Mount Surprise Hotel

Mount Surprise (including Einasleigh and Forsayth)
Small township which is little more than a pub and a few houses.
Mount Surprise is a tiny settlement (no more than a pub, a couple of cafes, a railway station and a service station) located 319 km south-west of Cairns and 393 km east of Normanton on the Gulf Development Road. It is 453 m above sea-level and its annual rainfall is 802 mm. Its current industries include cattle, tin mining and gemstones.

The town was first settled by Ezra Firth. He was born in Yorkshire in 1823 and emigrated to Australia in 1849 leaving his wife and children in England with a promise to return. He sailed to Australia and worked in Geelong before moving to the goldfields at Ballarat where he made a small fortune. He returned to England in 1851 and brought his wife and children back to Australia with him. In 1856 he moved to Moreton Bay and, in 1861, north again to the upper reaches of the Burdekin River. However, he was informed that he had squatted on the Valley of Lagoon property belonging to Arthur Scott. Once again the family packed their belongings and moved north. In 1864 Firth took up 300 sq. miles of country which he called Mount Surprise.

In North Queensland Pioneers Jane Black wrote of the Firth's arrival in the area: 'It was there at the foot of the mountain that the blacks were surprised in the middle of a feast by the rattle of the dray on the basalt and the sight of white people. They fled into the scrub on the mountain. That night small fires were seen all over the mountain, and that is how Mount Surprise got its name.'

The Aborigines resisted the white invasion of their land and it was commonplace for Firth's shepherds to be attacked. The homestead was built with rifle slits in the walls. Eventually the Aborigines burnt the homestead to the ground. Firth replied with reprisals.

Life for Firth was hard. Apart from the constant attacks from the Aborigines the land was unsuitable for sheep and wool prices were low. He was near bankruptcy when the goldrushes to the Gilbert, Palmer and Etheridge Rivers saved him. The sheep were sold to the miners and Firth converted Mount Surprise to cattle.

In 1872 William Hann's expedition passed through the area. At the time Firth's property was the most northerly outpost of white settlement in north Queensland. The gold discoveries led to a path running beside the homestead and Firth became rich selling goods and supplies to the miners. It is said that the miners paid for beef with nuggets of gold.

Progress in the area was still slow. In 1908 the railway arrived in Mount Surprise. The inevitable Railway Hotel once stood where the town's solitary hotel, the Mount Surprise Hotel, now stands.

Things to see:  

The Area Around Mt Surprise
The area around the Mount Surprise has some of Queensland's most interesting and unusual natural features.

Forty Mile Scrub National Park
Situated 66 km to the east this is a most unassuming area with only small signs on the side of the road indicating that it is anything special. There are no roads into the park and no signs to clarify why the area has been declared national park. The first indication that the traveller gets is an awareness that the vegetation on either side of the road has changed. There is a density and richness which is not characteristic of the region.

Forty Mile Scrub National Park is a relic of an ancient rainforest which has remained virtually untouched for millions of years. It has a bewilderingly rich variety of flora species - some say the greatest concentration anywhere in Australia - and it is an area which is used to support the theory of continental drift. The rainforest has parallels with similar rainforests in India and Burma suggesting that, at one time, the Australian and Asian continents were linked and that over millions of years they have gradually drifted apart.

Undara Lava Tubes
See the entry on Undara for details. Historically Mount Surprise was the starting point for people wanting to visit the lava tubes. Now they are operated independently from an area near the Tubes.

Tallaroo Station Hot Springs
A recent addition to the interesting places around Mount Surprise is the Tallaroo Station Hot Springs. Located 38 km west of Mount Surprise the station is open to the public from April to September. The hot springs exist in a strange five-terraced sequence which rises from deep inside the earth and bubbles up in the Einasleigh River. There are also conducted tours of the station. The springs are open from 8-5 seven days a week between Easter and the end of September. Contact (07) 4062 3021.

O'Brien's Creek Gemfields
This noted topaz field is 42 km north-west of Mount Surprise.

The Savannahlander
This train departs from Mount Surprise twice weekly (every Monday and Thursday at 12.30) and will take you the 120 km south-west through Einasleigh to Forsayth, two very small old mining towns. The trip is interesting but slow (five hours!). It is possible to drive to these two villages but the roads are unsealed, bumpy and poorly signposted. It is possible in an ordinary car but be sure you have either good maps or good directions, or both.

Cobbold Gorge
45 km south of Forsayth is a very pleasant swimming hole, surrounded by cliffs, gorges and, not surprisingly, plenty of animals that know a good thing when they see it. There is a camping village with facilities which conducts tours of the gorge starting either from the campground or from Forsayth, tel: (07) 4062 5470.

Agate Creek Gemfields
75 km south-west of Forsayth the fields are accessible by car though, again, the roads are poor if passable in the dry season.

	Hotels
	Mount Surprise Hotel Garland St Mount Surprise QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4062 3118
	Lodges & Chalets
	Undara Lava Lodge & Camping Ground Gulf Development Rd Mount Surprise QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4097 1411, 1800 990 992 Facsimile: (07) 4097 1450 Rating: ****
	Caravan Parks
	Bedrock Village Caravan Park Garnet St Mount Surprise QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4062 3193 Rating: ***
	BP Roadhouse Tourist Park Garland St Mount Surprise QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4062 3153 Rating: **1/2
	Restaurants
	Squatters Cavern Cafe Gulf Development Rd Mount Surprise QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4062 3162
	Undara Experience Resort Gulf Development Rd Mount Surprise QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4097 1411