Cloncurry to Mt Isa

One of the old Pubs opposite the Post Office in Cloncurry

I was right about a cool night at Cloncurry and I was also awake a lot. Why did I not notice that this lot is so close to the Highway? Well, there were lots and lots of road trains going all night in both directions - I had a few interruptions, that’s all - and my own fault for not checking that out. The way to Mount Isa was nice and easy, some interesting views on the way - unfortunately my camera battery needed a re-charge and so got only a few pics on the tail-end of the trip.

There are several Rocky Mountaintops on the way, the colours mostly reddish brown and quite striking.

Views on the road to Mt Isa from Cloncurry

I also drove past the closed-down Mine of "Mary Kathleen" which had been closed in the 90s due to lack of demand for Uranium. This whole are is literally saturated with lots of heavy metals, Lead, Copper, Uranium, Silver, Gold and also Zinc - needless to say that the chimneys of the Isa are smoking - and it’s the only smoke pollution visible around the area.

Some smoke from one of the smoke stacks at Mt Isa

Isa is very much a well-to-do township and there are still plenty of jobs on offer in the mining industry. On arrival, my first port-of-call is usually the Information Centre. They had a tour into a mine, starting about 30 mins after my arrival. It was highly interesting getting a hands-on low-down on what the mining industry is or was all about, at least as far as the working miners are concerned. Let me tell you, it was (and probably still is) Hard Yakka, well paid mind you, but I think I would not have had the physical stamina required. Apart from that the working environment is very life-threatening at the best of times. There wer 18 participants on the tour, most of them "Oldies" like myself. Everyone got to wear an orange overall and belt, an orange helmet and everyione was issued with a re-chargeable battery pack with a light that needed to be clicked onto the helmet bracket in front, to help us light the way.

The tour lasted for two and a half hour, various situations underground were explained and some major equipment was demonstrated, most of it generating a large volume of noise so we all had to wear earmuffs. No cameras allowed underground, so no pictures.

I was quite surprised how bright daylight was when we returned back to the surface. I also found a nice trailer park on the outskirts with, wait for it, 3 lots of Germans as my adjacent neighbours.

My camper "spot" at Mt Isa

They do love this country and I can't say I blame them, because it is a great country, with me having so much good luck, to actually see it.