Mt Isa

 Some views from the mt Isa lookout.  We arrived here yesterday (Sunday] The town is dominated by the mine

 This was pretty interesting, the underground hospital, built in WW2 after the bombing of Darwin, never used as a hospital, but then fell into disuse, and forgotten.  Restored in 1977 by volunteers

 Below Tent House,

 A bit of a blurry photo, having tea in the miners camp

 Photos from the museum at Cloncurry, this is the once town of Mary Kathleen, servicing the uranium mine, photos on the last blog showing it is now a ghost town

 This is reported to be Burke's water bag, however there is some doubt if it is authentic .

 Cloncurry has been the highlight of our trip, made some wonderful friends

 On the road to Mount Isa

Cloncurry

We had a great few days in Cloncurry, just over 100 kms east of Mt Isa. Cloncurry is where the Royal Flying Doctors service began,founded by John Flynn and the first commercial flight of QANTAS. The explorers Burke & Wills were the first known Europeans here in 1861 on their expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Cloncurry River was named after Burke's cousin.

On the side of the road, waiting for the oversized load to pass

Original QANTAS hanger

Model of the first RFD's aircraft at the John Flynn museum

Luckily I didn't see any snakes or frogs

Bust of John Flynn. Below is a close up of the carpet, which is is a reproduction of the Cloncurry district from the air.

Below, the site of the Mary Kathleen uranium mine village, once a thriving self contained village between Cloncurry and Mt Isa. When the mine closed all the buildings were sold in what was Australia's biggest auction.  Just the street surfaces remain now.