Mt.Isa to Mataranka

Well here we are at Katherine. What has happened to the last week. We spent 5 days in Mt.Isa fixing fridges etc, we sent our chescold back to Kerri and bought a new fridge. We werent sorry to leave the Isa, the caravan park was noisy, and we didnt do any sightseeing. We headed off and stopped at the Museum at Camooweal only to find it closed because old Joe Freckelton had passed away and the funeral was that afternoon.We continued on and had gone about 60klms when we met a couple broken down with major engine trouble, it was excessively hot and they werent going anywhere in a hurry. Fortunately bloke helping his son move came along and gave them a tow back to the nearest safe by way and then drove them back to Mt.Isa to get help. Dont think they will be going anywhere in a hurry. We pulled up at a lovely free camp, N.T. number 4 in the camps 3 book. The flies nearly carried us away. There was a beautiful sunrise when we got up next morning, also a full moon the evening before. Tony filled the water dishes at the windmill tank and suddenly there were hundreds of little birds coming in for a drink.

We continued on to Barkly Homestead and had a look around, a group of the local farm wives were being treated to an afternoon of glamour by a Mary Kay Rep, apparently they do it twice a year. You forget that these amazing women dont see other women for weeks on end, so these days must make them feel very special.We checked the fuel price , $169.9 per litre, luckily we didnt need to fuel up. we waited until we got to Threeways where it was still $155.9 . As we were about to leave Tony noticed that Bobs back tyre was nearly flat, we got it off and couldnt find a leak, instead it was the rim that had a split, it was brand new so we changed it but have to find a Bob Jane to have it exchanged, nearest one is in Darwin. We arrived in Daly Waters about 5.15pm and booked dinner, Beef and Barra for $19.50, beautiful. They have a show after dinner, a country fella called cranky Frankie, I gave him a bit of cheek and was then "volunteered" to join him on stage for a bit of a joke, it was all in good fun.

The scenery has been absolutely gorgeous and so changeable, the flowering trees and shrubs, brilliant orange flowering gums, bright yellow wattles, silvery wispy ground covers along the side on the road intermingled with maroon and beige grasses. Only thing marring the sight was the large number of dead cows, obviously not fast enough to get away from speeding road trains and vehicles.

Next morning we left for Mataranka, had a swim in the Thermal pools, very refreshing, spent the night at free camp number 97, then headed for Katherine, arriving at 9.30am, booked into Springvale Homestead, $23 a night, nice place but amenities very poor. Did a load of washing then went into town and did some shopping. No Bob Jane store here so will have to go into
Darwin before we head off to the fishing spot. Must say am really looking forward to getting the line in the water and catching some real fish.

The pic above is sunrise on the Moondara Dam at Mt.Isa