21 November 2016 - Boulia and from Boulia to Mt Isa

It was hot last night, so it was no surprise we were up early to check out Boulia, fill the fuel tank and be on our way to Mt Isa, 300km away.

We did not experience the famous Min Min Lights but we did have a sunset over the Burke River last night.  There was water in the Burke River but the river was not flowing.

201116 Sunset over the Burke River

Boulia rises early and the Council workers were on the move as we crossed over the Burke River Bridge and drove down Boulia's main street. People in the Outback are very water conscious but everywhere we went, water sprinklers were operating in the hope of wringing out a little green before the summer really hits.  Boulia's water is sub Artesian and there is plenty of supply.  It is of excellent quality and safe to drink.  It is very soft too.

211116 The Burke River Bridge

211116 Boulia's Red Stump and a warning for anyone heading
west through the nearby Simpson Desert

211116 Boulia's main street - all streets are very wide

211116 Boulia's main street from the other direction

211116 No shortage of water here in the main street

They have a large windmill in town to demonstrate how town water was originally pumped.  It is only for show, and in fact the windmill was donated by a grazier from a nearby property.

There was an old stone cottage, which has been preserved and acts as a museum.  It apparently has an excellent collection of marine fossils.  Unfortunately it was not open.

211116 Boulia's Stone House

211116 History of the Stone House

The plain land continued as we left Boulia, although the trees and shrubs appeared to be a little larger than those on the channel plains. After about 50km a range of grass covered hills appeared and we seemed to have these, in one form or another, all the way to Mt Isa.  We passed through Dajarra, about half way to Mt Isa.  It is quite a small town, but it does have a pub and a cemetery.

211116 Approaching Dajarra

211116 Main street of Dajarra

211116 The cemetery at Dajarra

211116 Dajarra Hotel

We drove alongside the range, and occasionally through the range itself.  As we neared Mt Isa, the hills became more numerous and more rocky.  The road wound its way through the hills and their rocky outcrops.  Mt Isa itself is in the clutches of the Selwyn Range.

211116 The road out of Boulia - countryside
has larger trees

211116 Then came the hills

211116 Initially the hills were grass covered 

211116 Some hills had knobby tops

211116 Sometimes we drove through the hills

211116 Nearer Mt Isa the hills became rockier

211116 The hills began to close in on us as we neared Mt Isa

211116  Right among the hills now

We did see some cattle on the way, some interesting grass and a bright yellow wild flower we haven't seen before on this trip.

211116 Saw more cattle today than yesterday

211116 Plenty of this grass around

211116 The grass up close

211116 A colourful wildflower

About 15km out we saw our first sign of Mt Isa.  It was the stack for the roasting kilns.

211116 Our first sign of Mt Isa from about 15km out,
the roaster stack

We passed Ergon's Diamantina and Mica Creek Power Stations on the way in to Mt Isa.

211116 Ergon's Diamantina Power Station

211116 Ergon's gas fired Mica Creek Power Station

The temperature reached 38 degrees today, so we were glad to find a spot for our van under a tree in the caravan park and turned on the air-conditioner.  The forecast is for a possible storm this afternoon. We shall see.  More of Mt Isa tomorrow.

May we apologise for an oversight.  There was a item on the wall of the Middleton Hotel, which we unintentionally omitted from last night's blog.  Here it is.

211116 Thanks to the Middleton Hotel