Mt Isa 5th October 2009 - Townsville 8th November 2009

And Kym thinks he is the only one who works hard!! Riley, DArcy and Taine ready for a hard days work underground - Mt Isa Queensland

So once again a month or more has passed and im yet to update the blog. Apparently a few people read it and apparently its a good idea and apparently ill look back on it and be glad that i did it! Dont know about that but ill take your word for it and push ahead with it. I remember as a teenager starting a diary in the New Year and never getting past about January 10th!

As usual i'll preference this entry by saying it will be brief and to the point so as not to take alllll night. Im a very busy traveller as you can imagine and have so many things i should be doing and seeing!

View from the Mt Isa Lookout - QLD

So Mt Isa is a good place to start. Kym had us set up and settled in no time as he prepared to fly out for 10 days down to Roxby Downs - Olympic Dam for his final bit of away work for the rest of the trip. The kids and i are an organised machine while he is away and do pretty well so once we dropped him off at the airport we settled into our usual routine and got on with a new term of school work. It was Astronomy week so the focus for school was a little different and ive inserted a couple of pictures of them doing science stuff!

DArcy and Riley preparing to 'fly' a balloon from one end of the van to the other during an online lesson

Rileys moonscape (built on top of our BBQ) using some of the boys figurines and toys and other things she found in the caravan - Space Week for school.

Taine and Marnie making 3D shapes for maths - Mt Isa Qld

Outside of school work will still managed to visit the sites - the local dam, lookout and the underground mining experience that we all loved. We all had to look the part in our high vis orange overalls as well as carrying ear muffs, glasses and once underground headlights on our hard hats. It was a great tour with lots of working underground experience and a guide who seemed to really enjoy his job. I would recommend it to any one. Attached to the mining museum is a fossil museum that we also visited. The information was there and we had the opportunity to talk to a paleontologist but after the mining museum it really was no where near as good. The best part was that we yet again ran into our travelling friends, The Brooksbys and spent the next couple of nights together catching up.

Riley, Georgia, DArcy and Taine at the mining museum in Mt Isa - QLD

Uncovering bones on a simulated dinosaur dig in the fossil museum in Mt Isa - QLD

The Underground Hospital - Mt Isa

Mt Isa also gave us the chance to do a little beauty treatments and as you can tell DArcy loved having his hair pulled throught the cap as i got it ready to bleach.

After Kym returned from a very busy couple of weeks working we had a couple of days to pack up and organised and we were on the road again. Taine was excited to show him that he had finally lost his first tooth and DArcy with his blonde tips!!

We made the decision that we had the time to head to Townsville on the coast and catch up with a few wonderful friends from when we were living and working in Queensland. The route of course was not direct as there were things we had to see and do on the way:)

From Mt Isa we travelled south see the Min Min lights of Boulia. Id never heard of them but apparently the locals and some visitors have seen strange and unexplainable lights 'floating' in the area and no one seems to be able to tell where or why they are there. At the tourist information centre they have an awesome show that has locals spinning yards about their experiences with the lights and it was great. A surprising attraction in the middle of nowhere.

They weren't smiling while they were inside watching the Min Min light show let me tell you.

The caravan park in Boulia is closed for the Summer so we headed down to the edge of the Bourke river to camp for the night. (to the complaints of Taine!) We found a great spot, the boys were off over the river to explore and find a place to put the yabbie nets in , and Kym and i enjoyed the serenity. Apparently the river is also the place where the locals bring there 'pig dogs' to swim and train so there was a couple of packs that came through in the early evening but by 7pm it was peaceful and quiet. The boys were happy as they caught a few Red Claws that we cooked up and ate for breakfast and of course then Taine didnt want to leave after all the complaints the previous night!

Taine and some of the Red Claw that DArcy caught on the Bourke River near Boulia QLD

The climb didnt seem or look very steep on the way up tp the lookout but coming down towing a 23 foot long van wasnt as easy as it looked. On the road between Boulia and Winton QLD

Winton is only a short drive from Boulia so we got set up in the caravan park behind the petrol station (that had no fuel) then spent the afternoon pottering. The following day was an early start as we headed out to Lark Quarry - home of the dinosaur stampede fossils!.. It is in the middle of nowhere and although the kids werent overly interested after the inital look, Kym and i found it interesting. It was a hot and dry day so after we arrived back in Winton the kids and i spent the late afternoon in the local pool while Kym did some work back at the van. Winton is famous for the Waltzing Matilda Centre - which was our entertainment for the following day along with another dinosaur museum and the out door cinema with the worlds largest deck chair. The Waltzing Matilda Centre was enjoyable but i think we could have missed the other attractions! Winton was lovely but the water was terrible. It is all artesian bore and to say it stinks is an understatement. I actually thought the eggs had gone off in the van! Ask the kids, but even mixed with cordial it was undrinkable!!!!!!!!!

Riley Street - Winton QLD

Our little Swaggie Family - Winton QLD

Lark Quarry - 120kms from Winton QLD

You may have to get out the map to keep track but from Winton we then North again, then East through Hughenden and Pentland with out sights set on Charters Towers - 136 kms from the coast. Kym and i lived in Charters back in 1993 so we wanted to show the kids where we had lived etc. Col and Family ( a guy Kym knows from work) lives in the area so we were able to park up our van and stay a couple of nights. The kids loved it as it came with a pool, motorbike, slug gun, TV and dvd player for entertainment as well as chickens, a dog and a 22 year old son who was happy to entertain them! Charters Towers is a lovely old town and we enjoyed showing the kids around. We had lived in an old railway quaters that had been relocated so we headed out to have a look at it, but could not find it, but on a second search we found it slap bang between a new gold mining operation and an explosive company. We hazard a guess that no one longer lives in it but it serves as an administration block.

Taine and DArcy shooting the pellet gun

Collecting the eggs ready for breakfast - Riley dropped hers so she had just toast!

From Charters it was just a quick trip to the coast giving us time to set up early at the van park (with its on esuite - our first of the trip) before heading out to catch up with some of our special friends in Townsville. The Atkinsons worked and travelled with us for about 6 years and it was wonderful to see them again. We have been in touch occasionally but it felt like only yesterday once we all got chatting. They have three boys similar in age to our kids and they got on well so the afternoon visit turned into a midnight finish with the time passing in a flash. Our real intention of coming over as far as Townsville was to visit friends so our visit was off to a great start. The next morning was breakfast with more work friends. They had all been out to a fundraising ball the night before so the only way to describe them was SICK. They must be congratulated on the effort they put in and lunch by midday isnt tooooo bad an effort considering the way they were feeling. Thanks Collis Family. The rest of our day was spent touring Townsville and surrounds including taking in the great views from Castle Hill.

We had planned on staying a week in Townsville so had a lot to pack into a short time. Monday we caught up with our lovely travelling friends the Gon Chees who we hadnt seen since Perth in February. They are great fun and we spent the day and evening laughing and telling more stories from our travels. They are due to be home soon so it was great to spend the time with them before they headed on South. Riley and Brittany, DArcy, Taine and Dylan acted as if they had only seen them the week before and had a great day swimming in the Riverside pools together.

Sadly that day we also got a call from the nursing home that Grandma Ruby (Kyms Grandma) was very sick and infact while we were on the phone to them she passed away. She was 90 years old and had been in care with dimentia for about two years. Kym had seen here only two weeks before so that was a good thing. Her funeral was to be the following Monday so we had to make the arrangements for Kym to fly down at the end of the week and be with his pa and the rest of the family. Although it was not totally unexpected it was a sad day for us all.

Me and Grandma Ruby January 09 Kym and Grandma Ruby January 09



We continued to visit friends spending a night with the Irwins. Mark and Gayle are such a laugh and i dont think they have changed in the time we have known them. We met them when they were working and living in Charters Towers at the same time as us and we have crossed paths many time since with work and even buying houses in the same street in Townsville. The kids had a great time with their son Matthew - scooting and skateboarding in the back yard. Again it turned into another late night of chatting.

Kym and the kids spent the next day on Magnetic Island - hiring a Mini Moke for the day. Unfortunately they only seat 4 people so i had to spend the day by myself at the movies and having lunch. It was a sacrifice i was willing to make for the family. Pity the day was just toooooo short. They enjoyed the Moke hire - except for Reverse gear which was a bit tough to find as it ended up in Kyms bum area but from all accounts Maggie Island was all closed up for the season so there was not alot to do or see.

The next day was also very busy as we spent the day at the Reef HQ Aquarium, IMAX theatre followed by Cactus Jacks Mexican restaurant for dinner topped off with a stroll around the Strand Markets. It was a lovely night and just perfect for a night spent outdoors.

Kym flew out at 555am on Saturday for Adelaide. It rained on and off most of the day so the kids and i spent most of the day watching videos only getting out of our PJs to get ready to go out to the Basketball - Townsville Crocodiles vs the Woolongong Hawks - Crocs played poorly and lost but we all enjoyed the night out.

Sunday was more of the same weather wise so we had another quiet day. That night our travelling buddies the Brooksbys arrived surprisingly so again the next couple of days was spent catching up and chatting. The Brooksbys hung around until came back from Adelaide as they had missed him in Mt Isa so we had another night with friends at the caravan park before hitting the road again after over two weeks in Townsville. We all love Townsville and other than its distance to Adelaide i was out voted 4 - 1 about moving back up there permanently. I think someone might have offered a few monetory and electronic insentives to get them to vote his way. Lets say we were looking at realestate and schools so it was a pretty serious consideration but...... we have to many relationships and responsabilities now in Adelaide to do that. I think we may vist more often though.

We have a wonderful last month and we, especially Kym and I have loved revisiting so of the towns of our past. For me the highlight of the month was certainly catching up with all our wonderful friends. I guess it doesnt matter how often you see eachother as long as the conversation and laughs flow when you do. Thank you Atkinsons (Lachlan, Oliver and Jonas :) ), Collis Family, Anne and Murdo and to the very funny Irwins. Love and Kisses Us

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Also to Great Grandma Ruby - you loved Kym, adored our kids and took me into the family. We love you and will remember you always. Love from us all XXXXX