Day 18 - Mt Isa and Anzac Day (100 years on)

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Well hope it was a good Anzac day for all. We had rushed to Mt Isa yesterday to be sure we had somewhere to go to a dawn service. Little did we know how good it was going to be though!. The park managers had offered to take us to the dawn service and picked us up at 5.30am. Rod and daughter Emma. It was a mild morning, very different to Inverloch dawn service temperatures we are used to!

It was an amazingly beautiful service. Many many people, and the service was very emotional, tears fell readily (well for me anyway...) Scottish pipers, last posts, the Fureys singing 'No Mans Land', beautiful stories, 'Abide with me' and words of peace and unity read. Very glad we came to Mt Isa to spend this special day. And towards the end, there was a 'flyover' by dozens of parrots! Very timely!

When we got back to the park, Rod and Sherry got stuck into the Gunfire Breaky they were putting on. It was yummy! Rob helped out cooking the eggs. We chatted to various people and they raised over $500 for the Royal flying doctors.

So all in all,it was a great morning and we felt very grateful for Rod and Sherry and Argyllia Caravan Park for including us in their ANzac day.

In the afternoon we caught the courtesy bus into The Irish club in town. It's a brilliant club, including an old tram created into a restaurant! We had a personal booth with a TV that they set to the AFL just for us. (everyone else was watching Rugby League). So Rob was all set! And he was rewarded with a win (sorry Kirby). I amused myself with a pokie machine, I put one dollar in and played for 50 minutes with the same $1. Ate too much, had a couple of beers and caught the courtesy bus back. Pretty good day!

We are going to stay another day tomorrow because there's quite a lot to see in this town, especially to do with mining. We will walk into town, in the morning as it seems to be cool enough if you go early. We are doing a mine tour, an underground hospital tour and a few other bits!

Till tomorrow!

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Photos

Anzac day
This is the cenotaph her at Mt Isa. Its brand new and very beautiful

The house on the hill
This house sits high on the hill and causes many questions. Does Bob Catter live here? But it is just a personal home!

Argyllia Caravan park
Our digs - stay here if ever you're in the Isa

Miners commemorative statue
This statue dedicated to all the miners and those who didnt make it. Its VERY realsitic

The footy
Rob is his private booth to watch C'wood and Bombers!

The Irish club
This old Melbourne tram is inside the club!

The Irish club
Looks very posh!

The Irish club
Looks like the tram car restaurant in Melbourne