DAY 9 - TOWNSVILLE TO MT ISA

Middle of Nowhere!!!

We were up early to sadly leave Magnetic Island, but before boarding the ferry we did a photoshoot for Base Backpackers. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Base for their hospitality. Its really an awesome location and really well run backpackers. A special shout out to JJ the manager for looking after us.

Go Raibh Míle Base Backpackers

From Townsville, we started a long 900k slog through the outback to Mt Isa. At times we found ourselves literally in the middle of nowhere in the searing heat with nothing to see for miles in any direction except for the odd 50metre road train. One of the small townlands we encountered was Hughenden a small town 300kms west of Townsville. We stopped there for lunch at the Holden Cafe for what are arguably the best burgers in Australia.

In the evening we passed through Cloncurry. Cloncurry is widely regarded as holding the record for the highest temperature recorded in Australia at 53.1 °C on 16th January 1889. We passed through at around 8pm and our thermometer was reading 34°C.

The Hummer outside Cloncurry

As darkness fell, bumpy roads and kangaroos were the least of our worries. Huge 2 tonne black and almost Camouflage Bulls were grazing on the sides of the road. We were told later in a radio interview that these were the cause of numerous deaths every year. On top of this we had to deal with some crazy road train drivers. These vehicles are so long that on occasion their rear ends can cut across lanes in the road. We found this out the hard way when we needed to swerve off the road to avoid an oncoming road train that had veered into our lane. The combination of these two dangers made for an intense drive into Mt Isa.

‘You’re not a real Aussie till you’ve been to Mt Isa!' - States the greeting sign for Mt.Isa. We found it hard to understand this statement. Did it mean that all real Aussies need to be miners? Essentially Mt Isa is one giant mining town and can be described as anything but scenic. Coming into the city by night, it looked like one giant factory with smoke bellowing from massive chimneys. Thousands of men come here to work in the Copper and Zinc mines and the city has a 75% male population. Arriving in late, the boys went straight to bed...

Day 9 Route - Click on Map for Details