Driving further along the A10 towards Queenstown we made several stops and short walks towards river streams and a waterfall. Queenstown is an old mining town surrounded by mountains. These contained deposits of copper and traces of silver and gold. The mining boom of 1890 resulted in a frenzy of activity which caused deforestation of the surrounding hills. The air in those days was also unbreathable. The last mining activity stopped in 2014. Now the town tries to attract tourists. It has a tourist heritage stream train climbing from here to the summit of Rinadeena and also has developed mountain bike tracks through the surrounding forests. We are parked next to the gravel oval for Australian rugby. When we arrived, there was a game on (mixed group of children under 12) running around and getting dirty on the wet and muddy field.

To get a better idea of the history of Queenstown we visited the local museum. It is in one of the many old hotel buildings left over from the mining past. It shows how life in this mining town developed over the years The open pit copper mine is closed and the pit is under water. To extract the deeper ore mining continued underground. After 2 fatal accidents in 2013 the mine was closed down. That had a severe impact on the local population who were dependent on the mine. Ever since then there were talks of reopening the mine by the new owners. The underground works moth-bold are kept dry. 
 
A 40 km railway connection was built through the mountains to the West Coast at Strahan. To get over the mountain a rack and pinion system. Was used There is a historical train still doing the trip. Unfortunately, we could not get tickets. Instead, we drove to the harbor in Strahan and visited the station there.