Week 6 : 30 Mar to 5 Apr 2012 -- Mt Isa to Mataranka

When we arrived in Mt Isa last week we visited the Tourist Info Centre and booked in for a mine tour. After a couple of days looking around “The Isa”, we took the tour on Friday. We arrived early for our 1pm tour and watched a video presentation before “Bill” called us to get ready. He handed out our flashy orange disposable suit that we got to keep (should come in real handy!!). Dressed in our orange overalls, gumboots, hardhat, battery and light we gathered at the mine entrance all keen to go underground.
 (sorry don't have a photo! no camera's allowed)

Our uniforms & hard hats

Our boots

Bill had spent 33 years in the mines before retiring 12 years ago and knows all there is to know about mining. The “Hard Times” mine was never a working mine and was dug specifically for tourism, mainly because there are no underground tours permitted at the working mines. We were only 20 metres down but I can tell you…it’s still bloody dark when the lights go out. Even though the actual Mt Isa Mines are over 2 klms deep, the sensation is very much the same. The “Hard Times” mine is named after the horse used by John Campbell when he discovered rich mineral ore in the Selwyn Ranges in 1923. 

Hard Times mine

The machinery in this mine is all outdated equipment donated by Mt. Isa Mines but most of it still operates ok and on the tour you get to either ride on it or use it. (insert a Tim “The Toolman” grunt here!!) Towards the end of the 2½ hours underground, we had a cuppa in the cribb (meal) room and told yarns like the miners would have done up to the mid 80’s when mining changed as Bill knew it. For the workers it was a new era for the work place with strict work place health and safety, changed working hours, better pay and bonus structures etc.

At the end of Friday we arrived back at the van park in time to enjoy another happy hour before watching the Broncos beat the Dragons, 28-20.

Happy Hour

Saturday morning we had brekky at the “Coffee Club” where it is clear, a lot of the locals like to spend there Saturday mornings also. While here, and as we walked through town after, it became apparent by signs in windows etc that work is readily available in the area.

Rod read just about
everything there
was to read here

We then returned to the Tourist Info Centre to do “The Outback at Isa” tour which is a museum dedicated to the history of Mt. Isa, and easily kills a couple of hours. There was audio-visuals of bygone eras, old pieces of furniture, vehicles, petrol tins, wares, which all made for a very interesting display. Two and a half hours later we emerged.

There was also an exhibition of fossils etc dealing with the Riversleigh site which is one of the most significant fossil deposits in the world, however, we’re pretty well fossilled out, so, didn’t spend too much time on this one. Besides, we needed to get back to the van park in fear of missing happy hour.

On Sunday, we visited the markets that are held every second weekend but could have saved ourselves the bother.

There had been a problem with the car which we put down to dirty fuel (or water in it), so, after putting 2 bottles of Wynn’s Spitfire in the tank, we took a drive out of town for about 20 klms and back. Gotta love the open road! Touch wood (my head), it’s been fine since.

I’m sure you’ve worked out what we did when we returned to the van park in the afternoon!

On Monday, Vic and I went out to the Mt Isa Irish Club, which is the biggest club of it’s kind outside of Ireland. There is a fully restored Melbourne tram in the café here, appropriately called The Tramstop. We had a very nice morning tea before killing enough time, in the pokies, to have an early lunch. We had a fabulous roast lamb and veges, for $10, which could have only been better without the peas!! L

When we arrived back at the van park, the mail we had been waiting for had been delivered, so after whacking on the new rego sticker it was time for our last happy hour with the neighbours. The group, Kath, Kerry and there 18 year old son, Craig, who are hoping to get work in Mt Isa and stay a couple of years, Barry and Sandra who were leaving on Tuesday as well, and heading up to Karumba for a few months fishing (as they do each year) and ourselves had a great time sitting in the shade and telling stories. Great bunch of people who we hope to stay in touch with as we travel this great country of ours.

Camooweal, great place...
to drive through...not much there!

On Tuesday we said our farewells and hit the road west toward Camooweal, 189kms away. We topped up the fuel tanks here (@ $191.9/L, the dearest so far) in preparation for the long drive to Tennant Creek, about 470 klms. Fuel is available at Barkly Roadhouse but at $2.00/ L any saving is a good one or so I see it. After a quick cuppa we drove the 14kms to the Northern Territory border and took the mandatory photos.  

and so did we!

Camooweal

He made it! Yeah!

Once over the border, the roads change almost immediately and justify the 130kph speed limit. 

Wide open roads of NT

Waiting for the tank to cool at Barkly

Barkly Homestead

With such good roads and very little traffic of any sort, we made good time and had lunch at the Soudan Rest Area (#2 NT Camps 5) before reaching the Barkly Homestead about 3.45pm (Qld time). 

Middle of nowhere

It was so hot (39 deg) on Tuesday that the heat build up under the van caused the vinyl floor to bubble (returned to normal overnight) and the water tanks to heat. The heat also made it impossible to transfer fuel from the auxiliary tank because the fuel was vapourising. After waiting a while it cooled sufficiently enough to transfer the fuel needed to get us to Frewena Rest Area (#6 NT Camps 5) where we stayed the night. 

Frewena Rest Area sunset - just magic!

This is  another good spot for a stopover with heaps of room to get away from the road, plenty of shade, water and picnic tables. We saw another beautiful outback sunset before a million bugs drove us inside. After 499kms, we had been hoping for a cool shower but the water in the tanks was far too hot. We ran the larger fan for 7 hours overnight via the inverter and still had plenty of juice in the van battery in the morning.

Frewena Rest Area - free camp

After a glorious sunrise on Wednesday we got away to an early start hoping to avoid some of the heat and with intentions of a much shorter day than yesterday. We transferred fuel while the system was cool and avoided the problems of the day before.

I made it to the threeways...

Same bums!

Which way?

Tenant Creek

It was a good run to the Three Ways where we took more photos then turned south to Tennant Creek. 

Red soil, green but still
in the middle of nowhere

Fuel is available at the Three Ways but, like Barkly, it’s $2.00/L. Apparently fuel subsidies apply in Tennant Creek and consequently, we paid $169.9 here, which more than justified the 24 klms travel south.

After a look around, we turned north again and checked out Lake Mary Ann, Tenant Creek’s water supply, and the old Telegraph Station, which operated from 1872 – 1935.

Lake Mary Ann

Lake Mary Ann - very picturesque

Back on the Stuart Highway, it was an uneventful run to Renner Springs, with a stop for lunch, before continuing on to Elliot. Here I was stopped outside the Police Station for a breath test. I asked the young copper if he had anything better to do than stand in the middle of a hot highway on a 37 deg day, doing breath tests? His response with a smile and a chuckle was… Nup!

A little further on, at Newcastle Waters, we stopped at the rest area on a hill and watched fires burn across the valley we had just driven through. Along this section of road there are virtually no free camping opportunities so we continued on and reached Daly Waters in the late afternoon. So much for the shorter day… 562 klms. With so little traffic and such good roads, time and distance pass quickly.

View from the Newcastle Waters rest area

Daly Waters has very little going for it other than the oldest ‘living’ pub in the Northern Territory and so it was that we had our first drink in an outback pub here. The décor is extremely interesting, to say the least, and I know Parky has a business card stuck on the wall here somewhere, but we couldn’t find it. We had dinner in the pub before making it an early night.

Cheeky!

Daly Waters Pub

Daly Waters Servo

As we left Daly Waters today we visited the airfield, which has the oldest hangar in N.T. This was actually Australia’s first international airfield and a very important stopover for aircraft prior to WWII when it became a military airfield. There is a conservation program to maintain the area due to it’s historical significance, but since the initial funding and accompanied maintenance in 1990-92, there is little evidence of any follow up maintenance. A crying shame considering its’ importance within Australia’s and Daly’s local history.

Daly Waters airfield

It was only 180kms to Mataranka and we were here and set up, for a few days, by 11.30. The park we are staying in is only 500 metres from Bitter Springs, which were recommended to us, as a more natural thermal experience than the springs near the busier Mataranka Homestead. Vic and I walked down and spent a couple of hours relaxing in the crystal clear waters and as you do, we got talking to a couple of fellow caravanners while floating around.

In the afternoon I went into town and bought beer. This is where it gets weird… I got a carton of Naked Blonde for $30. It was marked down because it was out of date. Think about it… Indigenous community… beer… on the highway…. out of date!! Still goes down well on a hot afternoon!

That’s it for this week… we’ve met some great people (many we hope to see again), seen some fantastic sights, experienced things out of our comfort zone, dealt with some issues (both technical and mechanical), ticked things off the list and added things to it as well. At the end of week 6 we are missing our family and friends but are very, very content.