Mt Isa unfortunately has developed a rather nasty reputation for trouble within its indigenous community and if our night last night was anything to go by I would concur. Last night early in the evening one of the houses over the back fence of the caravan park was playing very loud music and our neighbours in the park said that the night before that had gone on until almost 2.00am along with a few arguments. So this morning at about 5.00am there was suddenly a lot of swearing and yelling from one of the houses including banging on the back fence of the van park and it went on for about half an hour making all the dogs in the neighbourhood bark as well. It was so intense and the person was so angry I was lying in bed feeling concerned about how bad it was escalating and thinking about calling the police. It's hard to go back to sleep after an incident like that.
I think both Shane and I were in a bit of denial about the incident with the caravan lights as we went about our usual routine of packing up for those mornings when we move on to our next destination. When the final moment came to connect the lights and check them I'm certain there was a bit of a happy dance from both of us to know that the issue had been resolved and we were good to go. I don't think either of us wanted to acknowledge the consequences if they hadn't worked.
Back on the road we had an easy run through to Cloncurry - just 121km down the road. Lots of fresh roadkill this morning which also meant lots of birds and a few bodies that required a bit of creative driving to avoid them. This is such a pretty part of the country, we still have the dark red soil of the outback and the rocky outcrops and hills reveal some pretty stunning scenery in between.
Having checked in to the caravan park at Cloncurry we headed back along the way we came to visit a couple of sites that we had marked on our must visit list. The first was the Mary Kathleen mine and old township site. Mary Kathleen was first settled in the 1860's but it wasn't until 1954 that Uranium was discovered by Clem Walton (remember that name....) and Norm McConachy. Prospecting and exploitation rights were subsequently onsold, and in 1955 Rio Tinto Mining formed Mary Kathleen Uranium Ltd to develop a mine and service town. An architect-designed town grew during 1956-58, with reticulated water from a dam, Lake Corella. The mine and town closed in 1963 but re-opened in 1974 and finally closed in 1982. Since rehabilitation, it has been found that the tailings repository at the Mary Kathleen site has been subject to seepage of radioactive waters from both the toe of the dam and the surface at rates much higher than initially predicted. The radioactive waste has seeped into former evaporation ponds as well as local drainage systems, causing widespread death of native vegetation. This issue remains unresolved. Needless to say swimming was not on our list of things to do but how amazing this site was to visit. To say the road in is a little rough is an understatement but it is absolutely worth every bump and dip when you finally see the mine site and the stunning scenery around it.
An amazing number of freecampers were at the old Mary Kathleen township site where all that is left of the township are some of the streets and a few cement slabs.
Our next stop was Clem Walton Park which just blew us away by the sheer number of free campers on the property. There had to be at least 100 camps from Winnebago's to tents and all sized caravans in between. A sign warning of Blue Green Algae obviously put a bit of a damper on any swimming but this clearly didn't discourage any of these campers. These were just a small portion who had prime real estate for their holiday on the banks of the Corella Dam.
Our third stop was Chinaman's Creek Dam which would have been a beautiful serene place to spend some time had it not been for some fool parked in the shade with all the doors of his car open playing music at the loudest possible volume. The irony of this scene was the sign near the picnic area.
Our final stop was a lookout over the township and surrounds of Cloncurry which is actually much larger than we had thought and we wish we had a bit more time to spend here as it is truly a beautiful area with I'm sure much more to reveal if we had the time to look.
Back at camp I missed all but the last light of the day as we sat to watch an NRL match and talk about the day. It seemed to me that today we fitted in so much it felt like we had been here more than just the half day. It was a super warm evening with the bonus of no mosquitoes in the caravan at the end of the night!
285km
Total - 7,958 km
Top today 32°c - expecting overnight 15°c
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