It seems that every western town has spent time and money in developing beautiful walkways for people to exercise and/or stroll at leisure and enjoy nature. Hughenden is no different. This morning I walked along its walkway by the Flinders River and enjoyed the sunrise, the birds, the many works of art and the memorials to local pioneers.

Then it was eastward bound on the Flinders Highway. Just outside Hughenden we took a short side trip up to Mt Walker where we were treated to 360 degree views of the surrounding countryside. It was so peaceful up there without another soul, looking over plains brushed green with recent rains.

We hardly passed any vehicles on the road to Torrens Creek, a tiny township about an hour and a half outside Charters Towers. My great-great grandfather, one Thomas McNeill, was somewhat of a local hero in this area. In 1913 while working as a linesman at Torrens Creek, a great flood washed away the rail bridge. Tom desperately signaled the night train to stop and saved the passengers, but he was washed downstream and his body was not found for four months. He was buried in the cemetery here, leaving his distraught wife and seven children.

We found the well-kept cemetery where he was buried, in an isolated field near the river. Just inside the gate was the plaque laid by his descendants at a McNeill family reunion in 2002. Other gravestones told tales of that era about babies and young children and young adults lost too early to the hardships of that time.

We made it to Charters Towers in the early afternoon and booked into an old heritage listed hotel that had us stepping back in time. The rooms are huge, the ceilings high, the floorboards creak, the furniture is from another era and the host is very warm and welcoming. Tonight we will be sleeping in a four poster bed while the ghosts of this gold mining town haunt the hallways and rooms about us. The air is thick with history that begs to be explored and we are looking forward to spending a few days here doing just that.