7am 26 degrees - nice. A bit cloudy. Flies are up and about too.
Continued west through more flat open grassland. Spotted two bustards (plains turkey). On a YouTube show a local plucked and cooked one for people to try and they thought it was pretty good. Dad used to say - ‘you put it in a pot with a rock and boil it till tender. Throw out the turkey and eat the rock as it will taste better’!
As we neared Cloncurry the country changes to low hills and trees. Interesting hill.
Cloncurry is the birthplace of the Flying Doctor, John Flynn. We stopped at the first servo that on the App said was still cheaper but it was $2.30 so we went to the next one that was $2.249/l so we topped up there. Got good fuel economy (4.975km/L) with the tail wind and flat roads.
Across Cloncurry River - water held back by a weir.
Up and down hills - that might change the fuel economy! Pretty country with the reds, greens and yellow colours.
The smoke stacks stand out as we near Mt Isa.
Someone had a house on the hill with spectacular view but don’t drop anything out the window!
Topped up again at the Woolies fuel place - $2.259/L.
Across the Leichardt River - not much water in it. Alongside the mine area then out of town and west again.
Lunch at the WW2 historical site. Good information about the creation of the road from Mt Isa to the border. We are parked beside the old road that is still in pretty good nick.
Nice big area for camping too. Warm but not uncomfortable and only a few flies.
Steve gave me a lesson on the boost gauge etc in case I need to drive the truck.
The countryside flattens but the scrub trees, grass and spinifex remain and lots of little red anthills.
We have been driving under puffy clouds so far but now a higher cloud has blocked the blue sky.
I closed my eyes again for a moment when Steve spotted a huge wedge-tailed eagle sitting on a carcass just off the road. He reckons it is the biggest he has seen.
Into Camooweal. Didn’t top up here as the one servo had diesel for $252.9/L - ouch. Will hope that NT prices haven’t gone too crazy yet.
Nice statue in memory of the drovers who worked this country for many years. Plaque is hard to read though.
Two years and 3 months ago we crossed the Qld/NT border coming home in very very hot weather. This time it is much more bearable. The border is marked by the fence line on the Qld side.
The NT sign is a bit further over.
The flies were happy to greet us too. Will be doing a bit of killing as we couldn’t stop them getting into the camper when we went in to have a cuppa. I will hang my ‘fish-shop’ strips now so it will brush them off us as we enter so hopefully I won’t have to go made with my fly-swat as much.
Flat open grasslands continue.
Past the Avon Downs Police Station where we camped in Dec 2019.
Stopped at the roadworks red light. It also had a count-down to let us know when the green light would come. I took a photo but the 5 minutes (in the middle) to go didn’t come out. It had dots around the 5, 4 etc and counted down. Very good idea.
Through more roadworks - they are doing a lot of work on the shoulder of the road. The first section we went over though needs a lot of work on the potholes.
Stopped for the night at Wonara Bore Rest Area where the water truck for the roadworks was filling up out of the bore.
Another couple in a Nova caravan are parked up too. Plenty of room on the dirt beside trees, well away from the road too.
6pm 37 degrees in the camper but we are very comfortable.
Sunset at 7.10pm.
Chatted with the lady in the Nova caravan. She is heading to King Ash Bay.
We wandered around the bore pool. The water is pumped up from the bore hole and flows into the pool then they use another generator and pump to get it up into the pipe so they can fill up the water trucks for the road works.
7.40pm - fabulous after sunset colour.
Forgot we had to wind our clocks back half an hour when we entered NT so those times above are half hour out!!
We played 3 to Kings - I won. Will have to play Skipbo again so Steve can have a win!
No need to heat the shower water of late as it is still hot so a cold shower is just perfect.
Flashes of lightning in orange cloud to the north of us, low on the horizon - maybe orange from dust or fire if there has been a lightning strike. Certainly was spectacular to watch. Clear sky and millions of stars above us which is good. So nice to lay in bed and look out at the big dipper and the other stars.
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