Just a short drive today to Sandstone, yet another little town which was originally built on gold. The Sandstone residents were smart enough in the late 1920's to see that supporting the sheep farming industry was a smarter way to go so they survived unlike dozens of other ghost towns around here. Now they are just hanging in and down to to about 120 residents in the entire Shire, which covers a vast area.
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| Spacious campground at Sandstone |
There is an excellent campsite, with power and water, run by the Shire council and this undoubtedly encourages travellers to stay in the area a day or two longer. The campsite has plenty of red dirt but there are a couple of areas of verdant lawn and flowering plants, which are watered twice a day.
We had a look at the old Catholic church. This was restored in 1995, renamed Black Range chapel and made non denominational. There are lovely [modern] stained glass windows and original pressed metal walls and ceilings.
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| St Athanasius 1908 [now Black Range Chapel] |
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| Chapel interior |
We had a wander into the back streets, now devoid of any buildings and found the golf course. The tee off area and 'greens' are red dust mixed with oil to make a firmer surface which is less likely to blow away. The fairways are just red dust and all around is as flat as can be! The 'green' in the photograph was conveniently situated at the end of the airstrip runway so presumably if the the Flying Doctor arrives you have to get out of the way.
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| 'Green' at the end of the airstrip |
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