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Published: September 9th 2007
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Look how long that road is!!
An once you get over the crest in the distance your met with excatly the same thing again!!!!!! So now having seen so many of the Australian icons, such as the Great Barrier Reef and Fraser Island along with all the beautiful sandy beaches up and down the coast, we were now headed towards one of the other things that Australia is well known for… the endless flat lands of red soil, scorching heat and scrub land, known affectionately as ‘the outback’. Only a couple of weeks ago we had decided that we would attempt to make it across half the continent to the northern capital of Darwin. This consisted of a distance from Townsville of approximately 2500 kms, which took us through only one city (Mount Isa) and one junction (Three Ways).
Our first day involved us doing a small drive of 850 kms from Townsville to Mount Isa along some of the straightest and longest roads I have ever seen in my life, they just stretch as far as the eye can see into the distance and become mirages. Thank god for my Ipod, once again it proved to be an invaluable aid for driving as there was no telephone or radio reception shortly after leaving the coast.
The other most noticeable things you see whilst driving
Mataranka thermal pool
The second best way to cool down after a long drive........well the first is going to be a cold beer isn't it??!! along this barren, desolate landscape is the sheer amount of road-kill, we must have seen at least 30 dead roo’s and even 2 dead cows! These were due mainly to the second most common thing which was the road trains, which are huge lorries with anywhere between 3 and 6 wagons all hitched together in one long line up to 53 mtrs long! You cannot believe the size of these until you have to try overtaking one and it seems to take for ever, then you are thankful for the endlessly long and empty roads.
We had got about 250 kms away from our destination when the car began playing up intermittently, juddering and slipping in and out of gear. Now anyone who has driven in the outback knows that this is definitely not a place you want to breakdown, so we slowed our speed and limped our way to Mount Isa with the problem becoming worse and worse and extremely worrying, especially the last 60 kms, which at one point we didn’t think we were going to make! This last stretch was incredibly difficult as we had already spent 10 hours in the car in ridiculous heat and trying
My car and the outback
Not the best combination, but it survived....... just!! to complete the last bit at 50kms per hour (about 35 mph) seemed to drag on for ever.
As you are now reading this blog you realize that we did mange to survive and make it to Mount Isa, but as it was late on a Saturday evening everything was closed and wouldn’t be open again until Monday. So to cut an incredibly long story short we were stuck in this so called ‘city’ which in fact was no bigger than Devizes for the next 4 days while we got the gearbox reconditioned and a new radiator fitted. So say the repairs were expensive would be an under statement, but a big thanks to my Dad, who helped me out of a tight situation when I had to wake him up at 2 a.m. in the morning.
So now - let me fill you in about the strangest town in Australia. Because this town is so isolated and you could drive the equivalent length of England before you hit another reasonable sized settlement, the local people do not get a lot of conversation with people from the outside world and want to bore you to death with there long and
involved life stories and travels, (don’t get me wrong, I love to chat to people, but these people were just so boring and you could not get away from them!) Not only this but we had an old bloke in the caravan next to our pitch who had been living there for the past 19 years and had a weird habit of guarding his bit of fence and sitting watering his CONCRETE pathway for well over half an hour morning and evening!
The worst parts of being stuck here were the air horn going off every hour throughout night and day, the loud parties that went on till 5 am, dogs barking all night causing rows from other campers, and too many other highly colourful and weird characters to mention. Needless we were counting down the hours until my car was ready so that we could get out of this mayhem.
Besides all this the city was beautifully positioned in amongst all these red rock mountains and from the City Lookout which gave great views of the city by day and at sunset.
The main reason for this town’s existence was the huge amount of mining for different types of
One of the many road trains
Who reckons they could reverse that then? ore and the redness in the soil is caused by the high iron content in this area.
We were so happy to finally pick up the car early on the Wed morning and get back on the road towards Three Ways, so named because the Barkly Highway which we were on joins the main north south Stuart Highway which runs right through the centre.
So, within 100 kms of leaving Mount Isa behind us the car once again started to judder and play up. We were devastated once again with worry and continued on to the next town of Camooweal where we phoned the garage, who didn’t have a clue what the problem could be, so we had it checked out by the local RAC bloke who just scratched his head as well. By this time we were 200 kms away from Mount Isa and didn’t fancy turning around to head back there, but on the other hand ahead of us was the worse and most lonely stretch of road to cover (360 kms without so much as a turning or building!) Talk about being between a brick and a hard place! After a lot of chewing over both these
A bend in the road
It might not seem like much, but they are so few and far between, they even have signs up to warn you of this fact! unfavourable options we finally opted to persist with our journey and just hope that the problem would clear, which thankfully it did after a while.
Mum and I eventually arrived hot and sticky and soooo relieved at the one and only small roadhouse and petrol station that makes up Three Ways, neither of us has ever been so thankful to see a small petrol station in the middle of nowhere in our entire lives. It had been a very nerve racking trip for both of us as we were worried about the car the whole way. Needless to say with a sign on the door mentioning ‘happy hour’ we made straight for a cold beer in the small bar of the roadhouse to celebrate arriving in a place with some civilization and not stuck in the outback.
This was the first opportunity we gave ourselves to reflect on the fact that we had crossed the boarder into the Northern Territory. This is an area where life is harsh and distances mean nothing, and we soon heard of a local farmer who owns a cattle station 200 kms away who flies in at least once a week in his helicopter for
London 15,724 kms away!
The multi sign post in Mt Isa a beer and a chat with his neighbours! This place had to be seen to be appreciated.
The next morning we rose bright and early and hit the lonely road again for a 650 km drive to Katherine. Both Mum and I felt a lot more at ease as we were finally on the road north and heading into more populated areas - well for the northern territory anyway, which has a total population of 200,000 in a larger area than England (basically 1 person per 8 kms).
We had a quick 5 hour journey before stopping to cool down from the 35 degree heat at a small and lovely oasis called Mataranka, which is known for its thermal freshwater pools. These pools are kept at a constant temp of 34 degrees all year round bubbling up from the limestone ground. This is definitely a great way to ease out the stiffness after a long hot and dusty drive. There were two areas in which you could swim, one was the thermal plunge pool where most people were and then there was the fresh water river which the pools ran into. There were a number of signs by this river
The metropolis of Mt Isa
The city centre is that bit right in front of the huge mine. Yeah not much of a city is it? indicating that ‘freshies’ freshwater crocs lived in these waters and to be cautious not to upset them when swimming. So how could I turn down an opportunity to swim with crocodiles - yes I know they may only be smallish but they were still crocs! I managed to come out intact and we set on our way again for the last hour of our journey to Katherine.
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