Day 160 - Tuesday 6 June - Checking out Mount Isa

Day 160

Tuesday

6 June 2017

Mount Isa – Lake Moondarra

When we booked in to the caravan park yesterday, we were told to ensure our vehicles were locked over night, it is pretty standard fair and I really didn’t take much notice of it, however in the middle of the night I heard people running down the road outside our van and dogs going off because someone was whistling and then a car did a drive-by loop of the inner park road, so I was a little rattled and woke feeling a little unrested.

We read for a while, before Paul needed to get out and eat breakfast. I was heading for a shower afterwards, but the cleaners were already in, so we opted to go for a walk of the block and checkout what was in the industrial area.  By the time we returned the showers were free, so I ducked in there before we gathered our things and made our way into the city centre.

We parked at the coles/k-mart centre and the proceeded to walk across the road to the office of the ‘honourable’ (the title always makes me raise my eyebrows) Bob Katter. I had Paul stand outside the office in his cowboy hat to take a picture showing we were truly in crazy country. 

We then walked to a point where I could get a decent photo of the water tank plastered with the slogan “Mount Isa Rodeo Capital of Australia”. We walked through the inner suburb and passed decrepit looking homes, many with dogs that would happily take a bite of you for walking passed their home. One was a very large blue heeler and he hit the metal fence so hard he almost came through it! That sure did make me jump.

We walked the hill to the city lookout. At the top of the hill was a great platform where you could see over the centre and the Mount Isa mine. The mine is really ugly, a black scar dragged across the landscape and large smokestacks puffing out god knows what for us to breathe in.

We made our way back to the shopping centre, did a walk through the mall and then back to the car to navigate to our next stop, Lake Moondarra. The lake is about 20km north of the town

and is stocked with barramundi for an annual fishing comp, so obviously Paul was hoping to catch himself a good one.

We finally arrived at the recreational park and decided to follow the scenic drive to get an idea of the landscape. We eventually stopped at the dam wall lookout and proceeded to do a walk along the top. It was a quite an expanse of water and is used to provide water to Mount Isa.

After checking this end out, we drove in the opposite direction so Paul could look for decent fishing spots. Unfortunately any accessible areas close to the shore were clogged with weed, so we returned to the main picnic area instead. Paul set himself up, while I took off to photograph the large number of peacocks calling the place home. They weren’t too perturbed by me getting nice and close either.

When I had finished I joined Paul in a chair by the water reading my book. It was so peaceful by the lake and enjoying the warmth of the midday sun. Shadows of whistling kites darted across the ground in front of us. There were plenty of these birds around too.

Nothing was really happening on the fishing front. Paul had a few bites and reeled in a turtle but that was it and by 1pm he was ready to pack it in.

We returned all the gear to the car and then found a picnic table to eat our rolls at, peacocks scrounging for scraps.

We made our way back into town, hearing a radio ad about lead safety and washing your hands, we were glad we were moving on tomorrow, it doesn't sound like the safest of places to spend a lot of time, not that you would want to it is quite literally a hole. 

We stopped in at Coles for groceries and filled the car with fuel, before coming home. Thankfully the wifi that I had paid $5 for 24hr access was back on board, so I began adding more bits, however it didn’t last and dropped out again.

We returned to town so Paul could buy more beers and check out BCF. He spoke to Damon while we wandering the streets, getting an update on things back there and then we returned to the park yet again.

The net was still out, grr, so I used my phone data to add some small bits. Paul started dinner and then we ate. The net returned, so I added a heap more, but as seems to be the way it dropped out before I finished up.

I sat listening to the Ipod and completing the blog for the day. Paul was already resting, knowing we have a heavy day of driving tomorrow to get to Karumba. It wasn’t long though before I also joined him to read my book before saying goodnight.

Day 159 - Monday 5 June - Back to a mining town - Mt Isa

Day 159

Monday

5 June 2017

Camooweal – Mount Isa

6.30am and Paul was out checking on the yabby pots. I was not ready to see the morning just yet. Loud chatter suggested we might have a feed and sure enough when he returned to the van, he had a half bucket of yabbies and about 8 of a decent size, happy days. I crawled out to take some photos, but was quick to retreat back to the warm and read my book for an hour, as Paul set about cooking them all.

I did get out at 8am, which was actually 8.30am, when Paul suggested if I didn’t eat breakfast now I would miss out, as he was ready to move. 20min later we were all done and dusted and heading into town for a quick pee stop before continuing our journey of 188km to Mount Isa.

The road was littered with fresh road kill and as a result so many birds. You could see the masses of them in the distance and Paul would sound the horn and watch them scatter, usually right at the last minute.  Plenty of signs suggested there were hungry cows loose and wanting to feast on vehicles. We did see some Brahman in roadside holding pens and inside the fenced areas of the stations. At least they weren’t loose on the road.

We made good time and at 11.15am we were driving up the main strip looking for a BP as the fuel light had been on for the last 50km. Unfortunately we didn’t find it, so we settled for one of the others and then made our way to Sunset Tourist Park, where we were able to find a site to accommodate our needs and settle in for the next couple of days.

First on the agenda was a shower, oh boy did that feel so much better. Paul followed while I set up the inside and then sorted lunch. We put the washing on, ate and then he started on the water pump, only to have it start again when he waved the spanner at it. That was an easy fix.

Once the washing was out, we took ourselves into town. Our first stop was the tourist info centre to once again gather as many books on Queensland as I could manage. It is hard going into a new state when all their books are listed with regions you have no idea about. You end up gathering everything in the hope you get something relevant.

With a small forest in hand, we drove to the Woolies and did a quick shop before opting to do a walk of the main strip. Rodeo Drive has paving stones with past rodeo winners, much like the Stawell Gift runners. Mount Isa is the capital of Australian Rodeo. It is also the birthplace of the well-known Aussies – Greg Norman, Patrick Rafter, Deborah Mailman and Simon Black.

When we completed our trip including a quick peak of the Mount Isa Mine, that sits front and centre in town, we made our way back to the van. I rang home to catch up on all the information and to let them know we were alive and well. Paul also rang Jaden to do the same thing.  Dad then had to ring me via Skype to check that he had it all working, a test run for his trip away. With it finally sorted after the third, try we hung up and Paul and I went for a wander around the park. Quite a large creek runs behind the vans and of course had Paul wondering if there might be yabbies.

I went to the office for an internet code and enquired about the likelihood of red claws and the owner said to try our luck, so we just might.

We sat outside watching and listening to the park as people emerged from their vans for Happy Hour. I went through the blog and photos for the day, as the sun began to set warming the bones. Paul wandered off to be a social butterfly and when he returned he was straight in to sorting out the red claw yabbie dinner.

We ate like kings tonight, it was so delicious, we could have had another course. We sat about enjoying the evening and working out a plan for tomorrow. Paul spoke to Ballsy, catching up on the news from his end.

Day 158 - Sunday 4 June - Heading to QLD

Day 158

Sunday

4 June 2017

Elliot – Tennant Creek – Barkly Homestead - Camooweal

Road trains are noisy especially when you are trying to sleep. They can be heard coming from a fair distance away, like the squealing steel tracks giving away a trains position, the road funnels their sound out into the beyond. I woke a number of times, heart pounding, hearing the deafening sound and thinking the truck would come careening through our bedroom window. It never did and eventually my brain shut the noise out, then the wind started, which was a little easier to sleep with, crawl under the doona and dampen the sounds

The light of the new day was strong and bright. I opened the blind and it streamed in causing us to avert our eyes until the dazzling sensation faded, then we could just enjoy the serenity.

7.30am and Paul was up and ready to get moving, me, as always, in no hurry to move. Though eventually I did knowing I can’t delay the inevitable. Dressed, breakfast, a look at the map and some decisions made and then it was things stowed and on our way at 8.15am. 

We had a two-hour drive ahead of us, passing so many travellers heading north. A flock of green and yellow budgies took flight as we travelled the road, unfortunately some of them didn’t get over the roof of the camper and fell away. We had two bush turkeys also try to become Christmas dinner, before we slowed to give them a fighting chance and they took it.

I passed the time away with my weights and singing along to the Ipod and at 10.20am we made it the Tennant Creek BP. After filling up, taking a toilet break and checking everything over, we turned the van around and headed back north on the highway for 25km to the Threeways turn off where we began our journey east on the Barkly Highway.

I did some checking on the Geowiki app for possible places to stay and found some lakes in Camooweal, just inside the Queensland border, that sounded like a go. With a destination sorted we followed the road, noting that the roads here in the NT have been the best we have travelled on so far

Two hours of driving saw us pull up at Barkly Homestead, a very busy place, seeing it is the first fuel stop after leaving the Stuart Hwy and from entering the NT from QLD. We put fuel in the van, the pulled over to have lunch, our usual salad rolls. My phone began to ping, signalling net coverage, so I did a quick flick through everything before being satisfied that I wasn’t missing anything of importance. I sent a message home to let the folks know we were alive and where we were heading.

Paul checked on the car and rearranged one of the tie-down straps and then we started up the van and continued our journey for the afternoon. I set the GPS with our lakes destination, two and a half hours of driving and the crossing of a time zone all ahead of us.

Time disappeared as we drove along the highway. It was a boring stretch of cattle country. Long, wide paddocks of fodder laid beyond the roadsides as far as you could see, the road dead straight for a change with an ever so slight incline. The cross winds however were a bugger, increasing the fuel consumption dramatically. We had heard of two female, German tourists being flown to Mount Isa hospital after a roll over on this road last week and it wasn’t long before we came across their hippy camper on the side of the road, a little crumpled but upright and emergency tape around the perimeter.

At 4pm, QLD time, we crossed the border. We have now set foot in all mainland Australian states during this trip. Our free campsite was just 12km inside the border and thankfully it wasn’t too busy. We found a shady place to park and set ourselves up for the night. Paul spoke to Gary in the caravan who suggested putting in the yabby nets as there was a feed to be had, so after getting settled wed did just that before having a quick conversation with Gary and his wife Gail, from Bundaberg and Jake, a guy from the Gold Coast, travelling around on a scooter with a tent.

In need of some exercise we walked into the town site of Camooweal to see what it had to offer. There wasn’t a great deal but the walk did us good anyway. We could see the pub was alive with revellers and surprise, many in cowboy hats, so we braved the gauntlet of loud boys, who were obviously in desperate need of female companionship and entered the pub. We ordered a drink and sat on the balcony overlooking the main strip, still receiving the unwanted attention of the well liquoured up, it was like they didn’t even see Paul. I was glad we were seated away from them and could enjoy our drinks before making for the exit. There had been a rodeo on in town this weekend and they had been enjoying their end of festivities since lunchtime and no doubt it would continue on well into the night.

Once back at the camp, Paul checked the pots, only one little one had crawled in. We did a walk around the receding lakes, that were now more like rain puddles and then returned to the van to get dinner started, barramundi and salad.  I continued to bounce around the van, trying desperately to keep the steps up, as we have been a bit slack these past few days.

We ate our dinner, then tried to do the dishes, but the pump had stopped again, so out came the jerry can of water, kettle filled and heated on the stove, something to look at in Mount Isa.

We worked out our plans for the next few days and a rough idea of a time frame for our travels in Queensland before deciding it was time to go to bed. It was still only early, 7.45pm so we read for a while and then it was lights out. 

Day 157 - Saturday 3 June - Edith Falls revisited

Day 157

Saturday

3 June 2017

Edith Falls Free camp – Edith Falls – Katherine – Elliot

I didn’t sleep brilliantly last night. It was warm, but we were able to run the fan to blow air around, I was just very restless and when it came time to wake I just wasn’t in the mood. Paul was up though and ready to move on, so out I got, followed the morning routine and by 8.30am we were heading on from our free camp spot to the Edith Falls car park.  It was fairly quiet when we arrived, a good thing.

We made our way to the beginning of the 2.6km circular loop and began our climb yet again.  Up over rocks and sandy paths and heading further into the bush. The sun was just beginning to brighten the landscape around us and as we looked back over where we had come from we had a great view of the land outstretching to the horizon.

We followed the orange triangle markers first to a small lookout where we could see the main plunge pool that we had swum in three weeks ago and then continued on a further 500m to the upper pools.

When we finally made it to the pool we were rewarded with being the only ones here. I was off with the shoes quick and sitting with my feet submerged as a waterfall raged to the left. It was very peaceful and allowed me to set up my tripod to take photos without having to dodge heads. It didn’t last however, the silence broken about 20min later with ants climbing in following their khaki attired leader and wielding walking sticks and then they just kept coming.

I put on my shoes and walked around some other rocks, taking in the views of other plunge pools and water cascading over the stone and then we left the masses behind and continued to follow the loop path down the other side.

Another lookout, Mymang, gave a great view back to the upper pool and all the tourists scampering over rocks. From here we continued to follow the markers until we reached the footbridge we had stood on last time to admire the lower pool and Edith Falls.

We made our way back through the lush gardens only to have me jump as a snake slithered across our path, rearing its head. Paul tried to tell me it was a python, probably an olive python, because of its head shape, but I read the board and I thought it looked more like a black whip snake. Either way I was giving it a W – I – D – E berth.

We returned to the van and continued on, this time to Katherine, pulling into the BP at 11.30am. After filling up the van, we moved to a parking area near the tourist info centre, parked and made our way into the Woolies for desperately needed groceries. This trip was certainly such a contrast to the last time we were here, it was packed. Tourists and locals alike all crammed into get their essential items.

After finding all we needed we hastily made a run for the self-serve check out and returned to the van. It was then back in to the shop to do a BWS run. We were fortunate that it was open at 12 and not 2pm as it had been when we were here last.

With the supplies sorted, we made our lunch, took stock for 5min and then hit the road again, passing through Mataranka and Larramah. There were plenty of caravans on the road heading towards us, tourist season now in full swing.

The Stuart Highway drive is dotted with road trains to leap frog, sometimes the passing is easy, being able to see for miles, other times it is nerve racking, as corners loom and you just hope that nothing is coming in the opposite direction. Sometimes there is so you floor it, willing the van to go faster like a jockey on a racing stallion and you pull in, waving at the passing vehicle, phew!

Loose stock is also an issue. If you are in a convoy, the first vehicle, usually a four-carriage road train that is creating the snaking line, scares them off into the bush, but when it is just you and a brahman that is just hanging about, you have to be a little more cautious. Blow the horn, watch the reaction, begin to slow, then watch it move off the road and hope it doesn’t change its mind.

The light of the midday sun was surpassed by the yellow glow of the afternoon. Sunrays turning the long, thin weedy, grass into flickering torches and wisps of spun gold, it really is quite pretty out in the nothingness at this time.

Having passed by Daly Waters, Paul declared we could drive on to Elliot, a further 200km down the highway I just watched the roadside triangles count down the k’s in groups of 10. I was getting restless and in need of a break and was so glad when the 200 had become 50km. There was a rest stop 25km short of Elliot and when we passed by we saw how packed it was, I just hoped that wasn’t a sign of things to come, I just wanted somewhere to pull up.

WE made it to Elliot at 5pm and filled up at the BP, after a quick stretch of the legs we jumped in the van and continued. Paul had noticed a truck stop sign for 50km out of town and though you shouldn’t really camp there, we figured we would if we were desperate. However, about 2km short of it, there was a gravel pit to the side of the road, where they would dump excess road base for when they upgrade and repair the highway and it provided a flat, large area for us to camp on, home for the night.

I got busy on the inside and then started on dinner, starving even though I had been sitting down most of the day. I took some photos of our camp for the night and the orange sunset that set the sky ablaze. I was glad to finally get food in the belly and then completely relax, my head telling me I was exhausted and should go to bed, it was 6.30pm.

I did sit in bed and read, enjoying having the back window open and watching the sky fade to black and the thundering road trains rattling down the road. Paul eventually joined me reading as well and by 8, I was ready to turn out the lights.