Where the last few towns we have visited have been lovely, clean and refreshing after the long drive through the desert, Mount Isa is very different. Being a mining town, it is pretty grey and industrial looking. We had some things to do in a big town like this so booked into the AAOK Moondarra Caravan Park just out of town. As someone said on Wkicamps ‘it’s the best park of a bad bunch’.

Of course, everything here revolves around mining and there is some great artwork depicting it.

A main event held in Mount Isa every year is the Rodeo, where celebrations last for a week. This is an important event for them as the rodeo is the biggest and richest in the southern hemisphere. Along Rodeo Drive there are plaques on the footpaths of people who have won the rodeos.

The painted silo at ‘The Gap’ gives the town a bit of a lift.

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Just outside of Mount Isa, we came across a monument dedicated to explorers Burke and Wills to commemorate when they came through this area. Just sad that they died soon after.

Wednesday brought a big change in the weather. We could feel the start of the wet season building for a while and have been wakened during the night with loud thunderstorms but no rain. But for two nights it absolutely poured down. Our caravan leaked above our bed on the first night but luckily John fixed the problem by the second night. Many farmers will be happy but, for others, I think the rain has come a bit too early.

We didn’t mind Mount Isa but were happy to move on back towards the Northern Territory. The first little town we passed through, just before the border, was Camooweal. Blink and you’ll miss it. However, like many of these outback towns, they like to remember the Drovers. They even have a plaque naming many of them.

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Having organised our ‘Good to Go’ permits, we had no problem getting back into the NT. We drove for some hours to the Barkly Homestead then decided to push on along the Tablelands Highway until we found a quiet place to camp beside the road. It was very peaceful and we watched a lovely sunset over the desert.

The next morning we took off for Borroloola.