A different side to Aus

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I took a 12 hour bus from Townsville to the mining town of Mt Isa. The view as we approached the city was of the huge chimneys from the mining works. I arrived at the hostel to find that I was the only backpacker, everyone else lived there and worked down the mines! There was only one other woman too and she was in her 50's! Everyone was very friendly but it was a little intimidating so I went to bed early, locked my door and put my earplugs in!

The next day was a Sunday and everything in Mt Isa was shut including the supermarket! Luckily the museum stayed open (but not the cafe!) so I spent a few hours there learning about how the silver was found and the conditions the first miners lived and worked in, actually very interesting! Afterwards I was kind of stuck for anything to do so I went to the cinema to watch Knocked Up, so funny!

That evening I caught a 22 hour Greyhound to Darwin which including waiting in the cold for over an hour at 3am while they sorted the mail, grrr!

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