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.

GeoTagged, [S20.70719, W139.49497]

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.