It's a good thing we didn't attempt the mine yesterday afternoon. We went in at 9.30 when they opened, and didn't come out until 12 noon. It was very interesting.

Apparently gold had first been found here in 1870, and the mine continued to produce until 1914. It was shut down then due to a combination of the war and the dropping price of gold - it was no longer feasible. So the whole site was covered with old buildings in various stages of disrepair.

Then in 1990 they decided to re-open it and go back into production. This continued until 2006 when there was a cave-in and three miners were caught underground. This had been big news, and we remembered following the story. They had all the details on display - all the newspapers and TV footage of the discovery and the meticulous rescue operation. It was great to relive the whole incident, especially since it had such a happy ending.

The mine never really went back to full production after that as there were worries about safety and union pressure etc. It eventually shut down in 2012, but I think they are making more money out of tourism than they ever made out of the gold.

Anyway, we then moved on the east side of the Tamar valley which we reached via the Bateman Bridge. This is the only point north of Launceston that the Tamar River can be crossed.

Headed off to George Town, which was advertised as Tasmania's oldest town. After the many historical towns we had seen - Ross, Richmond, Stanley, to name a few - we were expecting something similar. However the town looked decidedly modern.

We went to the museum, which was manned (womanned?) by a very enthusiastic volunteer, who held us as a captive audience for over an hour telling us the details of its history. Apparently this was the first site that was designated to be a town in Tassie, and it was well designed around a central town square which was the sport and leisure precinct. However the houses were built of very poor quality mud bricks, and had all disintegrated over time. The houses were then rebuilt in wood - and had all burnt down in a fire. Some were rebuilt in the late 1800s of brick, and there were a few survivors. However most had been rebuilt of red brick in the 1960s. These hadn't deteriorated, but they were so ugly they wished they would, and eventually demolished them. So now only a few old buildings remained, and the town looked decidedly modern.

After that we went to the Bass and Flinders Centre, which housed replicas of the old boats that had plied the Tamar River over the years. This was lovely to look at. There was a café at one end of the building, and it served as a sort of community centre. As we wandered around the boats, we heard the local choir rehearsing together. It made for a very pleasant back drop.

We then headed off to Low Head, a few kms north of George Town, as there was no free camping there. At Low Head there was a caravan park, but it had an area in the back for self contained vehicles which was quite cheap. At the entrance of the park were some amazing wooden carvings which had been commissioned by the owners. Went for a lovely walk along the beach in the evening.