Day 57: We aim for Boulia and end up at Camooweal (28/07/12)

Today we wanted to make an early start, as we wanted to go down the Diamantina Development Road to Boulia, about a 400 km trip. We would spend the Sunday at Boulia and then go on to Winton and then south through Queensland. We got away pretty early and drove north out of Isa. For about 20 kms we continued through the ranges which surround Mt Isa, and then we dropped into flat country that forms part of the Diamantina Basin. If it rains enough, as it did in the last couple of years water from here would end up in Lake Eyre. Well, it was not raining now: skies were blue and the sun was warm.

The Diamantina Development Road. After putting down one lane, they ran out of development money. Now, who is going to go off the bitumen first? This guy ahead, or Joke?

Determined look, firm-knuckled grip. Nobody messes with a Prep teacher. You can just see the 4-wheel drive flying through the scrub in the rear-vision mirror. Just kidding..... I think.

Ardmore station itself was at the other end of the 78 kms. We turned around about here.

But another problem was raising its head. Driving south meant going home, and it did not feel like the time was right for that. Driving south also meant a leisurely look at country Queensland and the NSW north coast, and possibly even a concert at the Sydney Opera House, but that did not seem to weigh up against the negative feelings we were experiencing. We had just crossed the grid which marked the border of the Ardmore property, about 60 kms out of Mt Isa  (the farm house itself was about another 75 kms away...), when we stopped for a spontaneous irrigation session – a result of much breakfast tea and coffee while-u-drive. We looked at each other and said: what are we doing, let’s turn around and go back to Isa and then go through Northern Territory instead! No sooner said than done. We did a u-turn and headed back towards Mt Isa, leaving a slightly humid patch on the Diamantina Road for the locals to puzzle about.

Back at Mt Isa, we tanked petrol again, aware that petrol prices would go up from here, and set off west towards Camooweal and the NT border. Just 10 kms out of Isa we heard this rattling in the back and Joke clambered over the seat to sort out whatever was making a racket in the boot. Nothing to be found, so we stopped for an inspection. We found our Anderson plug had come loose and had been wearing itself down on the bitumen. There was about half of the plastic left – not enough to plug it back in with. What to do? It was Saturday afternoon and our caravan battery charger was now out of commission. Once again we drove back into Mt Isa, stopping at a truckie’s servo to ask whether there were any auto electricians available. The ladies were charmingly helpful and equally vague and came up with an address in the middle of town. Off we went and did not find any electrician auto or otherwise in the vicinity. I asked at an outdoor store nearby if they could give me better directions. The bloke said “Anderson plug? I’ll fix it”, went round the back, got his tools out, plug off the shelf and went outside and had the new plug on and crimped in about 2 minutes! All for $14.95, the cost of the plug. That was just a bit of terrific service, something that is becoming all too rare these days. So if you are ever in Mt Isa, and you need something in the outdoor/4WD line, look up Guy at the Atlas Superstore in Simpson Street and you can be confident that you will get a good deal. Good on him!

We then made a third attempt to leave Mt Isa, this time successfully. The drive to Camooweal was about 180 kms of largely flat pastoral land.

On the way to the Northern Territory instead

We looked at each other and said: "Are we mad or what?"

We had phoned ahead to book a spot at one of two caravan parks. When we got there, the signs were a bit unclear to the driver, if not the navigator, so we ended up at the other caravan park. Didn’t matter, the cost was the same: I checked :-)

A Camooweal sunset instead of a Boulia sunset!