Mount Isa and Cloncurry are mining icons and we were looking forward to seeing them ‘”in the flesh” as it were. We enjoyed them both although we did not seem to get to do much in Mount Isa. But the highlight was the lovely landscapes we drove through from the ‘Curry to the Isa.
Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia
Getting there
Adels Grove > Gregory (88km) > Burke & Wills Roadhouse (145kms) > Cloncurry (182km) > Mount Isa >Total of 415kms
Day 0 – travel to Cloncurry
Left Adels Grove at 7.20 am. I am driving and it’s hard going facing directly into the sun. We saw 2 wild pigs eating at a dead fox, but they scampered away as soon as they saw us approach. Maybe that’s the result of the baiting that is going on. They should, however, bait the wild pigs also.
We got to Gregory a bit after 9, stopped to check the rig and pushed on after a change of drivers.
A little later we saw and videoed an emu initially running beside us in the bush, then right across the road in front of us. Lovely to see. To see the video, click here.
The road was mostly a good 2 lane road (80%), but also with some sections of narrow centre strip lanes (20%). We crossed the Leichhardt River and stopped to go back for some photos.
We then overtook a 4 carriage road train with Kerry driving, which was only doing 65-70kph. Then we went around another – a 3 x road train this time which was sitting on about 80kph. These were our firsts – very exciting. Pity I was too slow on the video. There seems to be so much hoo-has about road trains. I haven’t found that actually – slow down a bit and keep to the left when they are going the other way. When overtaking, be sensible – indicate, indicate and indicate – they will move over a touch and keep to the same speed. Hit the power button and keep it steady. Wait till you see the whole lot of them in the rear view camera before you attempt to pull in again. Works so far anyway.
Got to the Burke and Wills Roadhouse at about 11, so a pretty good trip.
The 182 kms drive to Cloncurry was pretty uneventful – good roads all the way and scrubland scenery, which began to change to hilly outcrops as we neared Cloncurry.
Cloncurry town
These are lands of Aboriginal peoples such as the Maithakari and the Wanamara.
The first Europeans here were Burke and Wills on their epic transcontinental expedition in 1860-61. The Cloncurry River was named by Burke after his [k] Irish cousin Lady Elizabeth Cloncurry, with the town taking its name from the river.
Ernest Henry, an adventurous grazier recognised the potential value of the black and red soiled plains, and also the possible mineral content in the ranges. He found copper and gold near Cloncurry in 1867, and shortly after he settled pastoral land to the north and west of the town.
The discovery of gold and copper quickly attracted a diversity of settlers including European miners, Chinese gold diggers and Afghan camel drivers. The Post Office opened in 1871 and the town was proclaimed in 1884. The first courthouse was built in 1885 and the Queensland’s Northern Line railway opened in 1908.
A telephone exchange was built in 1912 and with the establishment of Qantas in 1922 and the Flying Doctor Service in 1928, Cloncurry was the pivotal centre of NW Qld for many decades. The discovery of uranium at Mary Kathleen brought further wealth to the area in the 1950s. Until the development of Mount Isa in the 1960s, Cloncurry was the administrative centre of the region.
The first-ever flight of the Royal Flying Doctor Service took place from Cloncurry in 1928, using an aircraft hired from the then fledging airline, Qantas. The first Qantas hanger is still at the Cloncurry airport.
Today Cloncurry is known as the Friendly Heart of the Great North West and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2017. At the 2016 census, the population was recorded at 2,719.
Day 1 – Cloncurry
We spent the morning cleaning up the The Cruiser and Mobi. I have never seen so much dust and dirt in my life. The red dust was everywhere – covering the floor, all the benches, the lounge, all the lower drawers and in in all the cupboards. A horrendous job to clean this over quite a few hours.
Bunnings here we come to get silicone or something to seal anything and everything. No way am I going to go through this every time we hit a dirt road.
Meanwhile I was outside talking to some very interesting people in the caravan next door. He showed me many good ideas he had installed in their van.
After they moved out I started scrubbing Mobi – there was caked dust on every surface facing the front. I used a small hand brush and scrubbed and scrubbed. No hoses were allowed so I just used a bucket.
Eventually, we had done all we could for now and had lunch. For the future I intend to: 1) never go on a dirt road again; 2) get geo-tech cloth for every vent – compulsory to be left open or not; and 3) find a Bunnings when we get to Mount Isa because the Mitre 10 in Cloncurry have never heard of this stuff.
I will also get a tube of sealant and crawl underneath to go over every hole in the floor.
We then went out to tour the town. We checked out the Post Office first. Although the initial Post Office was built in 1871, the current building was built in 1906. Not the historic looking building we were expecting but it is heritage listed and still in operation, selling ice-creams no less.
Next was the Court House. A police contingent of 4 men and an Inspector had been stationed in tents at Cloncurry from 1870, but it was not until 1880 that a permanent Clerk of Petty Sessions was appointed, and Cloncurry’s first Police Magistrate was appointed in 1882. A Court house, police quarters and lockup, were completed in 1885, and the first Court sat in March 1900. This included being the registration point for births, deaths and marriages from 1886 to 2000.
We went to the airport to see the first Qantas hanger.
Needless to say, there are also a few pubs in town.
We also went to look at Chinaman Creek Dam not far out of town and just off the Mount Isa road. This is a lovely place and must provide a great asset to the town in summer. The mountain on the opposite shore – Mount Leviathan but known locally as Black Mountain – provides a strong backdrop.
We tried to find the Chinese Cemetery, which was flagged as a thing to do. There were no signs to point us in the right direction, but reading the local guide we finally got there. But all that is there is a sad looking monument in the long grass looking something like the tombs seen in Asia (we lived in Viet Nam for 8 years). If there is to be a monument to the contribution the Chinese made to the growth of the town, then a lot more should be done.
Just before 4 we got to the Mary Kathleen Memorial Park, which also hosts the Cloncurry Unearthed Visitor Information Centre & Museum. The Museum houses memorabilia from the Mary Kathleen Uranium Mine and Township as well as local history and photographs. This includes Robert O’Hara Burke’s (Burke and Wills explorers) water bottle, along with the history and photographs of their exploration. A gem and mineral display is also on display that was ranked by experts as most comprehensive collection in Australia. However, we were too late – there were no admissions after 4:00. So we wandered around looking at some of the outside displays, including the railway ambulance. Imagine how someone had the imagination to put an ambulance on rail tracks – there were no roads to speak of out here, but there was a railway. Bet it saved a few lives too. Ingenuity at its best.
Day 2 – drive to Mount Isa
The drive from “Curry” to “the Isa” is a great surprise, and indeed quite beautiful. From the start there are hills, bluffs, escarpments and mountains across the landscape. The road is also very good so it is a pleasure to do this drive. We even have overtaking lanes – it will be traffic lights next!
We took some video of this drive – click here
We stopped at the Burke & Wills monument, but that was disappointing. We thought that with the council and 2 very large mining companies involved they should have done something more significant. If you didn’t know any better you would think that the rocks were painted by mis-guided youths rather than being natural minerals.
Soon after that we looked at the monument to the dispossessed Kalkadoon Aboriginal people. Not great.
The lovely scenery continued as we drove west, and then finally the smoke stacks of the Isa appear on the horizon.
History of Mount Isa
The land on which Mount Isa sits was the home to the Kalkadoon aboriginal tribe, who led a subsistence lifestyle. As settlers and prospectors pressed further into their lands the Kalkadoon set out on one of Australia’s most successful guerrilla wars. Their success continued until 1884 when the tribe attacked a fortified position at Battle Mountain in large numbers and suffered terrible losses. Soon much of the land was lost to them and armed patrols chased the remnants of the tribe away. However the poor grazing capacity of the lands made times hard for the settlers over the following decades.
A lone prospector, John Campbell Miles, is said to have stumbled upon one of the world’s richest deposits of copper, silver and zinc during his 1923 expedition. When Miles inspected the yellow-black rocks in an outcrop, they were weighty and heavily mineralised. A sample sent away to the assayer in Cloncurry confirmed their value. Miles and four farmers staked out the first claims in the area. Taken with friend’s stories of the Mount Ida gold mines in Western Australia, Miles decided upon Mount Isa as the name for his new claim. Soon hundred of prospectors were lodging claims in the area. Mount Isa Post Office opened in August 1924.
Vast mineral deposits were found in the area and Mount Isa Mines (MIM) became one of the most productive single mines in world history, based on combined production of lead, silver, copper and zinc.
With an estimated urban population of 21,998 at June 2016, Mount Isa is the administrative, commercial and industrial centre for the state’s vast north-western region. It is a large and vibrant city. Although situated in an arid area, the artificial Lake Moondarra 19 kms north of the city on the Leichhardt River provides both drinking water and an area for water-sports, birdwatching and recreation.
Due to the lead production in the city, Mount Isa – and indeed the whole region around the mine – has one of the most intensive air quality monitoring systems in Australia. Concerns have been raised over childhood lead contamination and air pollution within the city. The Mount Isa Mines (MIM) in particular have been a source of significant lead pollution.
The Van park
We had decided to stay at the Sunset Van Park – a tiny bit out of town. Another new group of parks here – the “Top” or “Discovery” group. So we decided to join. $40 for 2 years, so it should pay for itself in a couple of months.
They said “a drive through site” – so as I had been driving, I kept on driving to park the van.
The sites are not so roomy and it is awkward to get a large van around. Kerry was driving and, even with a drive through site and my directions, we did not get close enough to the slab. But unfortunately the other side of dear old Mobi was perilously close to the electricity stand. Kerry moved to get out of the site and go around again, but each movement forward brought the rear of the van closer to the pole. A couple of men came over to assist and we tried reversing back, but that was no good. All too close. Eventually we unhitched and repositioned The Cruiser, so that we were able to edge Mobi past the pole.
We have now taken off the wheel from the jockey wheel and replaced it with a square plate so as to minimise “the lurch” we had been experiencing. This time there was little movement as the vehicles parted, so we will keep this going.
The park is large but the sites are quite narrow. We are very close to our neighbours.
We needed to have The Cruiser serviced – the 40,000km service. So we arranged for that on Tuesday morning. As the service place is close to the Tourist Information Office we also decided to do the mine tour that same morning.
We also went to check out the Irish Club, which is massive. It also has a really good drive through bottle shop.
Day 3
Sunday, which in the country means that nothing is open. So we spent much of the day planning our moves over the next few months and booking the van parks for where we will need a longterm stopovers – such as when we leave Mobi and go elsewhere.
I am really glad we joined the “Top” group – as our stay now booked in Katherine has now saved us over $40.
Day 4
We went to Tourist Information to organise the Hard Times Mine tour. We bought the full Outback at Isa ticket for $78 a head (with seniors discount) which covered everything including the mine tour. We enjoyed the Regional Art Gallery – small but with some lovely Aboriginal works and excellent pencil sketches.
There is a general display about Mount Isa which is pretty good, but a bit disorganised. Maybe we came in and went the wrong way around. The garden out the back was pretty average and we are really not sure what it is trying to show. The waterfall was switched off. The waterfall was supposed to be a model of the falls at Lawn Hill NP…. not really if you have seen them recently though. The gardens looked lovely, but neglected. The most prolific plant was the “Pussy Cat Tails” – a lovely lilac coloured shrub – a bit like Hebe, but different foliage and longer flower stems. Very soft and pretty.
At the very back is a fisheries facility in a large shed-like building – the Mount Isa Fish Hatchery Project it is called. But we have no ideal what it is doing. There were several fish tanks around the wall with all sorts of fish in them – quite a large barra actually – but while we were encouraged to go and have a look, there was nothing there to tell us what was going on, nor anybody to ask. Compared to say the Ebor Hatchery in Northern NSW, it was really confusing.
The Riversleigh Fossil Centre was really interesting ,and provided a snapshot of the nearby Riversleigh Fossil Fields which we did not get to. Now a World Heritage Area, the Fossils Fields are home to one of the most significant fossil deposits in the world. The first European to note the presence of fossil bones at Riversleigh was WE Cameron in 1900. However it was not until the mid-1970s that its paleontological riches began to be uncovered.
From the Information Centre we drove and walked around town to get a feel for the place. We stopped at Bunnings – me to get some brackets to fix the BBQ mount on Mobi which is in the most awkward position. I was aiming to get some nylon flyscreen (fine midgy screen would be great), and the geotechnical cloth to seal those wretched vents. We looked, looked, searched, looked some more. Finally asked at the counter. The young man gazed and said “I think I’ve heard of that stuff” – but, as I looked expectantly, he said “no. We don’t have any”. It’s beyond me how a mining town doesn’t have geotechnical cloth. Or any suggestions for keeping bloody dust out of everything.
We also went to K-mart to get some tracksuit pants as it has turned so cold at nights. The womens tracky-dacks were appalling so I bought a XXS black mens one. Fits very nicely actually.
We went up to the lookout for some great views back over the city. It really is a big town, with the mines in the backgrounds as a constant reminder of how it all began.
That night we had a good session with our new neighbours – he is a butcher from Brisbane and knows our brother in-law Paul who owns Annerley Meats, a prize-winning establishment. We really enjoyed the night and will maybe catch up with them in a couple of nights at the Barkly Roadhouse.
Day 5
We were up early to deliver The Cruiser for its 40,000km service at 7:30. We have a mine tour starting at 9:00 at the nearby Information Centre. It is cold and we have not had breakfast so we walked around town until we found a cafe open.
We sat down inside out of the wind and ordered. Me, cappucchino and smashed avo, and Des bacon, eggs (scrambled) and grilled tomato on toast and a black tea. The waitress asks him “do you want milk with your black tea?” My breakfast was delicious, but all Des got was scrambled eggs on toast…. when I mentioned this, they raced around and got some bacon, but no tomato appeared
The Hard Times Mine tour was great, although not cheap ($78pp). But well worth it we reckon. We were not allowed to take any photos on the tour.
Mount Isa is one of the few mines in the country where visitors can still take an underground tour – not in a working mine but one created to mimic as closely as possible a real mine. There are 1.6km of tunnels created for this “tourist mine”. Ian our tour guide worked in many aspects of mining for most of his life, so knows his stuff. We were a group of 13 and after some introductory information from Ian we went in to get changed.
We had been advised to wear “light, loose clothing – T-shirt and shorts and don’t forget to bring a pair of socks”. We were provided with orange overalls, hard hats and wellingtons and we learnt from Ian that the ladies size is just 2 sizes smaller than the mens. And of course a couple of people came without socks. Ian came to the rescue.
We then went out into the open area where Ian showed us many of the old machines and what they were used for. Before we went down, Ian took us into a large shed, gave us head lamps and a key tag with out name. We had to hang these tags on a board to signal that we were down the mine. Before our descend in the Alimak Cage, we had our photos taken.
On the tour Ian told the history of mining and the problems faced by those who work deep underground. We worked our way through the tunnels which were formed and shaped by many volunteers who, using the drills and mucking units, formed this tourist attraction. The machinery used was all explained and we got to operate an air-leg drill.
We ended up in the Cribb – where the miners relaxed, or waited for a blast to take place or had their meals. We were offered pasties and sandwiches and tea/coffee. Ian explained that the pasties come from the old Cornish, UK, mining practices. The hard bit around the edge of the pastie were like a handle – what the miners held onto but was never eaten as they could not wash their hands.
Kerry was first up to try the firing of the blast face. What a noise it made! Then we all piled into a truck and got driven out along the ramp up to the surface.
We heard hat about 100,000 people have done the tour (who has been in my boots then?) and that at the height of the season, tours are often booked out two months in advance.
We got a taxi back to the van park after that as we had no car. We really wonder why they asked us to drop it off at 7:30 and then tell us that will not start on it until much later and it won’t be finished until later in the afternoon. At 2:30 I decided to walk into town as its a good way away and surely they will finish sometime between 3 and 4.
At about 3pm, the service centre phoned and said they’d finished, but did we have a spare wheel nut as one was missing. I said no we didn’t so he said the car would be ready in about 15 minutes after he purchased one for us. He also said that the other nuts on that wheel were loose. No idea how that happened.
Finally we stocked up on wine. We have found it difficult to get the wine we like in many places so it makes sense to bring it with us. The large bottle shop in Miles St had just what we wanted at reasonable prices. No prosecco unfortunately, but plenty of “Yellowglen Bubbles”.
To see photos related to this post, click here
To see a video related to this post – mostly of the drive to Mount Isa – click here