Week 27/52 - Cue, Queen of the Murchison

Hi everyone, and welcome to week 27 of our 52 week Tour Downunder Western Australia.

This week we drive east of Yalgoo to the Great Northern Highway and then north to Cue - Queen of the Murchison.

Gold was first found in Cue on New Years Day 1892 by Mick Fitzgerald. The alluvial patch became the scene of a huge gold rush, coinciding with the gold mining boom of the 1890's and early 1900's throughout Western Australia.

Cue is now a living example of the past and present, and is well worth the time to visit.
Cue's heritage trail retraces the early development of the district and its role in the gold-mining era, including many buildings constructed at the turn of the century - Cue's rich history has been preserved in these magnificent buildings.

This is the Cue government buildings, with the town clock and post office, located in the centre of Cue on the Great Northern Highway. Built in 1896, these buildings were made of locally quarried limestone slabs and were designed to house the offices of a number of government departments such as the Wardens Court, Post Office and Police Station.

From Life Images by Jill

This is the former "Gentleman's Club" (restored in 1986) - now the Cue Shire Offices and Visitor Information Centre.

From Life Images by Jill

This is the Great Fingall Mine Offices at Day Dawn mine, built by Italian stonemasons in 1902. There is an open cut mine behind this building, although the mine closed in 1918, after being the premier gold mine in WA at the time.

From Life Images by Jill

And the old hospital ruins. The first doctor in Cue, Dr Monteath, was appointed in 1892. Assisted by his wife, he worked under a canvas and bough shed until the hospital was built in 1895 from local stone. The hospital closed in 1942 and now only a few ruins remain.

From Life Images by Jill

here are a few more photos from around Cue - where we are going to camp tonight - next to Lake Nannine just north of Cue where you can free camp overnight.

From Life Images by Jill

You have seen a field of pink everylastings, a field of yellow everlastings, now here is a field of white everlastings -

From Life Images by Jill

And a closer view -

From Wildflowers

And an emu we spotted by the roadside -

From Life Images by Jill

Here is another photo from Cue - I have fiddled with this one a bit in Photoshop Elements to give it a different look - not something I do a lot of (as you can probably tell!)

This is the Masonic Lodge built in 1899 of timer and corrugated galvanised iron, with a pressed iron interior. Corrugated iron was used extensively in the goldfields during this time as it was easily transported by camels. Very few buildings of this type remain in Australia.

From Life Images by Jill