Today we checked out Batchelor – it didn’t take long. It’s a really neat, tidy, well-kept town with grassed parks, tall palms and shady trees. An aviation area was developed in 1933 and it became a heavy duty airstrip during WW2. General MacArthur’s bombing force was located here from December 1941. Thousands of troops were stationed here as well. It was a very strategic place during the war.
In 1949, uranium was discovered by Jack White so it became a mining town. The mine was closed in the 1970s.
We both remember learning about Rum Jungle when we were in primary school and also Humpty Doo. The Rum Jungle road was closed. If we had access to the internet, we would have done a bit more research.
Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education uses some of the old mining accommodation. Media Studies looks to be on offer as one area of learning. There’s a general store with post office, take away shop, petrol station, pool, bowling club, tennis courts and a bottle shop just after a sign that states alcohol free area (go figure that one out).
I remember the Butterfly House at Kuranda (near Cairns) that I visited last year; it was a magical place. With the Batchelor Butterfly Farm as an attraction, I was eagerly looking forward to a similar experience. Entering through the shop and restaurant was impressive. Sadly, the butterfly farm was disappointing. There were a few large butterflies that flittered and fluttered around and some smaller ones as well. A few of them were attracted to the feeding station that had fresh fruit and some other mixture. Being so close, we could see them extracting the nectar from the fruit. A couple of waterfalls also attracted some of the butterflies and a large one looked to be enjoying a shower as the water splashed over the plants down to the pond. It stayed there for almost 15 minutes.
Later in the afternoon back at the caravan park, Robert went for a walk to check out the area. He came back talking about the Finnis River just down the road. He was going to put in his crab/yabby nets but I was a bit worried about crocodiles so I think I’ve talked him out of it.
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