Day 12 - A long run into Mt Isa

Off to Mt Isa in one! It seemed like a good idea to get the travelling over with and then enjoy a couple of days to relax. We had to be in Mt Isa on Tuesday to service the car.

Out of Birdsville we drove past a sign post to Alice Springs which was strewn with boots. It looked as if someone had picked up all the random boots that had fallen from travelling vehicles and decided to decorate the road sign. At the next junction someone had set up an old sofa, a TV, a table, a fridge and a microwave as an outdoor room.

Most interesting of all was a set of parallel drag marks in the road dust. We assumed something had come loose from a car or a caravan and was dragging in the dirt. Either that or some jolly big snakes were using the road. They turned out to be made by a French couple, Sebastien Guesney and Lara Jaillon, who were following the Burke and Wills route on foot. They had left Melbourne in November. Sebastien had designed two carts with aluminium frames and a pair of cross-country bicycle wheels. They aimed to walk 25 Km per day so they had to carry sufficient water and food to survive the long distances between watering holes. They are recording their journey on their web site www.terraincognitatrek.com. After checking they had enough water and no other needs we left them to their walk and continued in our air conditioned comfort.

At one point along the road there were a large number of paddy melons growing wild. Thinking they might be tasty and ever one for a free feed, Richard sampled one and decided they were probably best served as a relish or heavily disguised in some other way.

We arrived in Mt Isa at 7:30pm having picked up three stone chips in the windscreen from a passing truck. We were quite watchful during the last two hours of our journey. It was dusk and would be hard to see any kangaroos or cattle straying onto the road. We passed a small pack of four wild dogs tucking into a meal of road kill at the side of the road

We had selected the AAOK Moondarra Camp Site because it was out of town and advertised as quiet and in the bush. The owners had decided to major in providing accommodation to the various temporary tradespeople and other workers that the town hosts. Being dark we could not make out the site. The first place the manager offered was a patch of grass behind the facilities – well within earshot of a group enjoying some noisy jokes. We upgraded to a cabin just to so we did not have to erect the tent.

Being hungry, we asked a couple where we might find some food and they gave us a card for a courtesy bus to the Buffs Club or Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. The food was good and we had a bottle of merlot to help us sleep.