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Chillagoe is an impressive combination of a relic copper mine, historic town, limestone caves, and Aboriginal rock paintings. It is located to the west of the Atherton Tableland and, although once a thriving mining town, is now little more than the ruins of its industrial past combined with some small mining operations. Still, it is genuinely fascinating, isolated, and exotic. Chillagoe is located 1,846 km northwest of Brisbane, 144 km west of Mareeba, 205 km west of Cairns, and 352 meters above sea level. Chillagoe-Mungana National Park The limestone in the area is the product of an unusual uplift of sediments (including coral) that were deposited in the ocean off the edge of the Australian continent about 400 million years ago. The sea level rose, the continental shelf moved east, and then, about 360 million years ago the sediments were compressed and uplifted. Source: www.aussietowns.com.au/town/chillagoe-qld

Although containing a wide variety of sedimentary rock types and basalt, the Chillagoe Formation is typified by limestone. In general the limestone is lime mud, variably recrystallised to marble. Locally it is fossiliferous with corals and stromatoporoids as well as megalodont bivalves, which are commonly in growth position. These and conodonts indicate that the formation is Silurian – Early Devonian (Telychian – Emsian). The Chillagoe area is noted for its spectacular landscape of jagged limestone towers and its extensive cave systems, many of which are protected within the Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park. The Royal Arch Cave is located about 5 km southwest of Chillagoe while the Donna, Pompeii, Bauhinia and Trezkinn caves are located 1.8 kilometres from the centre of town. Royal Arch, Donna and Trezkinn caves can be visited by guided tour only. Time will not permit us to visit these, but a short visit will be made to Balancing Rock. From the car park, 2.8 km from Chillagoe, a rough track climbs up the rock formation to view the spectacular limestone tower karst and the surrounding landscape of open woodland. Balancing Rock is an isolated limestone pillar, and in addition, the limestone shows many other features characteristic of karst, such as fluting (rillenkarren) and joints accentuated by solution (grikes). The Wallumba Aboriginal art site near Balancing Rock has viewing access provided by a boardwalk. Source: "North Queensland: 1700 million years of Earth history on the Proterozoic-Phanerozoic Margin of Eastern Australia", by Ian Withnell & Bob Henders, 2012 researchonline.jcu.edu.au/24850/2/24850_Withnall_and_Hend...

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called NASA - Public Domain, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

What a crazy looking house! So cool.

Plantation meets gothic.... interesting combination for a house

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called historic porch gingerbread & scrollwork, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.

What a fantastic place! I wonder how long it stood there, and who owned it. The gingerbread trim with the laundry hanging about, and the boarded up window upstairs, is an interesting combination visually and says much about their lives.

Beautiful detail in this photo.

Hook Island is one of the 74 Islands in the Whitsunday Island chain, located off the east coast of Queensland in Australia. The Whitsundays Islands are known as being the home of Whitehaven Beach, Hill Inlet Lookout, and many coral reefs, as well as their many beautiful islands. The islands are a popular tourist destination, bringing in people from all over the world to explore, sail and relax. Hook Island itself is known for its amazing snorkeling and picturesque bays where you will often find boats anchored and people enjoying the warm waters. Off the shores of Hook Island, you will discover famous reefs at Maureen's Cove, Luncheon Bay, Butterfly Bay, and Manta Ray Bay, which are all known for their diverse corals, and colorful marine life, and calm waters. The sheltered bays offer an ideal anchorage place, with many boats mooring there for the night for a calm overnight stay. A popular tourist destination, Hook Island was settled in 1910 and became part of the national park in 1936, whereupon it eventually became home to the Hook Island Wilderness Resort. Hook Island is 58 square kilometres and is now only inhabited by one person who is the caretaker of Wilderness Resort, which still remains as the only habitation on the island. Long since closed, the resort was once one of the most affordable island accommodation in the Whitsundays, but is now a cluster of dilapidated buildings. It was also home to an underwater observatory, which was a big draw to the island resort when it was open and was once considered to be "the greatest tourist drawcard ever to be established in the Whitsunday area." It offered guests the chance to see the underwater world up close, with fish and corals seemingly within reach as they descended to the ocean floor. The observatory consisted of an above sea level section and an underwater section that was ideal for viewing corals and marine life and was enclosed by concrete and glass. When the observatory was originally constructed in 1965 over 200 cars were sunk in the area to encourage coral growth and provide a habitat for fish, making it a diverse marine landscape in later years. While it was once the main attraction, the observatory was closed in 2009 after the submarine viewing chamber was found to have insufficient ventilation. Hook Island remains one of the top places to visit in the Whitsundays, but currently, visitors generally stick to the reefs around the island, Marcona Inlet or Nara Inlet, enjoying the beauty that the waters and the underwater world have to offer. Source: sailing-whitsundays.com/article/hook-island-in-the-whitsu...

Butterfly Bay is on the north side of Hook Island and is the deepest indentation of all of the bays that make up the top of the island so is the most protected. You need good light to enter to see the reefs that crowd the bay. At low tide, it is only the mooring basin that has any water as all the sides of the bay dry out! There are several Marine National Park Moorings here and you need to use them. This is a beautiful spot with mountains surrounding the anchorage and there is fairly good snorkeling on the outer edges of the bay. It is better around the corner to the east however such as in Maureen Cove and Manta Bay. Daytrip boats take their guests to these bays to snorkel & scuba dive. Source: www.venturefarther.com/mapObject/MapObjectSharedInfo.acti...