Mount Isa

Mon 8 June… Another Bank Holiday Monday with not much going on. Spent a very boring morning defrosting the fridge and standing about in the sun like Meerkats trying to warm up. The nights are very cold as are the mornings. Peter spoke to a couple of guys from Victoria, they are not sure where they are going, just wandering around aimlessly trying to find some warm weather. It must be grim down south! He asked what attracted them to Mount Isa--------they didn’t know! There are 4WD vehicles in the park with their spare wheel covers displaying slogans, such as “going bush” “outback bound” and “my other vehicle is a fishing boat”. They are spotless, never seen a back yard, never mind the outback. They pull the shiniest caravans you ever saw whilst our van is thick with red dust, a million dead flies ,not to mention the splattered locusts, it looks like it’s actually been somewhere.
Managed to find a supermarket open for one or two essential supplies, plus a Bottlo that was reasonable. We thought we might eat out tonight , and as the world famous Irish Club has been recommended, we have to give it a go. We just ring a phone number and they send out a free courtesy bus to collect us and bring us back any time we wish. The club is huge 2 restaurants, 4 table pool room, pokies, 3 bars and a disco, T A B (betting) and more TV’s showing more different channels than you could believe! Peter watched rugby league whilst Navigator watched Who wants to be a Millionaire, and we were sitting at the same table! It’s an amazing place and very cheap our meal cost us 40 bucks, much more than we could eat, the beer was cheap as well and taken home before 10!
Tues 9 June… as we are still short of supplies we decide to stay another night. We have seen a few butchers shops so we can stock up. Also we thought that last night was such good value that we would go again tonight! After a mooch round town, and a visit to the butchers and a very good book shop, we drive out to Lake Moondarra. It’s unusual to find such a big expanse of water here in the outback, but Mount Isa has a pop of 21,000, so it needs a good water supply. It’s very peaceful by the lake hardly anyone else there, as we wander along the top of the dam. Mount Isa is still a tip and you can see the chimney belching out smoke where ever you are, and it has a horrid, funny smell to it. There a few redeeming features, the lake, the club and free internet!