Mount Isa Part 1

From the idyllic surroundings of Diamantina we headed North West . The concern about what became  Cyclone Debbie was increasing as we sped along. We spent a peaceful and uneventful one night stay in Boulia which holds a rodeo and camp muster on Easter Weekend then pressed on to Mount Isa. We chose Mount Isa as it has black top (tarmac) routes in and out which is important when you are pulling a caravan with the threat of a deluge. The town  also has the advantage of being a fair size and we had been in very rural remote little towns for a while . So the plan was to hole up here for a few days , enjoy civilisation and try and sort out a couple of niggles with the van.

Now most of our travelling has been on dry dusty dirt tracks and of course you will get some dust ingress but the levels of dust we are seeing means we are sometimes like a travelling desert. The manufacturers had agreed to get it sorted whilst we were on the road. So we took the opportunity to get a quote here .

Randall came to fix the dust issues . Spent a decade or so in the UK doing upholstery in yachts around southampton.Real character and great at fixing stuff ! – whilst under the van looking at where the dust was getting in he spotted and repaired broken wires on the electric brakes.
Told me he bought an acre of land near here and put a demountable house on it for 40k less than 5 years ago – #legendrealestater

Shuddering Aircon Batman

The aircon had an annoying shudder every 20 minutes or so that was affecting Kates beauty sleep – because i couldnt sleep and theres not many places to be quiet in a caravan . Took it to a refrigeration place as it is covered by warranty. He found that there was an installation mistake and the oscillating vents were permanently closed. Once fixed this was the cure …… or so we thought – more later .

So what about the town we are in .

Mount isa is literally built on lead , silver copper and uranium mining. In 1924 a lone  prospector picked up a rock rich in lead and a boom commenced. The mines themselves are really imposing and front of mind at all times.  We had cause to visit a local medical clinic and they were advertising  free lead poisoning checks ???

As beautiful as this sunset is you have to be worried about those fumes ?

We were given a personal tour of the Riversleigh fossil exhibition by Allan who has been working with the fossils in this area for over 30 years. Very passionate to say the least and we really enjoyed it. The fossils in the area are prevalent due to the nature of the sandstone and of course the types of creatures that used to roam , carnivorous kangaroos , tree climbing crocodiles, 4 metre tall flightless birds and a 3 metre tall wombat !!!!!  With all the uranium around here there may be creatures around here like this now ?

I hadn’t realised  it is likely that the indigenous tribes  were living with some of these fossilised creatures some 20 to 30,000 years ago – mind boggling . Apparently there is a scientific debate ongoing as to whether the disappearance of some of these species was due to predation or some natural disaster

Now we came to Mount Isa to avoid Cyclone Debbie and we did just that – no rain was endured and we actually were in the hottest part of the country with everyday at 42 degrees and just dropped below 30 at night.

Cyclone Debbie was an amazing natural event to watch grow and then unleash itself onto the unfortunate coastline south of Townsville then slowly worked its way down to Brisbane.

Some Debbie stats at time of writing

Maximum wind gusts – 263 kilometres per hour (163 miles an hour)

63,000 homes without power

Estimated 1 billion dollar damage to sugar cane industry due to crop damage

650 millimetres of rain fell in 24 hours in one region.

The Queenslanders are made of tough stuff though

It has been funny to watch the TV reports “live” from Ayr . One of the key messages they were giving was about the dangers of being outside and that only emergency services should be outside . These messages were provided by an army of reporters outside looking for that action windswept shot !

We had a wonderful but infuriating trip to lake Moondara which is just 15k from Mount Isa . The fishing tackle shops were awash with tales of many 1 metre plus barramundis being pulled from the lake. With ongoing low water levels the fish were locked in the dam and just getting bigger – 140cm monsters were common. When we visited there were fish everywhere , in the shallows and a few bigger ones out at the dam wall. However the weed was about 10metres from the shore meaning you needed a boat to have any chance of a cast never mind a fish . Maybe I should have bought a car topper tinny ?

Update for those of an age worried about how we are eating. The camp kitchens provided at pay for campsites are a godsend , you have access to big open air kitchens with pots and pans etc and because we are out of season you have it pretty much to ourselves. This combined with the trusty vacuum sealer means we are eating like royalty whether in the bush or in campsites. In the freezer we have Isa porterhouse steak spicy goulash , Boudira Bolognese and Kates Thai chicken to name a few .