Richmond QLD

About Richmond

Richmond is a small outback town, located halfway between Townsville and Mount Isa, which is essentially a service centre for the surrounding sheep and beef pastoral community. Characterised by a wide main street (Goldring Street) it is enhanced by its median strip gardens of bougainvilleas, native trees and shrubs. The town’s main attraction is Kronosaurus Korner – the town’s marine fossil museum – which vividly reminds the visitor that over 100 million years ago this vast, flat area was an inland sea teeming with primitive wildlife (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

The road trip

Our trip from Charters Towers, heading west, to Richmond (maplink) was one of the bumpiest ones yet. We couldn’t believe how much we bounced along the road – had to slow down to 80km/hr at some points.

We pulled into the Lakeview Caravan Park for 3 nights, which was really nice but everyone is packed in “real tight” (maplink).

A walk around Fred Tritton Lake (next to the caravan park) followed by drinks up at the barby shelter afterward was a great way to end the 1st day.

A look around this lovely and very tidy town showed up some gems, one of which was the Cambridge Store, a restored store from the 1800’s. Another was the stockman statue out front of the Council offices.

Sunrise over Fred Tritton Lake was stunning. Check out these shots…

Kronosaurus Corner

A major attraction in the town of Richmond is the Kronosaurus Corner at the visitors centre. This is a fantastic exhibition of marine fossils and a “must do” if you’re ever in this neck of the woods. There is so much to learn here and the centre provides you with hand-held audio guides which explain each of the exhibits to you.

Penny the Plesiosaur exhibit is totally incredible as it is one of the near complete fossils ever found intact by Mr Ian Ievers in 1989 on Marathon Station near Richmond, while feeding cattle near the homestead.

We were so inspired by the fossil displays at Kronosaurus Corner that we purchased a “fossil fossicking” permit and headed out to one of the fossil locations to try our luck at finding something special but came away with nothing but the dust on our clothes (LOL).

Summing up…

• Accommodation – Lakeview Caravan Park is in a great location but the sites are pretty close together
  • Cost per night – $26.00 (@ 19-Aug-2020)
  • Facilities – Bit old & dated but clean
  • CP Location – Great location with views over the lake (maplink)
  • Our rating/score – 7/10
• Was it a nice town to visit? – yes – a very neat & tidy town
  • Activities & places of interest – Kronosaurus Corner is the highlight
  • Tourist info centre? – 91-93 Goldring St, Richmond (website)
  • Would we return? – Only if passing through the area
  • Overall Score – 7/10
• Summary – Enjoyed our stay. Happy hour drinks under the rotunda was great