Blogs from Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 16

Mt Isa is a big mining town and has been at the cutting edge (pardon the pun) of mining technology for many decades. The area is extremely rich in silver, lead, zinc and especially copper deposits. In 1923 it was found to be the richest seam of lead zinc in the world when an itinerant prospector chanced upon some weighty rocks. He took them to nearby Cloncurry for analysis to be told they were up to 78% lead-silver. He staked his claim on 42 acres, named it Mt Isa and it remains one of the world’s most productive single mines. The company – Mt Isa Mines – came into being in 1924 but today it is owned by a Swiss company Glencore and boasts both open cut and underground mines. They currently mine ½ million tonnes ... read more

Ask any serious Australian bushwalker which hikes are on their 'bucket list' and there's a pretty good chance the Thorsborne Trail will get a mention. Stretching down the eastern edge of Hinchinbrook Island (known as 'Pouandai' by the local Biyaygiri indigenous people) in Tropical North Queensland, the trail has a legendary reputation among those in the know for it's rugged beauty and splendid isolation. The biggest problem with the trail is that it's almost impossible to get permits, as Queensland's Parks & Wildlife Service only allow up to forty people to stay overnight on the island at any time. The obvious flipside to this is that for those lucky enough to secure permits, they can be assured a true wilderness experience free from the crowds that flock to other destinations on this stretch of coast (ie ... read more

We took a short drive out to MoondarraLakeon the LeichardtRiver, just 17kms north east of the city. To see so much sparkling blue water after all the dust and red sand was quite refreshing. Moondarra is an artificial lake constructed in 1956 and is the source of domestic water for the townspeople as well as providing water for the mines; it has a holding capacity of 107,000 mega litres. It offers the opportunity for a variety of water sport activities and we imagine that the lush green picnic areas would be well used throughout the year.... read more

We are staying in Boulia tonight at the caravan park, and once again the town and the park in particular, is chock-a-block full. The park operator commented that the recent volume of vans has been twice what they would normally expect – we assume everyone just wants a break away because they missed travelling last year. We had planned on two nights here, hoping for a powered site but as it is so busy we have an unpowered one. They showed us first of all to a very pretty site but it was well shaded and because it is unpowered we would prefer to have a sunny spot to ensure plenty of solar; they were happy for us to move. We set up and then drove into town to refill at least one of the gas ... read more

Roll out on the Friday morning was even more organised than the roll in. For safety reasons no-one was allowed to leave camp before 7am. At 2minutes past there was a steady stream heading out. Once again they had volunteer marshals at the end of each road, allowing 15 vehicles at a time to join the exiting convoy. We could not believe how quickly we were able to join in – no sooner had we got in the car and started the engine that a van indicated for us to pull out of our campsite in front of him just as it was time again for those in Burke & Wills Way to move on out. Everyone was well behaved, leaving a good space between each vehicle – although we have heard since that some folk ... read more