RAMSAY ST FLINDERS HIGHWAY McILWRAITH ST H > HOTEL 7 M 2 $ P M C JULIA M > MOTEL CREEK i 2 T 137KM C > CARAVAN PARK INFORMATION WINTON P > PETROL STATION SHEAFFE ST CENTRE POWERHOUSE RD > T > PUBLIC TOILETS PHILLIPS ST $ > BANK / ATM C P SM > SUPERMARKET the friendly Heart of outback Queensland for more information CLONCURRY VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE Flinders Highway / McIlwraith Street / Cloncurry, QLD 4824 Phone / Fax (07) 4742 1361 / Email: info@ cloncurry.qld.gov.au / www.cloncurry.qld.gov.au Cloncurry Visitor Information Centre is open from 8.00am to 4.30pm on weekdays and on weekends from May to September from 9.00am to 3.00pm. Design:Through The Looking Glass Studio, Photography:Through The Looking Glass Studio & Cloncurry Shire Council This brochure was developed by Cloncurry Shire Council in partnership with Ernest Henry Mining. Cloncurry Shire Council Administration Office 19-21 Scarr Street, Postal Address: PO Box 3, Cloncurry Qld 4824 Office Hours: 8.30am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday Phone: (07) 4742 4100 / Fax: (07) 4742 1712 Email: [email protected] www.cloncurry.qld.gov.au tourist drives: cairns it is with great pleasure that we extend a very warm welcome to you. It is hoped that the following Karumba information will assist you and make your stay even more enjoyable. norMANTON Cloncurry is steeped in a history of pioneers forging the way for future inland families. The dedication to the spirit and strength of the outback way has been burKe & wills passed through the generations to the present day roadHouse townsville local. You need to only spend a small amount of time in our town, to realise that we really are “The Friendly Heart of Outback Queensland”. Enjoy your stay and should you require further information please do not mOUNT hesitate to ask the Cloncurry Visitor Information isa Centre for any further assistance. dajarra winton content boulia How to get there & away..................2 longreacH barCALDINE rockhampton History....................................3 Things to see & do........................4 Surrounding Areas.......................10 Interesting Facts.........................12 birdsville Local Attractions.......................13 cHarleville Sleep & Eat..............................16 Services & Community Directory.........18 MOBILE pHONE COVERAGE brisbane Please check with your mobile phone supplier to see if your phone will Events...................................20 work in Outback Areas. Road Safety.............................21 Best Coverage – Telstra Next G (blue ticked phones for Rural areas) Next Best - Telstra Next G (not blue ticked) and Optus Digital NOTE: · Vodaphone does not work in this area. · Services are limited when travelling between towns. 200 metres above sea level, geographically this The railway reached Cloncurry in 1907 (opened land was the home of the Mitakoodi & the warlike officially in 1908) and remains an important railway Kalkadoons, the original inhabitants of the area. town. Cloncurry Unearthed Museum or John Flynn Place will open the eye of any budding historian to the In 1861 Burke and Wills with King and Gray, were richness of Cloncurry’s history. the first known Europeans to come into the area on their ill-fated expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Over the years Cloncurry has been the focal point for Burke named the river “Cloncurry” for his cousin, Lady much of Australia’s greatest innovations. Cloncurry Elizabeth Cloncurry of County Galway in Ireland. In was involved with the beginnings of QANTAS, and May 1867, Ernest Henry (honoured as founder of the the original QANTAS Hangar is still in use at the town and the vast mineral wealth of the district), aerodrome, where “Queensland and Northern Territory came this way searching for grazing land, instead Aerial Service” is still displayed above the hangar door. he discovered copper and named his find the Great Australia Mine. The town was surveyed in 1876 and named after the river. The Great Australia Mine still exists today as a working icon of Cloncurry’s prosperous past and present. Impressive finds from the region and examples of local mineral and gems are showcased annually at the Rockhana ‘Gem and Mineral Festival’. The airport was also on route for early planes coming The pastoral industry owes its humble beginnings to from overseas and a stopping place for contestants Road aiR TRavel three noted pioneers of the 1860’s – Ernest Henry, in the great air races of 1919 and 1934. During the Cloncurry is situated on the Overlander’s Way, Cloncurry Airport, Sir Hudson Fysh Drive Roger Sheaffe and Alexander Kennedy. Between Second World War, Cloncurry was the site of a major 770km west of Townsville and 119km east of P (07) 4742 1235, Qantas 13 13 13 them they owned many thousands of acres stocking United States of America Air Base. Mount Isa. The Barkly Highway is a sealed, double Although QANTAS is the only commercial airline sheep and cattle. In the 1860’s, 71% of Queensland’s It was in Cloncurry that the Royal Flying Doctor Service lane highway accessible to all vehicles during the that flies regularly into Cloncurry, the nearby revenue was derived from the Pastoral Industry with was established in 1928. Flynn’s choice of Cloncurry dry season. If travelling on unsealed roads, please Mount Isa airport caters for a broad range of the rural sector also providing 94% of Queensland’s was based on its proximity to the mining camps and check at the Cloncurry Visitor Information Centre regional airlines, and has rental vehicles available. exports. As the decades passed Cloncurry had the for road conditions. There is a bus link from Mount Isa to Cloncurry and largest cattle selling yards in the North-West region. scattered pastoralists, all of whom were poorly served call 13 19 40 for 24 hour reports or visit a Cloncurry Airport Shuttle by prior arrangement. The selling yards are now mainly used for tick dipping by any kind of medical services. At a time when his www.131940.qld.gov.au to access Road Closures. Qantas Airways (including Qantaslink) and or placing stock onto rail carriages and road trains. ideas seemed wild and revolutionary, he developed a It is especially important to regularly check during 1800 613 84, www.qantas.com.au The weekly cattle sales have now being taken over by scheme which combined aircraft, radios and medicine the wet season as conditions can change rapidly. computer and paddock sales. to provide a mantle of safety for inland people. Rail Cloncurry is a rural town, which continues to derive its TRansport neTwoRk Queensland Rail offers twice weekly rail service main income from the mining and pastoral industries. Cloncurry is at the junction of the Landsborough/ (Operates between Townsville-Cloncurry- Mount Burke Developmental Road/Matilda Highway Isa) Hutchinson Parade (07) 4742 4227 or 13 16 72 (North/South link) and Flinders/Barkly Highway/ www.traveltrain.com.au QuicK fact Overlander’s Way (East/West link). Cloncurry is host to many major events throughout the year. The GReyhound Bus seRvice Cloncurry Stockman’s Challenge and Campdraft was the first festival Greyhound Coach Service stops in and out of its kind in Australia and is one of the biggest with men and women of Cloncurry twice daily seven days a week at from across the country participating in a variety of horse events. The Cloncurry Travel Agencies, Ramsay Street and Curry Merry Muster Festival is another favourite with street parades, live BP Roadhouse. music and possibly the most competitive rodeo competition in Australia! www.greyhound.com.au, Call Centre 1300 473 946 2 3 cloncurrY uneartHed A visit through this museum and you’ll learn more about the area and see memorabilia on Cloncurry and the district. See the waterbottle of explorer Robert O’Hara Burke, photographs, history and the Founders Medal of the Royal Geographical Society struck in 1862. This Medal was awarded to Robert O’Hara Burke to commemorate the expedition. The medal was presented to his family in 1967 when Cloncurry gem collection is ranked by experts as one of the celebrated its Centenary, and has been on display in most comprehensive in Australia and a must see. the Museum since 1985. This museum is being relocated to a new and improved History and photographs of Ernest Henry and the museum space which is currently under construction Great Australia Mine are amongst the displays. and due to be re-opened in November 2012. CLONCURRY / marY KatHleen memorial Information and memorabilia can be found on local Address: McIlwraith Street (Flinders Highway) parK complex and surrounding towns, including Mary Kathleen (a Phone/Fax: (07) 4742 1361 The Park Complex is located just off the main high- in the early part of the 20th Century); the building former uranium mining town), Indigenous artefacts, Email: [email protected] way (left side from Julia Creek/Winton) with ample was moved and renovated again for use as a Police archaeological items and the museums’ mineral and Web: www.cloncurry.qld.gov.au parking for cars, caravans and motorhomes. This is Station at the township of Mary Kathleen.