On the Road Again – Heading Far West

Leaving Julia Creek and heading to Cloncurry info centre, we were surprised by the changing landscape. This is obviously mining country. First stop was the Mary Kathleen Memorial Park, which is also where the information centre is. There is a picnic area, toilets and plenty of room for caravans. At the info centre there is a display of mining and farm equipment from Mary Kathleen. It also has the relocated Mary Kathleen Police Station. Very interesting.

In 1861 Burke and Wills were the first known Europeans to come to the area on their way to the Gulf. Burke named the river Cloncurry after his cousin Elizabeth Cloncurry in Ireland. In 1867 Ernest Henry came to the area in search of grazing land, and instead found copper and established the Great Australian Mine. The town was surveyed in 1876 and was named after the river.

Cloncurry has many 'firsts'. Cloncurry is where the first official Flying Doctor flight took off from in 1928. Established by Presbyterian Reverend John Flynn, today the John Flynn Place commemorates the history of the Flying Doctor Service as well the changing landscape of Cloncurry, and many real and replica exhibits. In 1929, Cloncurry had the worlds first household pedal radio. In 1960, Queensland's first School of the Air was established at Cloncurry. Cloncurry is also the home of the original first QANTAS hanger, and it is still used today.

Leaving Cloncurry we stopped at Burke and Wills memorial which commemorates the explorers passing this point in 1861.

Just a little further up the road is a historic Aboriginal Marker, which acknowledges the ancient tribal lands of the Kalkadoon “Honour their name be brother and sister to their descendants.”

We decided to look at Corella Dam and Clem Walton Park. We read in Wiki Camps not to be intimidated by the gate – so we opened the gate and went through, followed by another happy camper. So many caravans in this large area. We met people that were staying 6 weeks. It is private property and the farmer doesn't mind travellers, as long as travellers don't mind his cows. There are no facilities, except at the two day use only areas which are a distance away to walk – about 15 minutes on bad split tracks by car. We eventually found a good spot with water views and decided to stay the night – we will visit Mary Kathleen ghost town in the morning. Corella Dam was put in place by the owners of Mary Kathleen mine as a water source for the mining process. The dam also provided weekend recreation for the families living at Mary Kathleen.

Situated a short distance along the highway from Corella Dam is Mary Kathleen Ghost Town. Mary Kathleen is just over 62km from Cloncurry, and 56km from Mt Isa. After going in the main gate we turned right, off the bitumen, to a dirt track between two small concrete pillars that took us down to one of the residential areas of Mary Kathleen. If one wants to see the mine, which we were told is spectacular, it is about a further 7k along the bitumen which deteriorates into a bad dirt track – don't take your van. About another 10 km will take one to the mine that is still in use.

Mary Kathleen was so interesting – walking around trying to work out what everything was. A syndicate of men, including Clem Walton and Norm McConachy, looking for uranium in the Cloncurry area in 1954, came across a dry creek where one of their trucks had broken down. While waiting for the truck to be repaired one of the men turned on his Geiger Counter which immediately gave high readings in the area. Leases were pegged out and the deposit was named Mary Kathleen in memory of the wife of McConachy, who had died shortly before the expedition. The mined uranium was shipped to Britian via trucks to Cloncurry, and then train and ship to Britain. The town quickly grew and contained a cafeteria, stores, recreation room, library, P.O., medical centre, police station and fire station etc. The mine was closed in 1984 due to the over supply of uranium and the town was sold soon after.

Now all that is left of the town is the foundations of the buildings. We met some lovely people, Sam and Eunice, and spent way too much time talking to them, so didn't get to walk around all the town – maybe next time! This is a free camp with no facilities, and one needs to be self-contained. There is a really good video explaining the history of the find and the town at the Mt Isa Information Centre.

From Mary Kathleen we drove to Mt Isa and the Info centre where Peter had booked an underground mine tour. I happily watched TV and did some blog and some sewing.

I didn't find out a lot of history about Mt Isa. We really were not there long enough. However, the Visitor Information Centre is worth a visit. Called “Outback Isa” it houses not only the tour for the Hard Times Underground Mine – which Peter said was good value and interesting ($70 seniors). It was named after a horse owned by the founding father, John Campbell Miles. The Centre also has free Wi-Fi, toilets, showers, cafe, tour bookings, caravan parking, and free water (if you want bore water). I had the best tasting chocolate milk-shake, although it was rather small for the $6.70 that I was charged, and I actually finished it while waiting for my ham and cheese croissant ($6.50). Probably wont eat there again. Mt Isa has a lot of fast food outlets, one on the next block. Really want to eat at the Buffs Club!! We filled up our gas bottle and continued onto WWII Memorial Site. We didn't spend a lot of time in Mt Isa – it was Sunday and most shops were closed. I'm sure there is a lot more to see in Mt Isa.