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Mike Dixon

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CHAPTER 11<br />

Footsie<br />

hey reached Cooktown in the late afternoon after<br />

T a rough ride over dirt roads. David was keen to<br />

find a camp ground. Tim wanted to show him the town. He<br />

had sobered up and was talking enthusiastically about the<br />

photographs in Tong Yee‟s journal, saying there had once<br />

been some fantastic buildings in the town. David couldn‟t<br />

see any. There were vacant lots where buildings had once<br />

stood and there were modern buildings but there was very<br />

little that looked like it went back to the 1890s.<br />

„What do you think happened to them?‟<br />

„Happened to what, mate?‟<br />

„The old buildings.‟<br />

„Got blown away!‟ Tim waved his arms. „A lot of tropical<br />

cyclones came through at the turn of the century and did<br />

a heap of damage. And there were some bad fires too.<br />

When the gold ran out there wasn‟t the money to repair<br />

them … but some of the best survived.‟<br />

He pointed to an old pub.<br />

„There‟s one. Pull over so we can get a look.‟<br />

86

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