Flinders Highway to Mt Isa

Our departure from Charters Towers on Tuesday was with some regret. We had settled well into ‘resort’ lifestyle but the journey had to continue. Dearne has had no problems with driving the motorhome and continued her stint right through into Mt Isa.

Our planned free stopover at Campaspe River Rest on Tuesday night turned into a non-event. The stop was directly between both a busy main highway and an equally busy main rail route i.e. lots of overnight noise would have been the go. To top it off, with the drought that the area is currently experiencing, the river was dry i.e. no yabbies. We had our lunch there and then decided to carry on west unsure of where our next stop would be.

Dearne considering her next one at the Prairie Hotel

After consulting our Camp 7 book we decided to try a little place called Prairie (population 290 at the last census), another 60km further along the Flinders Highway. The book said that the local hotel offered free parking to motorhomes and caravans directly behind the hotel.  When we rolled up at about 2pm the hotel was closed but a note on the window told us to park anywhere around the back. We did. Over the course of the next two hours another five vans filled the park and after introducing ourselves we all met at the bar on its’ opening at 4pm. Great little country pub, great hospitality and a very genial publican – cheers Tom. A few photo’s of our Prairie visit HERE .

Wednesday morning we were the last to leave the Prairie Hotel RV park. As we have said before on the blog, we are useless at getting up early – a wee lay in with a coffee and a catch up with the NZ News on the ipad (good reception permitting)  is our normal morning routine. This morning was no different.

Dearne was in the drivers seat and we had decided that Richmond on the Flinders Highway was going to be our lunch break. As it turned out, the area has quite a significant history in the discovery of dinosaur fossils in Australia and our visit was a great adventure. Most of you will know of Rod’s opinion on global warning – the worlds climate is cyclical and flora and fauna evolve over millions of years to meet the constant changing conditions – anything else is fairy tales.  For instance, did you know that 200 millions of years ago, Australia and Antarctica were one continent where the area was ‘warm’ and there was ‘no’ ice.   Keep trading carbon credits if you can get them guys – it’s a ‘todays’ investment and the money is from the backs of loonies.

Sunset and Moon Rising at Maxwelton

We stayed Wednesday night at the Maxwelton free rest area. It is about 50km west of Richmond or about 350km East of Mt Isa. It has all the basic facilities albeit it was a little noisy as it was not far from the main road and the road trains passed through frequently through the night. We felt quite safe as there were four other travellers at the site.  We are loving these ‘in the middle of nowhere’ spots.

Thursday night was another free night at a small rest area called Fountains Springs Rest.  It is about 60km east of Mt Isa and a similar distance from Julia Creek.  The location was not as glamorous as it sounds as there were no Springs but it was pleasant all the same.  Lots of shady trees and good company.

Heading into Mt Isa

We arrived in Mt Isa yesterday afternoon and have booked into one of the local RV parks. The household chores need to be done, the odd bit of maintenance on the van, jeep and ourselves and we want to get out and explore the region.

We have had a couple of problems updating the blog as reception here seems very unreliable. Making phone calls is fine but using data can be ‘hit and miss’.

We will try and update the blog again prior to leaving here.