Our Big Trip of OZ - 24/09/11 - ~16/01/12: Richmond

Day 5 & 6. – "Prehistoric era".

After breakfast, we left Porcupine gorge and headed back to Hughenden, before heading west to Richmond, 2hrs drive all up. Not much to see along the way, although, Scott was a bit excited on hearing that Richmond has a water park. On arrival into Richmond, we pointed out the one ‘mushroom fountain’ that was the water park….Yep, that’s it mate! He got over it soon enough and the boys cooled off there after lunch.

We checked into the only camping ground in town and had a powered site for the first time (ever). We were only overnighting here, so a quick setup in a shady spot. It was 39 deg, so used the 12v fans for the first time also. Dry heat is so much better than the humid heat in Cairns, but I hope it doesn’t stay like this too long…

Later in the afternoon, we went out to the fossicking fields, just north of town. As this area was once part of the ocean, the whole region is rich in fossil remains of oceanic prehistoric creatures. The boys collected some fossils – they are literally everywhere.

Next morning, we packed up and went to the museum in town. This was fascinating and the boys really got into it all and learnt a lot.

We then hit the road again and headed further west, stopping at Julia ck for lunch, passing through Cloncurry. From Cloncurry, the road suddenly changed from straight, to undulations with curves – I had to pay attention! The landscape was similar to that around the Chillagoe area.

After covering 340kms that day, we stopped at a free camp (rest area designed for short or overnight stays for travellers) 60kms short of Mt Isa. We were the first ones there at about 3-30pm so picked a good spot to set up for the night. Left the camper hooked up to the 4wd and 10 minutes later – cold beer in hand. This camper really is ideal for quick overnight stops.

The boys did some schoolwork activities and by nightfall, a few more travellers had arrived in.

After tea, I got a little fire going, and we had a yarn with a few nomads. We now have a place to call in at Ballina, NSW and camp if need be!

Complete Fossil remains of Kronosaurus in Richmond Mueseum

Tea at Richmond

School time at the free camp near Mt Isa

The same spot as above - apparently on one of 'the most amazing drives in Australia" according to the sign?

Day 7 & 8 – "Mighty Mine times".

On the road again by 9am and at Mt Isa before 10am (don’t want to push ourselves).

Checked into the Sunset Top tourist park, where there was full shade and went to the shops for a top up of supplies before checking out the old underground Hospital. This was built during the war, following the Darwin bombing ‘just in case’ the Isa got hit. It was only restored about 10 years ago and still has much of the original equipment in place. It is basically a few tunnel corridors in the hillside behind the current Hospital. The boys then let of some steam at the big family water & funpark with the massive Mt Isa mines as a backdrop.

Took a short drive out to Lake Moondarra, a large dam that is the water supply to Mt Isa. It was like a Lake tinaroo in the middle of nowhere, a true oasis and would have been a great spot to camp if we were allowed.

Well, at least it has cooled down at the Isa – probably a good thing, as I was copping some negativity regarding the beer consumption…L. I was still going to need another 30 pack before we hit the territory, where prices are high. It’s amazing where you can stash tinnies amongst the gear!

Next morning, we de-camped and fuelled up everything (fuel in Mt Isa was cheaper than T’ville and 15c/l cheaper than Cairns).

Mark & the boys were booked on an underground mine tour in the afternoon, so, before that, we did a bit of geocaching up at the lookout – found a cache – then the boys went back to the waterpark for a bit (it was a good waterpark & free).

We then did the 3hr tour of an underground mine that has been specifically built to show people exactly what the mines were like back in the days of hard yakka (60’s, 70’s, 80’s and some of the 90’s). It took 4yrs to ‘mine’, and has all the equipment used to make the mine, still down there & operational. It was a real highlight of the trip, and the boys were captivated at how it all worked. The tour guide was a retired MIM miner and was quite the character, always remarking that ‘nowadays, they sit in air conditioning cabs with stereo systems’.

A few facts about the actual Mt Isa Mines

- 1.8km deep, over 26 main levels, with multiple sub-levels in between

- One mine area for silver, lead & zinc (the ‘big stack’), the other area for copper ore (the ‘small stack’)

- 220km of railway underground

- Blasting at 8am & 8pm each day (end of each shift)

- Miners do 12 hr shifts, 4 days on, 4 off, $180-$190k / yr.

After the tour, we hit the road toward Camooweal and free camped 120km later, while the sun was still out. Although we only had 1 night in Mt Isa, we spent the best part of 2 days there as we free camped either side.

Entrance to the underground Hospital at Mt Isa

underground Hospital 'working' area

Beds in the entrance corridor

Mt Isa from the lookout, with the Mine at the western end of Town

Found a Geocache at Mt Isa lookout

Lake Moondarra

Quicky free camp near Camooweal at sunset

Day 9 & 10 – “What a find!!”.

Following our quicky overnighter, we popped up the road 70km to Camooweal, near the NT border. Camooweal itself is a small outback place with fuel and a pub (pop. 120). Nothing to see here, but we were keen to check out the billabong a few k's out of ‘town’., as camping by water is always good. Well – what a find! Cracker spot for a peaceful bush camp with no one else around. Easy decision to pull up here for a couple of nights. No further words will suffice for this, photos can tell the story.