Day 23, 24 & 25, Mt Isa (Sunday 19th - Tuesday 21st

Sunday

Departed Boulia this morning heading north toward Mt Isa, a pretty easy drive of  300 kilometers, tar all the way.

Half way is the small township of Dajarra, nothing much there so we stopped a few kilometers north of there for a lunch break, the road to this half way point is pretty flat and featureless but from here on the scenery improves with some nice rocky outcrops and undulating landscape.

Sunset CP Mt Isa

We arrived at Mt Isa mid afternoon and headed to the Sunset Caravan park which sounded ok on Wiki Camps, plus it is a Top Tourist Park so we get a bit of a discount, the CP is located just on the outskirts of town.
We hadn't booked and they were pretty busy but got a really nice non powered site in a good position.

After we set up camp we headed into town to get the lay of the land, it was Sunday so almost everything was closed , no matter we knew were to find what we needed the next day.

Boys at school

Unfortunately for the boys the school work has to start so in the afternoon they spent some time with their new teacher, as you can see they were thrilled.

Monday

This morning we headed into town to stock up on supplies and book into the Underground Mine tour we wanted to do, we booked the tour for Tuesday morning which was when the car was booked in for a service at a place just across the road .
The cost of the tour was $154.00 for all of us which was pretty good I thought, after lunch we went to the Underground Hospital tour, a bit cheaper at $30.00 for the family.

The tour of the Underground Hospital was run by a lovely old lady who knows a great deal of Mt Isa history.

The lady tells the story of why the hospital was created after Darwin was bombed, and how it was sealed up after the war and not reopened for 70 years.
Its has a remarkable history, and the people who have worked hard to bring it back to haw it was many years ago have done an amazing job.

The boys did their best,

The boys really enjoyed the museum at the hospital and had some fun while learning about the history behind the hospital.

Tuesday

This morning was a pretty early start for us having to get up at 0700 so we could get the car to the garage for the service then get over to the Mine tour which started at 0900.

Once at the Information center where the tour is run we waited for a little while until a man named Steve collected us, at first I was not sure what to think, he seemed to be a little vague about the whole thing.

As he talked to us I started to like him more, as it turns out he was a great bloke and if you get him for your tour you will love it.

The tour begins with a little history before getting dressed up in Bright orange overalls and hard hats, once dressed you get into an elevator that takes you about 16 mt underground to where the mine tour really begins.

Steve our guide has worked in the mines for 40 years so had an ineradicable knowledge of the workings of the mine, he was great with the boys letting them hop onto machinery and making sure that they were as much apart of the tour as the adults.

During the course of the tour we got an opportunity to operate a hand held drill which was amazing, also gives you an idea of how hard the miners in the old days worked.

I was so glad we did the tour and would highly recommend it for young and old alike.

Unfortunately you are not allowed to take photos during the tour but the guide takes photos of everyone and they are for sale at the end, the photo you see to the left is one taken by Steve.

While at the information centre take some time to look around, there is some interesting stuff to see, the coffee shop looks pretty good but we did not have one so cant say for sure.

After the mine tour we headed over to pickup the car which was ready so that was good timing, when we picked up the car we were informed that the rear shock bushes were worn and needed replacing, they had none and would have to order them which could take a couple of days.
We did not want to hang around so after a few phone calls had organised to have some waiting for us at Opposite Lock in Alice Springs.
The other thing I tried to do while in Mt Isa was get a tyre that had been repaired replaced as it was a side wall puncture and the repair was not particular safe, unfortunately there were none of the size I needed in town, a call to the bridgstone dealer in Alice Springs and one will be waiting for us when we get there, not bad price either, only $20.00 more than back at home.

After picking up the car we did a little shopping in the town and made a trip up to the lookout which has a pretty good view of the town and mines.

Our Mt Isa experience was pretty good, its a good place to stock up and there are a few interesting things to see, we are glad we made the detour to visit, tomorrow we head for Alice Springs.