We were still travelling along the Outlanders Way and the next stop was Julia Creek, a tiny town that felt hot and dusty. But we did find a nice spot to stop by a billabong just out of town where we could have a camp fire and catch up on some computer work. We had a visit from a cane toad which Paul was prepared to put in a bag and freeze to death (meant to be the kindest way)as they were mistakenly introduced to the Australian sugar cane fields to eat the beetles, but instead have become like vermin. But even so I could not let him kill the poor ugly creature...
We drove on towards Cloncurry and met an oncoming swarm of locusts, quite a sight. We had a long chat with a Road Train driver at a rest area who gave us another view on life. He was quite a character and drove cattle between stations and the market. He also bred Labradors and had three Harley Davidson motorbikes!
On we went to Cloncurry and booked into the Top Tourist camp site for 2 nights. I did a great tour of the Ernest Henry open copper mine the next morning and felt like I had entered the Land of the Giants. The mine runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The shifts are 12 hours on and 12 hours off, one week on and then one week off. Even the loaders that carry the rock out for processing cost millions of dollars each and a tyre replacement is $30,000. Amazing. We also visited a minerals museum and discovered that Cloncurry was the home of the first Flying Doctor service and Qantas first route. It also has the dubious honour of having the hottest temperature in Australia – about 54 degrees C, I think. Even though it is midwinter now, the temperature was 30 degrees!
On we went towards Mount Isa, but got a little side-tracked by a mining ghost town called Mary Kathleen. We drove off the main road for about 1.5kms into glorious countryside - full of white ghost gums and a huge assortment of birds and coloured parrots. The town itself has nearly disappeared as it was all auctioned off about 30 years ago. But the streets and foundations are still there. A great place to camp for the night and watch the sun go down.
The next morning we walked to the old Mary Kathleen disused mine. The water in the bottom of the pit was an amazing shade of blue because it had all the minerals leached into it. It was very tempting for a swim but too dangerous.
We reached Mount Isa on the last day of the famous Rodeo show – apparently the second biggest after Calgery! So every campsite and available spot was full of visitors, but we managed to grab a spot in the RSL overflow carpark! We has a steak burger (all that was on offer so we bent our “pescatarian” rules) and a lovely chat with Beth and Ron, a farming couple in the middle of an eight year drought. They were doing it tough on the farm. In general we didn’t like Mount Isa. It has the huge mine right in the town and is very industrial and polluted. It’s an interesting place to see, but not to stay for too long. We took the opportunity to get some jobs done and were happy to leave. One highlight was a visit to the old WW2 underground hospital along with equipment of the era. It was an eerie place and not one I would want to be recouperating in.
We drove on towards Camooweal, still along the Outlanders Way and spent the night just out of town in a rest area. Paul was happy to build a campfire, have a beer and chat to a Canadian traveller while I updated our Blog. Temperature is still very hot in the day, well over 30 degrees, so we look forward to the evenings and cooler night times.
We drove on towards Cloncurry and met an oncoming swarm of locusts, quite a sight. We had a long chat with a Road Train driver at a rest area who gave us another view on life. He was quite a character and drove cattle between stations and the market. He also bred Labradors and had three Harley Davidson motorbikes!
On we went to Cloncurry and booked into the Top Tourist camp site for 2 nights. I did a great tour of the Ernest Henry open copper mine the next morning and felt like I had entered the Land of the Giants. The mine runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The shifts are 12 hours on and 12 hours off, one week on and then one week off. Even the loaders that carry the rock out for processing cost millions of dollars each and a tyre replacement is $30,000. Amazing. We also visited a minerals museum and discovered that Cloncurry was the home of the first Flying Doctor service and Qantas first route. It also has the dubious honour of having the hottest temperature in Australia – about 54 degrees C, I think. Even though it is midwinter now, the temperature was 30 degrees!
On we went towards Mount Isa, but got a little side-tracked by a mining ghost town called Mary Kathleen. We drove off the main road for about 1.5kms into glorious countryside - full of white ghost gums and a huge assortment of birds and coloured parrots. The town itself has nearly disappeared as it was all auctioned off about 30 years ago. But the streets and foundations are still there. A great place to camp for the night and watch the sun go down.
The next morning we walked to the old Mary Kathleen disused mine. The water in the bottom of the pit was an amazing shade of blue because it had all the minerals leached into it. It was very tempting for a swim but too dangerous.
We reached Mount Isa on the last day of the famous Rodeo show – apparently the second biggest after Calgery! So every campsite and available spot was full of visitors, but we managed to grab a spot in the RSL overflow carpark! We has a steak burger (all that was on offer so we bent our “pescatarian” rules) and a lovely chat with Beth and Ron, a farming couple in the middle of an eight year drought. They were doing it tough on the farm. In general we didn’t like Mount Isa. It has the huge mine right in the town and is very industrial and polluted. It’s an interesting place to see, but not to stay for too long. We took the opportunity to get some jobs done and were happy to leave. One highlight was a visit to the old WW2 underground hospital along with equipment of the era. It was an eerie place and not one I would want to be recouperating in.
We drove on towards Camooweal, still along the Outlanders Way and spent the night just out of town in a rest area. Paul was happy to build a campfire, have a beer and chat to a Canadian traveller while I updated our Blog. Temperature is still very hot in the day, well over 30 degrees, so we look forward to the evenings and cooler night times.
Click below (open in new window) to see some photos:
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| 44 Cloncurry |
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| 45 Mary Kathleen |
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| 46 Mt isa |
