Day 11 - Mount Isa to Barkly Homestead

Day 11 - Mount Isa to Barkly Homestead

This morning I met with a very nice group of people doing the same thing that I am doing; going around Oz on a motorbike. So, it's confirmed; I am not the only one that is crazy, ther are others like me.

The trip from Mt Isa was a very smooth run, in the beginning we continued on the Selwyn ranges and then it was flat for as far as you can see.

After a little while we arrived to Camooweal, we had coffee there and fuel. I was surprised to find that the price was $1.97/litre.

We took a photo here of our group.



The 'ccbikers' in Camooweal



Another view, from the left: Colin and Loeen (2 up), John, Jim, Phil, me, Kevin

They have a group in the Central Coast, their website is www.ccbikers.com and they organise rides every 2 weeks or so.
Shortly after leaving Camooweal, we were at the border with the Northern Territory, with the relative freedom of 130km/h limit (in every other state, it is 110km/h)




Petrol prices at Camooweal




A sign at Camooweal




Queensland 5 years ahead of NT? After seen the speed limits and the quality of the roads in the NT, I am not so sure...


The only indication I had that we changed state was the sign that said it, and the new speed limits. Other than that, the roads were very good and they werre straight. Only after about 1/2 hour we found a slight s-bend, ther than that, the scenery was the same the whole time, just a feeling of being in the middle of nowhere, with the horizon all around you, no trees, no animals, no fences, no towns, no nothing.




Gus at the border




The team at the border


We encountered huge Road Trains, and now something worse than that; we found trucks that cover almost the whole of the road, both lanes, leaving only about 1/2 metre on one side for our bikes to get through when overtaking them. Cars just move out of the road, but we can't do that on a bike. I wonder what will happen if we meet one coming in the opposite direction. Not something I am looking forward to.




I saw this picture of the type of Road Trains that we might encounter when we reach the WA minefields.



Anyway, between Camooweal and the Barkly Roadhous there is nothing, no petrol stops, no campings, only the odd rest area every 80kms or so; all we found was an apparet unending stretch of straight road. When we arrived to the Barkly Roadhouse it was a refreshing change. We got a shock however with the price of petrol, $2.09 a litre! I will probably take advantage of my 7 litres emergency fuel here and then refuel when I get to the Stuart Highway, it has to be cheaper there as there will be more competition, here the Barkly roadhouse has a monopoly, so they charge what they want.


Here we are, all camping on a nice patch of grass, for $10 a head




I set up my tent in 3 minutes approx, the design of the tent proves again and again to be the best for this trip



I keep finding signs like this one. Something strage happens in this area of Australia



Another use for the handlebars that you probably haven't thought of before

 Set up my tent, had a good feed at the Roadhouse, a quick chat with the guys and soon will go for a shower and into the envelope for another needed rest.

Tomorrow will separate from the group when we reach the Threeways at the Stuart Highway, the group is heading north to Darwin, but I am going south to visit the Devils Marbles first. I really want to see them, I am told that they are spectacular and that the photos do not make them justice. I will probably re-join the group in a day or 2.

Tomorrow I will camp at the Marbles, ther is no formal camping ground there, I will be camping int he middle of nowhere, under the stars; I dont; expect that I will have mobile signal, let alone internet, so tomorrow I might not be able to post anything. However, teh next day I will, and I expect that the photos fromt eh Marbles will be great, i will make sure I take photos at the sunset and at the sunrise. Cheers!

Day 10 - Mount Isa

Day 10 - Mount Isa

Today I spent the whole day at Mount Isa. This is a mining town, it holds the biggest mine in Autralia, the mine here produces silver, lead, zinc and copper.

I visited a couple of museums today and an underground mine, which  now doubles as a museum, it holds a lot of machinery that is not used on the active mines anymore.

The first museum was one dedicated to Riversleigh, which is an area near Mt Isa where more than half of all fossils found in Oz have been found.

What I found incredible is that I am now here in what is the middle of the peak season. All the attractions are setup for a lot of people; however, there are none. I find myself mostly alone everywhere. It is clear that people are taking advantage of a very strong Aussie dollar and taking their money on overseas trips.

The entry to the fossils exhibition, I bought a ticket, but there are no queues nor staff to get in. there is only a sign at the door asking to let reception know when somebody gets in, for EH&S reasons.

Part of the exhibition itself, very interesting, but strangely, I miss the crowds

This tree is interesting, it was 'blazed', which means that it was marked with a knife. This used to be the method to indicate the way before there were roads. this particular tree was blazed during the search for Burke and Wills

A dentist dream

During the war, when Darwin was bombed, they were worried that the Japanese would bomb Mt Isa as well. So they did what they knew best, they dug a huge tunnel and they moved the hospital into it.

This is the entrance to the underground hospital

One of the rooms in the underground hospital

The Outback Park. What? you knew already?

A local waterhole

This the only photo I have of the underground mine, the experience was incredible, I saw the machines working and I even had a chance to try some of them. They are very, very noisy and dangerous. however, I was not allowed to take my camera under there and the only photo that I have is this one (they charged $10 for this photo)

Bill and Gus, miners

Some nice views of Mt Isa from the top.

All that smoke... I am told that when the wind blows towards the city, they have to stop the smelting. However, with the wind blowing away, I can still smell it

The sign at the centre of the world

 Tomorrow I am leaving with a group of people that I met at the camping, they are all doing the same thing that I am doing, going around Australia. I'll probably spend a couple of days with them, as they are going in the same direction and it would be a refreshing change to share the drive with other people.

Another view from the top

Day 9 - Winton to Mount Isa

Day 9 - Winton to Mount Isa

I thought that it is about time to put a map indicating what I've done so far. Here it is.

Sydney to Mount Isa

The nights here are very, very cold. This morning it was 6 degC




Cold, cold...



Just before leaving I saw this baby Harley.

The road leaving Winton is interesting. It starts with full vegetation and then slowly and clearly, as it approaches Cloncurry it became barren and dry.

Nice, barren landscape

Some beautiful rock formations, the one on the left, I mean.

The flat area is spotted with small short and flat mountains, the aborigines call them 'jumps'


The 'Jumps' in the horizon

After leaving Winton, thre was a sign indicasting petrol at 180km, when I arrived this service station, it's pumps were faulty (for some time apparently) and there was a caravan there that didn't think they'd make it to the next town.

Caravans in trouble

Of course I didn't have a problem, as my range is now near 600 km, so I can now even travel for a full day and will not need refuelling (i.e. Sunday).

I stopped at this very old Roadhouse, outside there were 3 huge brolgas.




The 'Blue Heeler' Roadhouse, on the Matilda Highway

Brolgas

On the way, I saw this sign, for all the ones out there that didn't believe me about the lengh of the Road Trains.

Here it is closer, in case you missed it

Termite city, a huge quantity of termite mounds, they were everywhere. Termites, anyone?

Another view of the termites

 On the way, I found this Memorial to Burke and Wills. Apparently they passed this area. The story of Burke and Wills is very close to my heart. One of the first books I read about Australia, before choosing this country as my own, was the one describing their fateful journey. since then I wanted to travel this wonderful country.

This is a memorial conmemorating Burke and Wills

When I arrived at Cloncurry, I went to visit a friend of mine that was working at the Oasis Hotel. Her name is Shelly.

Some interesting contraption at the Oasis. I would love to try one of these.

Do they have anything against the irish?

In case you are wondering; a gidgee is a type of wood found on the Acacia trees.



Finally got to the 'Isa' Apparently now I am a real aussie.

I might be a real aussie now, but I am also really tired and this night I will splurge in a bit of cabin luxury. I miss a soft comfy bed.