Mystery Craters for sale: The intriguing Queensland business that is 25 million years old
How big a deal can some holes in the ground be?
A big deal, apparently, an entrance-fee worthy big deal, in fact – so long as there’s some mystery attached to them.
The creation of north Queensland’s Mystery Craters is the source of much speculation and the stuff of local legend.
The South Kolan site, about 350 kilometres north of Brisbane, is the subject of what current owner Ron Dodds describes as “tall but true tales”.
The Mystery Craters are well known in North Queensland. Photo: Supplied
The 32 open craters – three of them remain buried, but more on that later – are in his backyard and have proven a popular tourist attraction for the past four decades.
In 1971, the site was a crop farm and home to zucchini and potatoes. When the farmer wanted to extend the area, the plough he used to clear the field kept hitting rocks.
Investigating the rocks further, he found marine fossils which he passed on to his son, who was studying at university.
The son showed the fossil samples to his disbelieving geology professors, who set out on a research mission to the site. Intrigued, the geologists began digging and eventually uncovered a slab of sandstone with an ochre stain.
The craters have since been dated at around 25 million years old and most theories favour a meteor being the cause. Others attribute the craters to a hot spring, oceanic activity or even a visit from extraterrestrial creatures.
Hence the mystery, according to Mr Dodds.
“The geologists who visit there – and hundreds have come up here since the initial discovery – they won’t put it in writing because it’s so much of a controversy, so they say ‘let’s leave it a mystery’,” he explains.
The craters can be witnessed from a viewing platform with commentary in nine different languages. Photo: Supplied
Now Mr Dodds, who took over the property in 1998, has decided it’s time to sell.
At 79 years old, he says the business has served him well but it’s time to retire for his health.
“It’s not a fortune, it’s a lifestyle thing. You’re very comfortable. You’re not going to come up here and earn $3000 a week, but the lifestyle you get is worth that sacrifice,” he says.
“Some days you get nobody turn up, the next you get a group of 75. It fluctuates.”
Along with partner Lynn, he’s invested time and money into making the business a prominent tourist spot which has attracted the likes of naturalist David Attenborough and actor Ernie Dingo.
“I’ve planted a quarter of a million dollars in it,” he said. “There are plaques on the craters and commentary in nine different languages.”
“We’ve got staff on, all I have to do is fix a leaky tap now and again and mow the lawn.”
The site even includes a large-scale dinosaur model. Photo: Supplied
He thinks the business – which comes with the option of buying the adjoining three-bedroom house which is currently leased out – would suit a young family looking for a tree change.
“The business needs some fresh ideas – you get tired and stale after a while,” he says.
Along with the Mystery Craters, visitors to the site get access to an extensive old machinery collection, a rock and fossil archive, a foreign currency collection and even a large-scale dinosaur model.
The story behind the three covered craters?
They’re for the non-believers, according to Mr Dodds.
“Anyone who disputes their authenticity, I point to the buried craters as proof and ask them to explain it,” he says.
