At Karumba, Mrs Mac's Pharmacy & Furniture, Where we had Barrumundi & chips, From the cafe x 2, boat trailers outside 1 caravan park (120), Brolgas

All at Normanton

Cloncurry x 4, Between Burke & Wills & Normanton x 2

Mount Isa

Ground water,Barkly Homestead, Barkly Homestead,Underground Hospital, Mount Isa, Mount Isa Race Course

June the 8th. Three ways to Normanton.

On Friday morning (20/5/2011), we drove to Barkly Homestead.The Barkly Highway is an excellent road, & we saw some fantastic scenery on the way. Where we stopped for morning coffee, there was so much ground water, that it looked like a huge lake. This is the residue of recent flooding. Barkly Homestead is an oasis with lush green trees & lawns, & an excellent swimming pool. It would have been easy to stay for a few days.On Saturday morning, Avril couldn't walk unassisted due to her right knee being very painful. Today we drove to Camooweal just for the night, & had pizza from the pub for tea. The only good thing about this place was a great swimming pool just across from our caravan.Sunday morning, & Avril's knee wasn't any better. We drove to Mount Isa & booked into the Argyla Caravan park for 8 days. On Tuesday morning, we took Avril to the hospital, where she was x-rayed & pronounced to have a torn tendon in her knee, & it could take up to 6 weeks to heal. The temperature here is about 28 degrees & the park atmosphere is great. Mount Isa has a nice feel to it & the locals seem friendly. Whilst here, we saw the underground hospital, The race course, The lookout, & Moondara Lake, which is the water supply, & recreation park. We didn't do a mine tour, as we have done a number of them before. By Saturday, Avril's knee was getting better, & the park manager came to get my help on an emergency job. For that we got 2 extra nights for 15mins work, & the next day another small job for another night. I had my birthday there, & Avril took me out to lunch at the Buffs Club. It was a great meal with great surrounds. On Thursday we drove to Cloncurry. No sooner had we left Mount Isa, the landscape changed from flat, to hilly with very heavy foliage. It was a beautiful trip. Last time we were in Cloncurry, 3 years ago, Chinaman's Dam, their water supply, was down to 2% full. Now it is 98% full, & looks fantastic. Avril's knee is improving daily, & I have felt a twitch in my back, must be gentle with it. Friday 3/6/2011, we drove to Burke & Will's Roadhouse for another night. Good road, & we saw a number of very large eagles, dining on Kangaroo Steaks in the middle of the road. They were very slow to move, & appeared to try to stare you down & dare you to keep going. They were magnificent when the flew off.Saturday morning, another twinge in my back, whilst making the bed, but OK after that. Today we drove to Normanton, where we will stay for at least a week. The road there was 207 kilometres long, & 2/3rds was OK. The other third was a single lane of rough bitumen, where you get completely on the dirt when you pass a road train, & 1/2 on & 1/2 off when passing anything else. There is no time for relaxing on these roads. Whilst setting up here, I had one more twitch in my back, & have been in pain ever since. With the help of heavy duty pain killers at night, & rubbing in Horse Linement during the day & night, it is gradually getting better.I am also having lots of hot spas & cold swimming pool therapy. The weather here is great at 30 degrees each day. Yesterday we went to Karumba for the day, & had Barrmundi & chips at Raptis Cafe right on the water.
I will post some pictures on the blog page later today. Love to you all,
Avril & Doug.
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