We waved goodbye to Boulia and had a lunch stop at Dajarra. Still heading North, we were going to overnight in the booming megatropolis of Mt Isa. For no other reason than my cousin Baz and his wife Kim were expecting us after we gave them fair warning of our intention to come and see them when we got into town. We did give them enough time to move and change their phone numbers and e-mail address, so be it on their own heads that we inflicted ourselves upon them. They showed us a great night with a BBQ and some great conversation followed up by a night of "Jamming" with the guitars and banjo. Baz called up a mate from his band and he came 'round with his banjo and Kim's son came 'round to celebrate a new addition to his family that day.....then picked up a guitar and joined in with the rest of the talent assembled......what a great night...thanks Baz n Kim.

On the way from Birdsville to Boulia and further north, you will see these Waddi trees by the road side. There is an info sign just north of Birdsville where you can find out all about them. It appears that the nomadic aborigines used to carry a smoldering stick of Waddi to transport fire from place to place. This I have heard of before, but I didn't know that the Waddi is a very tough piece of timber. It seems that it has been known to damage saws and axes and when the wood is dried out, it is nearly impossible to drill. Did I mention that these stunted tough trees of the desert can live for a thousand years and that fence posts made from it can be nearly good as new after over a century of service in the dry desert sun.......wow....BIG WOW....it really does pay to travel slowly and stop frequently at the little info signs.

More Model "T"s

Towing the van here is a bit easier these days.

We restocked our supplies in Mt. Isa and used the dump point behind the info centre.....then we got out of town and headed West as we were getting keen to see the Gregory River and Adel's Grove and Lawn Hill NP. Gasp.......there is just so much magic in Australia isn't there. The sun was getting low in the sky as we headed out of the city limits of "The Isa"....surprised??? Shouldn't be....it's not like us to be in a hurry.....and we did have a fair bit of shopping to do.

Well, where to pull up for the night??? Camps 3 tells us that there is a road side camp called WW11 and that it has toilets and a dump point....that sounds "Traveler Friendly" doesn't it?? And it's only 50 k's West of Mt. Isa.....that's doo-able.....even for us.

Well, it was a good spot and a popular one too.  We arrived about an hour before sundown as the setting sun filling the windscreen doesn't make it too safe for spotting wildlife on the road fringes at that time of day. After we got our spot organised, we had dozens more travelers pull in for the night. It is an old piece of the highway that has been replaced by the new road that now runs parallel with it and a big sign story board with some great pics of the original road construction in WW11 as there was no direct route between Townsville and Darwin. So this was the road to connect Townsville and Mt. Isa with Darwin and Adelaide by building a road to what is now the 3 ways.

That night while we were enjoying a cool drink at sundown, the phone rings. Now, a little history here. In '06 we did a 2 months tour through central Australia and we met up with a great couple at Palm Valley and then we bumped into them again in Alice Springs and then again on the Plenty Highway fossicking for garnets and zircons. Well we formed a lasting friendship with Bluey & Theresa and in the couple of years between then and now, we had received a phone call out of the blue from this pair of travel junkies and they were either in the Margaret river or the Daly River or the Murray or the Hunter or....anyway...made us just so jealous... Well, anyway Bluey is on the phone again and here we are 50 k's West of Mt. Isa and wondering what part of this vast brown land they're calling from.......Yes, they're camped up for the night at a road side camp 50 k's EAST of Mt. Isa. HAH.......how about that???

Well, we told them we were heading for the gulf via the bush and they were headed to the Daly in the N.T. and would be looking to camp at Camooweal the following night. Camooweal wasn't on our itinerary as we were going to go through Riversleigh to Lawn Hill. However, we couldn't pass up a chance to catch up with our mates for a fire and a drink or 3 by a waterhole. So the next morning we headed for Camooweal. Just as we were leaving the WW11 camp, a bunch of Model T Fords pulled in for water and a pit stop. They were all doing a lap of the map in their model T's and meeting up in Adelaide to celebrate the centenary of this icon of the motor industry. It just goes to show you that when you think you have seen it all.........