Outback Cemetery Stroll (Live Online)

May 22, 2022, 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM

On this 35-minute live, interactive, online virtual tour we’ll visit an outback cemetery in North Queensland. While still in use, most graves here are from the late 19th and early 20th century during Croydon’s gold rush years. The stories (known or inferred) about the people in this graveyard are a testament to the harsh and difficult conditions faced by those who came to chase their fortunes. The cemetery includes the graves of some of the Chinese immigrants who were drawn to gold fields. These headstones – Chinese characters carved into local sandstone – are especially evocative.

In the late 19th century, Croydon – some 500 kilometres inland from Cairns – was a diverse, bustling town surrounded by satellite gold mining townships. At least 7,000 people lived here. Some 23,675 kilograms (52, 194 pounds) of gold were mined from the fields here over a 35-year period. The gold is gone but heritage buildings and historic machinery remain. Croydon is now a tiny town on a popular tourist route, the Savannah Way.

This tour is being conducted by the Croydon Tourism Officer utilising the HeyGo.com platform.