Idling in the Isa.....

Saturday 8th April, 2017.


     Today we spent an enjoyable day in Mt. Isa.   It's nice to be in a place with actual shops.   Coles, Woolies, Bunnings....it is a good place to restock before we continue farther south.


     We took a tour of an underground mine, at the Hard Times Mine.    Once upon a time the public could tour the actual mine in Mt. Isa mine.   However due to an accident in which a visitor was injured, the mining company no longer permits public access.

     With this in mind, the council, and a committee of locals established the Hard Times Mine, which is a faithful representation (constructed underground) of the working mine.

     We went on a two and a half hour tour showing the workings of the Mt. Isa Mine.

     Tourists are not permitted to take cameras into the mine (but I was a bit sneaky) and managed to get one picture....


Sunday 9tn April, 2017

   Today we played the tourist in Mt. Isa, taking in the touristy points of this city of 22,000 people.   Mt. Isa Is overshadowed by the expanse of the Mt. Isa Mine complex, which is HUGE.   The mine produces predominantly copper, zinc and silver.

     BUT.... the scenery around the town is also spectacular....
    

We also toured the Riversleigh fossil exhibition, a remarkable display of our ancient fauna.....the Riversleigh fossil site provides almost half of what is known of the evolution of Australian mammals over the past 300 million years.

Ancient platypus

      Ancient Crocodile 

Ancient Drop Bear....

   

    We then toured Mt. Isa's underground hospital, built during the Second World War (after the bombing of Darwin) it was constructed with the support of the Mt. Isa mining Company, the volunteer labour of the miners and the support to the Government. It took just 15 weeks to construct, and although not required during the war, it has now been re-opened to the public

   A short distance out the road is Lake Moondarra, which was constructed by the mining company between 1956 and '58, to supply water to the town and mining operations.   When constructed it was the largest privately funded water scheme in Australia.   It is a favourite recreation area for the residents of the area.

    We are in Mt. Isa until Tuesday morning when we'll depart for Boulia.