Bit Of An Update.....

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Trace and I have been working hard in the ISA and saving our pennies. Haven't done much really, just work!!!

The photo above is of Black Star Open Cut mine here in town and sometimes do some work out there. This hole is HUGE!! The trucks in the bottom of the picture are about twice as high as my concrete truck and can haul out 21 tonne of rock. The tires on these vehicles are easily as tall as my truck. So this, I hope, gives you some sort of perspective as to how big this hole is! There are a few of them down there.

Camped on the Gregory River.

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During visiting the Thortonia station we camped on the Gregory River. Lovely spot in the bush with no one about!

The river is spring fed from a few location and never runs dry. It was like an oasis in the desert. We had a ball!!

Camping on Thorntonia Station

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Trace and I went camping last weekend on a cattle property called Thorntonia a few hours north of the Isa on the way to Burketown. Our next door neighbors worked on the station for a few years and took us out to have a look. The picture above is one of a couple of dozen bores on the property that is 600,000 acres, a small back yard up here I am told. The station owners also lease part of Gregory Downs, another station up here, as well. The total is near 1.4 million acres.

We took the above photo in the arvo when the cattle make their way to the bore at the same time every day after grazing. There are plenty of jobs going up here for bore runners that take care of the bores on the property and carry out maintenance on the windmills. I will wouldn't mind doing that for a season next, I have some contacts now at least.:-)

Drive To Camooweal

Camooweal is 180k west of the Isa and sits in the border of Queensland and The Northern Territory. We took a drive out there last weekend and had a look at the place. There is an annual drivers festival each year there as it is in the heart of cattle station country.

It's s nice little place with a pub and a roadhouse, that's it!! 13 k from the township is the border so of course we went and got the obligatory photo on the border. We will be heading out this way when we leave the Isa.

Fishing Lake Moondarra

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Went fishing about a week ago to have a fish, caught heaps of sooty grunter and catfish (above). Had a ball as there were heaps to catch. Apparently there are barra in the lake, the elude me though. There is a fishing comp on in a week or so, we will go out to that to see how it's done!!

Working At Boral

I have been working at Boral for a couple of weeks now and have just finished all my inductions. They included generic inductions for the mine in town, the close by George Fisher Mine and an induction for driving vehicles on the lease. The lease is the term used around here for the mine site.

Working at the Boral plant is pretty cool as there is something different happening every day. We deliver concrete to the mine sites, civil engineering jobs and private mum and dad jobs. The mine site has so many contractors on it, it's unbelievable. Xstrata must spend some money!!

The mine site jobs include delivering what they call shotcrete. This is a mix of concrete they use underground to reinforce the tunnels and portal roads they establish. They dig the tunnel, reinforce it with mesh then spray concrete over it. We deliver the concrete for the underground shotcrete guys from the surface via what is called a slickline. There is a big tube that runs from the surface to underground that is 1klm long By the time it reaches their agitator it's doing 350klm/hr. So as you could imagine there us quite a bit of procedure wrapt around getting it down there. Communication is the key, as if I send the concrete down at the wrong time and there is someone under the hose they are dead!!

So the job is quite good, learning heaps about everything there is to know about concrete.

Pete The Driver???

Time for an update.

During the rounds of the Isa trying to get a truck driving job I popped into Boral and asked them if they needed any drivers. They were after concrete truck drivers at the time and handed the resume over. Last Friday they called to inform me that a medical has been organized tomorrow(monday)for me. So it looks good!!

Here in Mount Isa everyone has what they call Generic Inductions for the mines and a medical. The generics and medical cost about $1000 to be obtained. You basically can't get or apply for a job if you don't have these, so I was a bit cautious of investing a k on the "possibility of getting a job".

Boral will pay for all my Medicals, generic and mine inductions. Good paying job as well. Bonus!! So we will probably spend about 6 months at our jobs and keep heading up north as planned. There is plenty around here to have a look at.

We don't really want to get near the coast during summer and the wet season for fear of cyclones/ storms. Everyone recommends staying inland during the season up here.

Mt Isa at night.

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Went to the Mt Isa lookout last night to take some night shots of the town. The town lights up at night with the mine lighting up like a Christmas tree!!

Off to lake Moondarra today to try out the fishing gear. There are barramundi in the lake so we will try for one of those I think! :-)

Out And About

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We went out to Lake Moondarra yesterday to have a look. It's a great drive out there and only 15 klm out of town, convenient! The scenery out here is awesome.

The lake sits north of town and is Mt Isa's source of fresh water. The dam was constructed in the 50's and supplies water to the town and the mines.

It's a lovely place with a good 4wd track that runs around the perimeter of it. When we got tho the picnic grounds there were a heap if peacocks and wild birds there. Great place for a lunch one day.

View from the lookout.

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This is the view from the Mt Isa lookout. This is one of 3 main streets in town and the mine sits literally at the back of town, not a few hundred meters from the end of town. The stack you can see just at the right of the picture is 250m tall!!

Working in the Isa

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Mt Isa, Home for now.

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We are here In the Isa, as the locals say, and are camped at a caravan park a couple of klm's out of town. We initially stayed at the Isa Caravan Park but the local indigenous folk made ALOT of noise from about 12 to 4 in the morning. Much quieter here.

I am doing my HR ( heavy rigid ) truck licence and have done my first lesson plus an assessment session. The picture above is the rig I have been driving. There are heaps of jobs out here for someone with a truck licence. Shit myself when I initially saw the truck as I thought I would be driving a flatbed or similar!!! After a couple of tries it's not so bad, just the double clutching of the gear changes I have to get used to.

Tracey has applied for a couple of jobs in town and one here at the caravan park as a kitchen hand. It would be pretty handy if she got that job.

The Damper We Cooked Today.

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For those that are interested;

4 Cups self raising flour
1 Coopers Pale Ale Stubbie (375ml)
3 tablespoons of butter
Pinch of salt

Add the flour, salt and butter, combine until butter is rubbed into flour. Add stubbie of beer slowly mixing the dough.
Sit dough in a warm spot for 45min to hour or until dough rises a little. Bake in camp oven for 45min on low coals.

Mary Kathleen Ruins

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Trace an I packed up this morning and left for Mt Isa. Last night we were talking to some fellow travelers and they mentioned the ruins were a nice place to stay for a day or two. Just 60 klm from Cloncurry.

Mary Kathleen is a town that was established as a mining town. The township was named after the deceased wife of one of the two founders. Established in the 1860's the town mined ore until uranium was discovered, these were the largest known uranium deposits in Australia, and were found in 1954. In 1984 production ceased and the town was deserted and pulled down.

It's pretty cool camping out here and exploring the old streets and house blocks. All the houses and infrastructure were relocated to Mt Isa and Cloncurry. We are camped next to the old pool.

Must get back to the damper that is on the camp fire!! Damper and honey for lunch!!

Combo Water Hole Video Link.

A short video of the camp we had at Combo Water Hole. Wonderfull spot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmF0g_Jwyts

Mining country, Cloncurry.

We have ended up in Cloncurry, the roadtrains are now 4 trailers long and are not cattle trains but mining hoppers now. They are massive! We followed one into town for about 20 klm and the back trailer seemed to do whatever the hell it wanted. Cool to watch, the signs out here warn not to overtake the roadtrains as they can exceed 50m long.

Having a day or two rest here as we are waiting for Mt Isa to empty of the cowboy folk that were there for the Rodeo. Be there in a day or two.

Combo Water Hole

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This is the place that the swagman drowned made famous in the tune Waltzing Matilda. There is a short walk to the waterhole, complete with coolabah trees, where he drowned at that billabong and inspired Banjo Patterson to write the song.

A nice little spot here, might stay for a couple of days. Mt Isa is not too far off and we need to miss the rodeo that is on there this weekend. A huge event that has all the town's accommodation booked out. So we don't need to be there until Monday or Tuesday.

Longreach

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We are camped 25 klm NW of Longreach at the moment. Nice little spot tucked away in the bush off the road.

We went to the Quantas Museum in town yesterday. I must say it's s bit weird seeing the tail of a Boeing 747 looming in the distance as you approach the township from the East. You just don't expect to see it!!!

There is also the first Boeing 707 that Australia owned parked alongside the 747. Bit of a sight.

Went over the road to have a look at the Stockmans Hall Of Fame but decided to give it a miss as it was very expensive to enter and you get to see most of the content in the little towns you drive through. Most of the townships have a free museum and or old machinery displays to have a look at.

We will leave tomorrow to go and have a look around Winton, dinosaur country!!

A Bit Of Lunch.

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With a squeeze of lime and a bit of salt.

Lovely!!

Tracey, Red Claw Master.

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Tracey came through this morning with a nice size red claw in the pot. She even captured the little fella herself and grabbed it out of the pot, becoming a bit of a bushie after such a short time!!! :-)

Might move on tomorrow to Longreach and look at the prospect of getting my truck licence there as there is heaps of work driving all kinds of trucks out here.

So did I :-)

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Not to be outdone I bagged one as well. The red claw pots didn't do so well. All we caught in the pots were baby yellow belly and a couple of tiny shrimp. See what tonight yields. :-)

Tracey and the Yellow Belly.

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Trace did well to bag a Yellow Belly. She was stoked!!!

Fishing the Outback

Left Tambo this morning headed for a fishing hole that was talked about around the camp fire last night. The place is called Oma Water Hole just outside Isisford, about 15klm. Isisford lies west of Blackall. A fishing comp was held there last weekend.

The drive out there was great, apparently is plenty of red claw cray and yellow belly fish to be had there. Purchased a few cray pots in Blackall and asked a local what the fish were biting. Ended up getting a couple of spinner bait lures as well.

Got here just after lunch and set the cray pots and had a go at getting a Yellow Belly. No luck yet!! :-) Below is a link to my first Youtube posting, hope it works! It should show our camp at Oma Water Hole. You might have to cut and paste it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QRra4mjJlo&feature=youtube_gdata

Rain, Rain, go away!!

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We set off from Mitchell yesterday with the plan to head off westward to Quilpie on the way to Birdsville. Or designated stop at Cooladdi was as scheduled.

Upon stoping at a free camp there I discovered that one of the water pipe hose elbows had been fractured by a rock on the road. Spares were 90 k back in Charleville. Tried to do a road side fix and failed as this is the hose that supplies the sink, shower etc and the pressure from the pump was too much for the fix. First problem.

During the night it flogged down with rain and we had a small river running through our little camp spot. Got up in the morning and headed back to Charleville for spares and to check the weather over the net. Quilpie had 23mm of rain, Birdsville and Windorah were due to cop rain over the next few days. The roads out there would be impassable in those conditions. So we headed north up the Landsborough Highway toward Blackall and Barcaldine. Would not be surprised to see the Birdsville Development Track closed in the next day or two.

So Birdsville will have to wait. We are sitting in Tambo at the moment (above pic) recharging van batteries and doing a bit of washing in a caravan park.

Longreach here we come!! Wanted to go there anyway!!!!

Neil Turner Weir

We spent a couple of days at the weir and had a great time. The free camp is about 5 k from Mitchell, we set up right on the bank of the weir and watched the sunset over the water each night. There was plenty of firewood and a good opportunity to use the chainsaw. :-)

Almost a shame to leave as it was a beautiful site, easily the best free camp we have had so far.

Good to be on the road.

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Our first night on the road last night and we stopped at Warra. Warra is between Dalby and Chinchilla ( melon capital of Australia, in case you didn't know!). We ended up finding a free camp over the road from a great old pub. So we had a few Bundy's and got to know the locals. We had an excellent night!

On the road again today and we find ourselves camped at Muckadilla, this little town lies between Roma and Mitchell. The photo above is our spot.

Tomorrow is a short drive to Neil Turner Weir, just outside Mitchell. Last time we came through here we didn't have enough time to have a look at the weir. It's talked slot about on the traveling forums, so we are going to see what's there and stay for a couple of days.

Heading West Tomorrow

After sorting out the container fiasco Tracey and I are heading off from Woodford tomorrow.

We plan to head out to Birdsville then head north to find some work.

Things sent to try us!!

Tracey and I have spend a few days in Woodford with my father. During that time we have had a chance to look at the container that we purchased and had packed.

This is the first time I was able to have a look at the top. There was corrosion everywhere and we discovered the top of the door was corroded as well. There was no way this was going to be water tight!! We started to second guess on the weekend as to wether the container sold to us a an "A" grade " Premium" product was indeed that.

A quick email to the container mob first thing this morning with some accompanying photos confirmed that they had stuffed up the order. They offered to send the proper grade container to Woodford, but we had to once again pay for packers to transfer our gear to the new container. Another $800 !!!!

We have just had a call and the container mob have had a change of heart and offered to deal with the packing. Tracey and I are relieved!!!

Packing up......

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Everything Tracey and I own gets packed up into a shipping container.

Not too long now!

Last day at work was yesterday and Tracey and I had a blast. We were joined by our work colleagues for a few refreshing ales at a pub in the city. It was a wonderful sendoff.

The last piece of car preparation turned up on Friday, the roof rack. So today was spent fitting the rack and packing........ Again!! The container Tracey and I purchased arrived on the front lawn as well.

Monday will see the container packed up with all our belongings and shipped off to be stored at dads place. We will head of on Thursday!

Almost there.

Well, everything is coming together rather nicely. The house is rented out and the second car has been sold in preparation. Just need to sell the motorbike now!

The van is ready to go so is the car. All that is left to do is finish up work and get out of Dodge!

The 9th Jul is the last day at work for Tracey and I, ONE month!! Both of us are very excited to get this adventure on the way.

Birdsville looks as though it is the first destination of the trip as last time we were there we really enjoyed it. With the rain that has recently fallen outback the landscape will be allot different to the last time we were there.

Queensland Caravan and Camping show is on in the next couple of days, time to pick up the last few bits and pieces. Should be a bit of fun.

3 in Exhaust Fitted Today

Well, I'm sitting in Beaudesert waiting for the 3 inch system to be fitted by Beaudesert Exhaust.
Keen to see how it turns out! Just 2 things left to do, the DP Chip and the driving lights.

Heading off on the big trip in about 8 weeks! Tracey an I can't wait !!

OK.......Almost finished!!

Well, it's been a while since the last update. So here it is. We took delivery of the 2010 Toyota Landcruiser Wagon a couple of months ago. On my birthday to be exact. :-) Tracey organised that. She is Special!! We are only 3 months away from leaving on our trip around Australia. We are getting excited to say the least. We have both tendered our resignations at work and we are busy organising all the stuff that needs to be done.

The upgrading and fitting out of the car is almost finished. This is the list of things and accessories we have fitted.

• Black Widow Draw Systemand Cargo Barrier
• ARB Bull bar, Brush Bars and Side Steps
• Outback console and 50L Water Tank
• Uniden Radio in the rofftop console
• ScanGuage II
• VMS System
• Magnum Winch
• EFS Suspension and Shockies all round.
• Pro Bag Airbag helper for the rear.
• Dual battery system
• Heaps of other little bits and pieces.

The next things are;

1. Beaudesert 3" Exhaust
2. Lightforce Genesis driving lights, and
3. DP Chip

That should be just about it. The car tows the van perfectly and the exhaust and chip shoud make it a no brainer!! The car does not overheat as the Patrol did under load.

Very Happy.

Will update as soon as the exhaust is done.