Harry and Ellie 6 today
Phone rang at 7.30 this morning, Natalie for a chat with Colin, really nice to hear from her. Cloudy and not warm. No leaks from LRover. Drove into town for a mooch, it's not very big and for a Saturday not very busy, ended up at a visitor centre, but staff not the most helpful and not a lot there. Mount Isa was founded due to the discovery in 1923 byJohn Campbell Miles of lead ore, Mount Isa Mines was set up and in 1931 smelter operations commenced. In 1943 lead mining ceased in favour of copper mining for WW11 needs, in 1946 it switched back to lead mining and in 1953 both lead and copper mining started. The town grew until 1968 when it was declared a city. There is no mountain in Mount Isa so the town name can't be shortened to Mt Isa. Just after 5pm we Skyped Harry and Ellie to wish them happy birthday, it was really good to see them and see how much they have grown, Harry got some golf clubs, bag and some "golfs"? for birthday and Ellie had a princess dress and a fashion wheel, as usual the connection not very good so in the end we rang them and had a chat. They really seem so grown up. It was lovely to talk and see them, missing them so much. End of another day and time for bed.
15th July Sunday
Packed up and left site
by 9.30 Filled up with fuel then visited the Sunday market, expensive and a lot of jewellery, didn't stay long as very ordinary. Travelling East along Barklay HWay towards Cloncurry. Landscape very green with rolling hills in the distance. The top edge of the clouds are straight along the horizon,
looks like a snow field. Past Cloncurry onto Flinders HWay then turned off onto Landsborough HWay towards McKinlay. The landscape has flattened out and the trees have disappeared for a while, reminded us of the wheatfields in the south. Quite a few military vehicles passed going the other way, some of them were LRovers (the Australian army hasn't got rid of all of them yet Laurie). Arrived at the Walkabout Creek Hotel
at 2.30 approx, our camp for the night, the Hotel is famous for being in the film Crocodile Dundee,
it has memorabilia scattered through the bar area.
McKinlay is named after the explorer John McKinlay who discovered the region. The town has Queensland's smallest library (only opens on Thursday's) to serve a population of 20. Sleeping in LRover tonight, much too windy to put tent up.
16th July Monday
Colin cold in the night, only had light sleeping bag on, Rose was fine (she had all the sleeping bag). Left at 9.15, wind is gusting very hard, there are no trees to stop it, it is coming from the East and we are driving straight into it. On Landsborough HWay to Winton. There are more cows than than there are trees in this part of QLD. We did see a few hills for a while then back to flat scenery, this is really outback QLD. Got to Winton just after lunch and staying at the rear of The North Gregory Hotel for free for 2 nights, will go in for a roast dinner $10 a head, which is cheap. Had a walk into town after erecting tent, it is a town with character, might visit the Waltzing Matilda Centre tomorrow. Wind is gusting, only got 430kms from a tank of fuel as heading into the wind most of the drive. Went to see Helen the entertainer in Happy Hour 5-6pm, she was good, told us the story of how the song Waltzing Matilda came about and sang a couple of different versions. It's tune dates back some 300 years to an Irish tune when an Ozzie changed it into a marching tune in the 1800s, where a young woman was heard humming the tune in front of A. B. "Banjo" Paterson who then wrote the lyrics, Waltzing Matilda was first performed at the original Gregory Hotel in 1895, it is recognised now as the unofficial Australian national anthem. Had roast lamb dinner, our second meal out since leaving Brisbane all those months ago. Time for bed.
17th July Tuesday
Good nights sleep, even though we are in a town it was very quiet. Blue sky and the wind has dropped finally. Saw Helen and bought her CD of the different versions of Waltzing Matilda, with history. Went to library and brought blog and photos up to date. In afternoon just chilled in the afternoon sunshine after deciding not to visit the museum. Arno's wall is just behind the hotel, the property owner who is originally German built the wall of concrete inserting all sorts of metal bits e.g. motorbikes,
sewingmachines, tv's microwave ovens, typewriters,hubcaps even a kitchen sink and other bits of Ozzy eccentricity.
Sat down with our neighbours Ron and Ellie late afternoon till dinner for a great chat. They had left the site in the morning to go south on a dirt track only to find it closed due to the mud. They also told us of a good free camp site near Longreach. Warmer night.
18th July Wednesday
Cloudy this morning and it feels damp. After lovely hot showers left Winton back on the Landsborough (Matilda) HWay east towards Longreach. Weather has not improved, very cloudy and drizzly, so much for being the dry season. Landscape is very flat and open with cattle in the fields. As we got closer to Longreach we are seeing water in the creeks and trees. Arrived at the rest area just about lunchtime, it is situated 4km west of Longreach. It is a flatlarge site but you can see the ruts left by vehicles from a few days ago when they had rain, there are 2 toilet blocks with signs stating you can get hot showers at the local swimming pool for $2.50 bargain. Blue sky is starting to come through as we set up camp, with no wind. Put all bedding out to dry off in the sun. Met a couple of blokes one in a Disco and one in a Range Rover, the guy in the Disco was just finishing off putting a new gearbox in his vehicle, he'd had to be towed from Winton last Saturday, he only got the Gearbox delivered that morning and fitted, by 2pm they were on their way to Brisbane, all credit to them with no assistance of any lifting gear. Lovely sitting in the sunshine for a change talking to the neighbours. We are staying a few days to recharge our batteries as both very tired physically and mentally.
19th July Thursday
Sunny morning, bacon and egg butties for brekkie. Warmed up in the sun before driving into Longreach for a look around, another town with lots of character, bought a few bits and pieces and picked up some info about the town, will look though and see if anything we would like to visit. Sat out in sun rest of day and read, Rose even got sunburnt. as evening drew in it got a lot colder. Spoke to Dee and then Laurie on the phone.
20 July Friday
FRIDAY FACT - WALTZING MATILDA MUSEUM IN WINTON IS THE ONLY MUSEUM IN THE WORLD DEDICATED TO A SONG
Cold night 6 degrees this morning, but sunny. An old Model T Ford
from the Qantas Founders Museum was driven onto site, in 2009 it drove from Longreach to Darwin renacting the original drive in 1919, they give the car a run every Friday. Qantas was founded in Winton in 1921 but soon moved to Longreach where a hangar and the country's first purpose built landing field were constructed, the museum opened in 2002 and is built around the original historic hangar. We have done nothing today.
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