JULIA CREEK
We arrived at Julia Creek caravan park after leaving Richmond; we wanted to stay here for a couple of days to have a look around before going out to friends Joe & Glenys on a cattle property 40km out of town. Once again it is advisable to stock up on as much food as you can carry before visiting a lot of these small country towns; availability of some food items is limited and the prices are very high. Choices for major food shopping on the Townsville to Isa route is Charters Towers then nothing much else until Cloncurry and then Isa; its okay if you do not intend to stop for any length of time but if you are intending to stay a while here and there then stock up. Most small towns have good and reasonably priced butchers but is the other food and dairy lines that are expensive.
Julia Creek caravan park was closed for a week or so and had just reopened a couple of days before we arrived; all the drive through sites have been done up with a bitumen surface so nice and tidy sites. The park is pet friendly and at $18 per night ($108 per week) very good pricing; bins were placed at almost every site and the amenities were cleaned regularly.
The town has 2 mini supermarkets but as said before the prices are high; as an example a 500g block of cheese ranged in price from $14 – $16. Gannons Hotel is the local pub and is on the top 30 list of pubs to see in Queensland; needles to say I had the odd one or two at this establishment. The town has a few variety type stores but nothing major; Cloncurry has a Woolworths but Mount Isa is the first place you will find K Mart, Bunnings and now a newly opened BCF. Overall the town is nice and the caravan park is clean & friendly so well worth a day or so.
The drive through sites at the Julia Creek caravan park.
After our short stay at the caravan park we headed off to the 40 thousand acre cattle property Joe & Glenys are managing. The property is situated about 40km from Julia Creek on the Wills Development Road; we were asked if we could check the mail box (an old fridge) at the start of the driveway to the house; believe it or not the length of the driveway to the house is 4.6km which is a long way to go just to check for mail. I let Linda do the checking just in case of snakes; don't want to get bitten do I.
Our parked position for the week at Joe and Glenys house on the property.
Sunrise over Werrina Station.
Not sure what Joe had been promised but by the smile on his face it must be something pretty special; another cup of tea maybe.
Lin & Glenys at the property.
After the week here we were of to Mount Isa; we had a great time and it was really good to catch up with old friends that we have known for over 20 years. Thanks for having us, thanks for the entertainment and a big thanks for letting me work on your computer.
MOUNT ISA
We were invited to spend time with Gary & Maureen who are friends of ours that we met on one of our travels about 3 years ago; we hit it off with these guys straight away and we do have a lot in common (hey Gaz). They were working at the golf club and they had use of a cottage, we parked alongside, connected water & power and settled in for a week or so.
We are unable to comment on any of the Mount Isa parks as we did not stay at any whilst we were here so you may have to do a little research if you intend heading west. We did hear several comments from people at Isa and Cloncurry but it maybe best to form your own opinion as there were good and bad comments about most of them.
The Isa township sits on one side of the Barklay highway and the mine occupies the other side; the bad part about this is if you live here you can never get away from the mine view, it is quite predominant from wherever you live in town. It does have all the services, Woolies, Coles, Kmart, Bunnings, McDonalds etc but strangely there is no Big W or Target stores, a new BCF opened on the weekend we were in town so plenty of people in for the opening specials and sausage sizzle.
We were not overly keen on the town itself even though it did have the best shopping available since leaving Townsville; the streets look unfinished and dirty but it is a mining town. Some things are expensive as they charge like everyone is working in the mine and earning $150K + a year so be careful what you buy. Fuel was by far the cheapest and the woolies servo had diesel at 126.9; funny the price at Cloncurry was 146.9 and the fuel trucks have to go through Cloncurry to get to the Isa, so much for blaming transport costs.
Parked at the side of Gary & Maureen's cottage; bindies were the only downfall.
Another day of craft; Linda & Maus making cards and crocheting beanie's.
Part of the Isa township with one of the stacks in the background
Linda visited the underground hospital; this is a must see tourist spot, one of many things to see and do.
Check the stirrups out at the right hand end of the chair; sort of open wide and smile for the camera.
“You want me to do what with the ball”
Gary, Maureen, Linda & me at the 18th hole; we started on the 18th and finished on the 18th, check out the latest Tiger Woods clothing label worn by us all.
Once again we had a ball; Gaz & Maus left the Isa for Melbourne a few days after we left for the Boulia camel races. We have spoken recently and they are not liking the weather that much after the heat of the Isa. Don't worry guys it will be summer there soon but unfortunately winter shortly after that.
Hope you all are well and looking after yourselves; our next update will be Boulia and some further posts after that.
Love and warm regards to all – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig
