Mt Isa

Driving from Boulia to Mt Isa was again a matter of changing country and the closer I got to Mt Isa, the more amazed I was.  It is not at all the country I thought it would be. The Mount part of Mt Isa is interesting – cause there are hills/mountains all around. I thought there may be one or 2 & then it would be in the middle of the desert.  But its actually in a nice valley. I’m thinking the area its in isn’t good for much – but it does look good.

The rock formations coming into town were quite intriguing – with weathered, rounded boulders in small little clumps to start with & then more & more frequent. And then I drove through a few hills of trees & scrub & more rocks – some really “pretty” country and you come around a corner & you’re almost in Mt Isa & once again a big “factory” type thing – I think this was actually the power station.

Driving into the town is a bit daunting – it seems quite run down & really – exactly what you’d think it would be like!!  Downtown is OK – not very exciting though – they have all the necessities in life (Maccas, KFC, subway!!!) and a few extras (Kmart, Bunnings!!).  I parked up at a caravan park, got some groceries and not much else.

I spent the next day doing the domestics, taking it easy & trying to do an online Responsible Service of Alcohol course. I’m thinking that perhaps I can get a job doing some bar work as I wander around the country and Qld need a specific certificate – and I think the one I’m going will give me the certificate for Qld and also another one for NT/WA.  So – the part that was supposed to take about 45 minutes took me about 1.5 hours – shows to go – I’m slowing down in my old age !!  Anyway, I’ll keep plugging away at it to get it done. (I should be doing it now – but I’m actually trying to catch up on the blogging too – and this is a little easier than the course).  I got my hair cut off. I was sick of it just blowing around & sticking out everywhere – so I go it cut. The girl who cut my hair used to work at a salon in Mawson!! Her & hubbie had just moved up to the Isa about 2 months ago I think. Small world!!

The next day in Mt Isa I took the ute to the TJM store for them to have a look at the stupid air bags. I went for a walk around town – a weird mixture of shops for a town this size – I think about 20000 people. Found one nice “giftie” shop – but I think it was closing down. Didn’t see that much in nice clothes shops, girlie shops, etc. But I’m sure they must be there.

I did a tour (by bus) through the mine – showing through the big open cut they have, plus a drive by of the smelting place and lots of other interesting things. Mt Isa used to be made up of 2 areas – “Mineside” and “Townside” – as a lot of people used to live right up to the mine – even where some of the working areas are now. Apparently it depended on where you lived as to how well you were doing – as “Mineside” was well taken care of by the mine – whereas “Townside” was on its own. Eventually, one of the mine managers/owners helped to build up the “townside” and also the mine got too big for people to live on that side of the rail lines. Its hard to imagine how close the “Minesiders” must have been to the mine – as the below photo shows how close the town is to the mine now.

Mt Isa

I also went through the “Outback at Mt Isa” display of a few fossils (15 mins of my life I’ll never get back) and the history of Mt Isa (it was OK really).  A visit to the city lookout is definitely worthwhile – because it puts everything in perspective – the mine across the rail tracks (where nothing grows the other side of the mine – as the fumes, etc discourage growth), the mountains in the not too distant, the trees and valleys between and downtown Isa – its all quite pretty – green lush in contrast to the mine.

So, there are other things to do around Mt Isa – but I didn’t want to do any of them and decided to move on to Winton…….