Day 42 & 43 May 25 & 26 2012 - Mount Isa

We have had a couple of really lazy days - the weather hasn't been too good.  It was really cold yesterday although it did stop raining.  We went into town and both got our hair cut.  Feels much better.  We had dinner with Noel and Lyn.  

Today we caught up with the washing and grocery shopping ready for our departure to Gregory Downs. The weather was a bit better today beautiful blue skies but it was a bit windy, first wind we have had in a while.   We went to the lookout here in Mt Isa tonight at sunset.  When we got there I realised that I had left the SD card from the camera in the computer, needless to say I wasn't too happy.  Fortunately Graham had his phone with him.  Because the sky was very clear there was not much of a sunset but the view from the lookout was quite something.   There were a couple of young girls up there both from the Manchester area.  Of course Graham gave them hell about their accents, and they thought he still had quite a strong accent.  They loved his number plate and one of them took a photograph of it.  Tomorrow we are going to stay at  Terry Smith Lookout which is about half way between here and Gregory Downs.  We may be out of telephone range for a couple of days - we know for sure there is no phone range at Gregory Downs.

Mount Isa Mine 

View from Lookout

Distances to different places from Mount Isa

Day 41 May 24 2012 - Mount Isa

Well we had a great lightning show late last night then we got the rain.  It rained quite heavy most of the night and then most of the day we had showers.  It was also quite cold (19 degrees).  We spent most of the day around the van and down at the shops.  

We have had to fix a few things whilst we have been here, first of all we had to have the windscreen replaced.  We had a chip in it that we got last year and it started to travel along the windscreen so we decided we had better get it fixed.  Then we had to replace the door locking system on the caravan.  Last night the handle on the outside broke off completely.  We had a job getting the door open but fortunately managed to do so otherwise we would have been sleeping under the stars as the car keys were also in the van.  Anyway Graham was able to buy a new lock set and Noel helped him to put it on.  We were so pleased that we were in a decent sized town and not in one of the small country towns that we have been going through, otherwise I don't think we would have got one quite so easy.  As much as we have never heard of this happening to anybody else it does make one wonder why that particular part was so easy to get.

Because of the rain we have decided to stay in Mount Isa for another couple of nights as from here we are going through to Gregory Downs and hopefully Lawn Hill and the road between these two places is a bit wet at the moment.  We rang Lawn Hill and they thought it would dry out it the next few days.

Day 40 May 23 2012 - Mount Isa

We went to the Underground Hospital and the Tent House today.  The hospital was very interesting - after Darwin was bombed in 1942 it was thought that Mount Isa was considered to be a prime target so they built an underground air raid shelter for the patients.  The facility was never used although during the war emergency drills were carried out regularly and the nurses would move patients into the underground hospital.  In the early 1950's the entrances were covered with earth and the facility was forgotten.  It wasn't till 1977 that it was rediscovered when workers were probing for a reason for subsidence in the area.   Old photographs were used to restore it to its original structure and lots of artefacts were found even some tablets.   Some of the equipment looked very baron.

Resuscitation Trolley

Breast Pump (Ouch)

Bunks in the underground hospital

Entrance to Underground Hospital

Morgue Trolley

The tent house is no longer open  and is in really bad condition.  Tent houses were used in the 1930's to overcome some of the housing shortage.  Apparently there were about 30 build in Mount Isa but this is the only one that is left at the moment.

Day 38 & 39 May 21 & 22 2012 - Mount Isa

We spent most of Monday shopping in Mount Isa.  There is a Woolworths and Coles supermarket as well as KMart.     It was good to be able to stock up on the groceries that had really run down.  The only supermarkets we have had for a while have been IGA and sometimes they are very expensive.  Lyn and Noel cooked dinner, they cooked roast pork and vegetables in their turbo cooker.  It was very nice and really appreciated.  It is great to be able to sit outside and eat the nights have been really mild.  

Tuesday we went out to Lake Moondarra.  This is an enormous lake situated 16 km north of Mount Isa.  This is the city's main water supply.  The lake is really quite big and is surrounded by some red hills and vegetation.  Apparently you can fish in the lake and it is restocked annually with Barramundi along with quite a few other fish.  We took lunch with us and after a walk around we had lunch then we all sat and read our books for a couple of hours, what a peaceful afternoon.  We got back to the van around dinner time.  

Lake Moondarra

Picnic Area

In town we called at the information office and met Kenneth.  As you will see from the photo Kenneth is a gnome being rather rude.  Apparently he travels throughout Queensland and there are lots of photographs of his adventures on the wall of the information centre.  I think the one there at the moment is a replica as in the information he is bronze in colour and this one is just concrete.  Maybe he is off on one of his adventures at the moment.

Day 37 May 20 2012 - Mount Isa

Fountain Spring Rest Area turned out to be one of the worst free camps we have been on.  It was very noisy with trucks going past all night.  Needless to say we did not get much sleep.  Anyway we arrived in Mt Isa at about 11-30 and fortunately we booked the caravan park this morning before we set off as it is very busy in town with a mining expo on this weekend.  We are at the Sunset Top Tourist Caravan Park and we have got a really good site.  Noel and Lyn are next to us.  We had a look around the city centre today and went to a market (first since we have been away).   There were a few shops open which surprised us as it is Sunday, none of the supermarkets were open.  We had lunch at one of the clubs in town.  

Day 36 May 19 2012 - Winton

A long day in the car today.  We left Winton at about 9-30am and arrived here at about 4pm this afternoon.  We are staying at a free camp Fountain Spring Rest Area which is about 60 km from Mt Isa.  The one interesting thing today was the change of scenery, when we left Winton it was flat and you could see the horizon  on all sides as we came through Cloncurry it changed dramatically and there were hills and greenery on both sides of the road.  We are going through to Mt Isa tomorrow.

Day 35 May 18 2012 - Winton

We went to the Waltzing Matilda Centre first today.  The centre opened in 1998 after the centenary celebrations for the song Waltzing Matilda.  There was an audiovisual display that interprets the song, our history of Waltzing Matilda.  I heard the song so many times, sung by lots of different people (including Graham's own rendition).  In the legend room there is an interactive display of the history behind the song.  There was a hologram, which paid tribute to Australian legends and history - this was really well done.

We found out what they do with a lot of their scrap in Winton -

Arno's wall - this is built with a lot of scrap household goods - washing machines, typewriters and motor bikes just to name a few.  Bit of an eyesore really.

Part of Arno's wall

The Musical Fence - this is made of wires and posts which you can hit with a stick and you do get some resonating sounds.  There are also some musical instruments made up of rusty old cans and oil drums.  Graham, Noel and Lyn had a go on the drums (big kids).  

Drum kit 

Day 34 May 17 2012 - Winton

Travelled through to Winton with Lynn and Noel.  We arrived here in Winton around 11-30 and booked into the Matilda Country Tourist Caravan Park (I noticed tonight on Shaz & Day's blog it was one of the worst parks they stayed on during their trip in 2009).  Anyway it is not too bad, very dry and dusty and I think they have renovated the facilities they look okay.  It is quite expensive for a country town at $30 per night. 

After lunch we had a wander down to the town centre, bigger than we thought and looking at the other caravan parks there wasn't much else to choose from.  We had a wonder through a couple of the opal shops (didn't buy anything) and then came back to the park for a drink.  We are going to do the touristy things tomorrow.  Did see the statue of Banjo Paterson which is in the main street today.

Day 33 May 16 2012 - Longreach

Up early and back to the Qantas Museum for the tour of the plane.  We didn't realise when we booked that they have closed the 747 as it has begun the foundation is beginning to subside at the front of the plane, so we were not allowed to go on board the plane.    The reason for the subsidence is that  where the nosewheel of the 747 is now there used to be a fuel tank underground.  When the tank was removed, the soil which was used to fill the hole was not compacted enough.  They have ordered new framework to secure the plane and hope to have it open again later in the year.   

The Boeing 747 (Jumbo Jet) first flew in December 1969 and Qantas started using their 747-238b in 1971. VH-EBQ (CIty of Bunbury) joined the fleet in December 1979.   It was the third last of the 200 series that the airline used.  It was also the first passenger jet to use Rolls Royce Engines since the AVRO Lancastrians which were used from July 1947 till August 1952.  

We were able to board the 707.  This plane was first registered in June 1959 as VH-EBA and was the first aircraft handed over to Qantas so the first civilian jet put on the Australia register.  This aircraft was sold in 1967 and had six owners until it was found stored at South End in England and the Qantas Founders Museum Team refurbished it to flying condition.  It came here on the 10th June 2007.  The interior of the plane is really incredible it looked like a five star hotel room.  

They also have a Catalina aircraft which over the next few months will be painted with the World War Two camouflage paint schme and the fitting of the rear side "blisters" that were part of the Catalina's shape.  To get this plane to Longreach they had to borrow some airworthy parts, including wheels and an engine.

Whilst on our tour we saw the Royal Flying Doctor take off - not sure where they were taking the patient.

Boeing 747-238B

You can see the subsidence

Catalina

Royal Flying Doctor Service

Interior Boeing 707-138B

Dressing Room on the 707

707 Cockpit

707 in the Background

Rolls Royce Engine

After lunch we went into town to watch a show called Starlight Spectacular.  This was held out the back of the Stockmans Shop.  It was a father and his two sons retelling the story of John Redford "Captain Starlight".  Well the show was okay but after the show at the Stockman's Hall of Fame yesterday which was brilliant, this one paled into insignificance.  We were not allowed to take any photos at all.  

At least 56 vans in the park tonight - it is like a caravan park.

Day 32 May 15 2012 - Longreach

We have had a really busy day today - first of all we visited the Stockman's Hall of Fame. We spent about four hours here.  What an interesting place it is both architecturally and historically.  There are five floors of Australian history with lots of interactive buttons and displays.  We also watched the Stockman's show that went for an hour.  This was really good - just one guy with horses, a camel and some bullocks.  He was quite a comedian and the animals were very well trained.  He even hooked the bullocks as they would have done in the  past when they were pulling equipment around.  

Stockman's Hall Fame

Stockman's Show

Supposed to be a "talking camel"

The Bullock Team

Lynn & I

Noel & Graham

We then came back to the van and had some lunch after which we went to the Qantas museum.  Unfortunately we had missed the last tour of the planes so we are going back tomorrow to do this.  We did however have a walk around the museum which shows the history of Qantas.  There are many model planes and also a lot of videos.  

Once again there are about 45 vans in the camp again tonight it is quite incredible.

Day 31 May 14 2012 - Longreach

An even shorter drive today through to Longreach - all of 27 kms.  We are staying at a free camp - Longreach Waterhole - which is about 4 kms out of town.  We didn't do much today except catch up on some shopping.  Lynn and Noel are in Longreach as well but they are staying at the Top Tourist Caravan Park.  We had dinner with them tonight at their caravan.  The caravan park have a restaurant and they deliver meals to the caravan, very reasonable at $14 a head.  We went for a walk around the camp and we counted 47 vans and 3 tents here.

Looks more like a caravan park than a free camp

Day 30 May 13 2012 - Ilfracombe

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY 

Another short drive today through to Ilfracombe.  This is a very small town.  We had been told by a few people that it was worth an overnight stay as the caravan park put on a good happy hour every day.  Well being Mothers Day the owners had been out for the day and the happy hour was a bit poor.  Just a few people telling stories and jokes.  In the camp kitchen was an impressive fire place fire place that the owner had built.  We did go in yet another Artersian Spa in the afternoon, which was a little cooler than the others we have been in.  There is a mile of old machinery along the main street of the town which was quite a sight and there is a museum with a collection of bottles and rifles.  In the bottle collection there were a few commemorating the Melbourne Cup winners.  

Part of the bottle collection

Some of the old machinery

Part of the rifle collection

Fire place in the camp kitchen