Day 300 – Across State Lines!

• Mt Isa – Barkly Homestead
• 446kms
• 29°c

Packing up took a little longer than I remember we must be out of practice after being settled in the one place for 4 days! I made a quick dash to the supermarket for fresh produce as we don’t expect to encounter much of that between here and Darwin.

It was a pretty uneventful drive today, although there was definitely a noticeable change in the landscape, it was so flat and sparse compared to what we’ve been seeing lately. Look Kids, nothing….!

We crossed the state lines from Queensland to Northern Territory and of course pulled over at the border for a cuppa and a bit of a border dance!  We adjusted our time pieces to gain an extra half an hour once we crossed over into the Territory.

We pulled into Barkly Homestead about 4.30pm and were taken aback at the price of fuel $1.99! and nearly fell over at the price of an unpowered site $40! That has to be the most expensive unpowered camp site fee we’ve encountered so far.  Nonetheless we set up camp and the kiddos busied themselves setting up a kids club whilst the big boys headed over to check out the Roadhouse Pub!

Barkly Homestead, $40 unpowered, amenities, roadhouse, pool

Day 299 – Underground!

• Mt Isa
• 27°c

It was a sightseeing day today, so our first stop was the tourist centre to see what else we should see whilst in town. After having a look around we decided the only thing we really wanted to see was the Old Underground Hospital.

The Underground Hospital was built after Darwin was bombed as it was thought that Mt Isa may be the next inland target. From memory the guide said it took the miners just 13 weeks to complete and during the time is was open no babies were delivered or surgery was performed. It was really quite extraordinary how the remaining unvandalised section has stood the test of time.

After our tour we headed to the Family Fun Park for lunch and to run off some energy. It was a great park and a credit to the town of Mt Isa, just a bummer the water park section was closed.

Dinner tonight was at the pub so the big boys could watch the rugby and the footy with atmosphere! After a delicious meal Rach & I took the kiddos home to bed and sat up chatting and listening as The Montagues & the Capulets started early tonight! - The caravan park is adjacent to a housing settlement and every night we've been here two families go at it till late into the evening before a lull and then it starts up again about 1.30am!

Day 298 – Just another glorious day!

• Mt Isa
• 28°c

A quiet day around camp, Maccas for lunch (shudders) because the fluro line for Subway was about 20 deep, I guess that's to be expected at lunchtime in a mining town?! 

Our camp neighbour had a lovely 20 year old cocky named Joe that was full of conversation including asking the dog what it's barking at and every day his owner dinks him on his pushbike around the park!

Day 297 – Girls Shopping Day

• Mt Isa
• 26°c

Much to the delight of Ella & Oscar, today was a school day. We got it done pretty quickly whilst Steve and Troy serviced the other jeep. New neighbours arrived on the other side and Steve got chatting to them and discovered they had an auto electrical problem with a pump. Mr Tinkerman asked would they mind if he took a look at it and they happily agreed. Steve had it fixed and running in no time and they were so pleased and delighted especially since they'd already paid an auto electrician to have a look at it with no joy.

The boys all stayed back at camp whilst us girls headed out to the shops of Mt Isa. It was a fairly quiet trip, although we did manage to refrain from purchasing matching onesies (just!) and Ella found another Lala Loopsy at the vintage store for $5, she was overjoyed!

The big excitement of the day though, was that it was Bingo night at The Irish Club! We were pumped and had a great night out but came home with no big Bingo to speak of.

Day 296 – Mt Isa

• Cloncurry – Mt Isa
• 138kms
• 23°c

Only a short relocation today to Mt Isa, we weren't sure where we were staying so we headed to a place a bit out of town but after doing a bit of recon and seeing the many workers dongas we decided that we go back to the one we had passed on the way in. We were all looking forward to setting up camp for a few days.

Mt Isa Caravan Park, $47 power, water, pool

Day 295 – Wanted Poster!

• Karumba – Cloncurry
• 448kms
• 24°c

On leaving Karumba, Steve pulled in to fuel up and we were somewhat concerned by the petrol tanker that pulled in. It was lovely to see Ella & Occy put the tech down and enjoy an old school style family car trip!

Burke & Wills Roadhouse was our destination for today but after making pretty good time and realising there is pretty much nothing here, the boys said they were happy to drive on. 

On arriving at Wal's camp, we couldn't help but notice that there was an extremely uncanny resemblance of the man in front of us to a wanted poster back at Burke & Wills. So as any normal citizen would do, Steve, Troy & I remarked on this over the CB, but not Rach, she walked straight up to him and advised him that she had just seen him on a wanted poster and enquired as to whether he was aware of this! Much to our delight he was not an outback psychopath but rather the father of a caring son who hadn't heard from his Dad and was worried for his safety and wellbeing! Rach has since been advised against doing this again should we meet another "wanted" person!

Wal’s Camp, $23 unpowered, basic, fine for a nights rest

Day 294 – Sunset Spot

• Croydon – Karumba
• 232kms
• 27°c

As we pulled out of Croydon we spotted The Oldest Store In Australia, so we had to take a quick peek inside, it was very cool with all the items displayed on the shelves behind the counter. It reminded me of the candy store in Willy Wonka, except this had grocery items as well!

A stop at one of the overland rail stops was a good time for a cuppa tea. Then it was on to Normanton, where I had thought we'd probably spend a week? About 30mins later including lunch and a trip to the supermarket and we were done! Maybe it's just like that on a Sunday?

We took a quick look inside the Purple Pub which is nothing more or less than that - A Purple Pub!

Then we stumbled upon The Big Croc, a replica of one caught by a woman named Krystina in 1957, 8.63 metres in length! Whoa, it was a dinosaur

Karumba is apparently a fishing mecca, but we had been told it has been overfished and plundered for many years, but the sunset is apparently one of the best. Rach booked us in for dinner at the pub to watch the sunset, we didn't see any crocs as we sat eating and drinking but we did see a beautiful sunset.

Karumba Gulf Caravan Park, $41 unpowered, pool

Day 293 – Desert Oasis

• Mt Surprise – Croydon
• 242kms
• 30°c

Whilst the Mums & Dads packed up camp, it was mini golf time for the gang! They were having a ball.

On arriving at Croydon it was really quite busy at the check in counter and we were glad we'd called ahead. The manager Rob was a friendly, funny fellow recounting the tale of why he has a sheep living under the house; too too many beers at a trivia night and yep - he bought a sheep!

It didn't take long for the 5 to find the pool and they were in as soon as their camp jobs were done.

After dinner Steve, Rach and Troy headed to the pub (surprise, surprise!) to watch the footy and leave our mark on yet another establishment. On their return there were tales of the locals including that of "Pop" aptly named for an incident that landed him in Pentridge some years ago and of a lady trucker with whom the boys shook hands and were glad she didn't give them the Mick Dundee handshake because their fingers were close to breaking!

Croydon Caravan Park, $30 power, water, pool