MOUNT ISA

9^th September, 2012

At the Avon Downs rest area we were amused by the antics of the never ending flocks of finches that came to drink at the water tank.

Finches having a drink

Someone had cut down some plastic containers and left them under the tap so that people could top up the drinking bowls for the birds and they sure were having a good time.  We left early in the morning and headed east to the Northern Territory/Queensland border

Obviously some delusional New South Welshman thought the 'blues' were going to win the State of Origin

and by lunchtime had arrived in Mount Isa.  This is a large outback town dwarfed by the Mount Isa Mine and although it was Sunday it was a surprise to find the large supermarkets (Coles and Woolworths) closed.  Oh well!  Looks like we will have to do our shopping tomorrow - so we checked in at one of the caravan parks and did our washing instead.  In the morning we drove to the city lookout for a birds eye view of the city.

Mount Isa with the mine in the background

In 1923 prospector John Campbell Miles discovered lead ore in the area and pegged out a lease that he named Mount Isa.  Mount Isa Mines Ltd. was established in 1924 and by the end of 1925 had acquired all the surrounding leases.  Over the succeeding years infrastructure was built to support the mine workers and the town of Mount Isa came into being.  Around the clock the mine lights up the sky as mine workers and their machines dig into the night.  Today both lead and copper are mined at ‘The Isa’.  Next we visited ‘Outback at Isa’ where several tourist attractions have been combined in conjunction with the Visitor Information Centre. 

Wok checks out the cauldron at the centre

When last here (25 years ago) we took the underground tour that was offered at the Mount Isa Mines site but now only a surface tour is conducted at the mine and a smaller underground tour has been recreated at the ‘Outback at Isa’ complex. 

Sculpture of a miner at the centre

With Wok having worked in underground mines he didn’t feel the urge to descend into the earth again but one of the other attractions interested us – Riversleigh Fossil Centre.  North of Mount Isa is the Riversleigh Fossil Fields (a world heritage area) in the south east corner of Boodjamulla Lawn Hill National Park.  The fossils date from 30 million years to 20 thousand years ago.  It is only since 1976 that exploration of the fossil site has been an ongoing practice and annual digs are still finding new species of mammals that once roamed Australia.  We wander through the dioramas marvelling at the ancestors of our modern day animals.  The ‘diprotodon’ is a rhinocerous sized mammal that ate leaves and bark off trees.

Mmmm! Yummy leaves ....

Then there was the ancestor of today’s kangaroos – only this guy was a meat eater.

In this diorama the kangaroo has fallen into a cave and broken its leg

And how would you like to run into a 400 kilogram bird that was quite at home in the rainforest.

The palaeontologists call this one 'Big Bird'

And in the treetops the cute koala bear also had a penchant for eating meat. 

Koalas even looked cute way back then ...

Thank goodness that evolution has managed to convert most of our animals into vegetarians.  There are lots of fossils for us to see and feel that are still embedded in rocks excavated from the fossil fields.  We have a fascinating time wandering through the exhibits and have put visiting the actual fossil fields on our ‘to do’ list.  Outside in the foyer Wok relaxes on a bench and finds a prehistoric friend to play with.

Umm Wok ... Think its time to make your way to the nearest exit!

That evening we watched the sun set over the strange rocky formations that surround ‘The Isa’.  Our visit to the Riversleigh Fossil Centre has sparked our interest in prehistoric times so tomorrow we are heading south east towards Winton where we hope to track down some dinosaurs.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that we don’t run into any live giant meat eating kangaroos!