Croydon – 30 September to 1 October 2010

We left Normanton following the Gulf Developmental Road, still the Savannah Way, east to Cairns. Our first stop was Croydon an old gold mining town, now a very pleasant overnight stop. The caravan park is on the site of the Lady Mary mine. Croydon takes its name from Croydon Downs Station where gold was discovered in a post hole in October 1885.  It grew into a busy township with shops open late into the night, but by 1925 the gold was gone and the town declined.

There was a very high mortality rate as with limited water it was hard to have proper hygiene and a lot of people succumbed to Gulf Fever, thought to be a form of typhoid. The town genealogist is Chris Weirman and can be contacted if you are pursuing family history in the area.

We visited the site of the Chinese Joss House which is an archaeological dig site and the Bing Chew house. The Chinese contribution to the gold fields is often overlooked but they were major suppliers of fresh fruit and vegetables being highly skilled at growing plants in difficult environments.

The heritage precinct has a number of well restored and curated buildings, including the courthouse and police station.

Croydon is the rail depot and destination for the Gulflander train, and a new station has been built in the style of the old station which succumbed to cyclones and termites.

We had dinner at the Club Hotel.  The current publican, a Dane, was an hotel keeper in Bougainville. We sat with him for dinner and had an interesting conversation. The meat was from a butcher in Normanton and was excellent. There were 122 liquor licenses issued in the town and this is the only Hotel remaining. It was also the first hotel built.