Day 3 of our tour involved only a little bit of driving around Ravenswood and a quick run up to Mingela. We wanted to grab a photo for our collection and to tick off another Aussie pub in the Australian Bush Pubs book.
We were staying at the Railway Hotel and it was a quiet weekend with only one other couple alsop staying there. So the kitchen and bar area were deserted when we ventured downstairs to see about ordering breakfast.
As no one was around we walked down the road to the Imperial Hotel and breakfasted there instead. After that it was off to do some sightseeing.
Being an old gold mining town, there is some relics from its heyday when the mine was booming.
About 5 km north-east of Ravenswood is a milky quartz outcrop, locally known as White Blow.
After checking out these sites we hit the road for a short trip to Mingela pub. we wanted to grab a photo for our collection and to tick off another Aussie pub in the Australian Bush Pubs book.
Following the Ravenswood gold rush of 1869 it became a railway junction. In 1881 the township of Cunningham was surveyed in it became Ravenswood Junction in 1884.
When the railway line was closed in 1930, the name changed again to Mingela for the original Aboriginal place name of “Ming-illa”, meaning big waterhole.
Sadly Mingela has also seen better days, it’s not quite a ghost town. In 2020 it had an estimated population of 20.
After have a couple cold beers and getting the obligatory photos, it was time to head back to Ravenswood. For a light snack at the Imperial Hotel. We went to the Imperial to get a photo to add to the collection and tick off another one in the in the Australian Bush Pubs book.
After a couple of beers and our snack, we hit the road again to get some more photos of the Ravenswood surronds.
