Cloncurry to Mt Isa

 Cloncurry to Mt Isa = (day 1 = 78km; day 2 = 47km)
Cummulative totals = 4918km and 24,919km
Sunset tourist park = $22.50 unpowered (with top tourist discount)

Day 1 = bushcamp at 78km

Neil would like to sleep in in the morning but since it is a riding day I say no, the earlier we start the earlier we can finish!  So we had brekky in the dark this time at the 'camp kitchen' which is just a table!
It was a coolish morning and my toes in my cycling sandals are a wee bit cold and frozen (I will have to look for half socks in Mt Isa to wear when the mornings are cool!)
The only traffic with us this morning are all the trucks - going with us and against us.  They are very friendly and are tooting and waving at us.  They are very good to us on the road and despite every caravaner asking us if we have problems with them (the trucks and road trains) they are genuinely surprised when we state we have had no problem with them and they don't seem to have a problem with us ... they are also surprised when we tell them it is the caravaners we have the problems with!!!
Anyway the road we are on is the National A2 which is a main highway unlike the one we just came along from Normanton to Cloncurry.  So we would expect alot more traffic especially truck traffic.
Right from the outset the road is undulating and is like that for the rest of the day.  For the first 40km it is okay and you can do the small inclines in your middle gear, it is only after the first 40km that you might find some of the inclines are a little steeper and you need to drop to the lowest chain at the front!
The terrain is exactly like what is around Alice Springs - ranges

 We have a cuppa at around 36km and there is a little wee smell of decaying animal somewhere and since there is not many places to pull of this highway for a cuppa we decided to just move down wind of the decaying animal for our cuppa!

 Once we set off again I discover that I have a flat so we to back to the place we had a cuppa and changed my tube on the back wheel.  It wasn't a puncture but the tube had a few creases in it so we think it was a pinch hole.  We replaced the tube and set off again.  Todays weather is sunny and we are expecting a high of 27 which is on the warmish side.  The forecasted wind is for a very light easterly at 4-6km per hour so basically no wind for us today.
Just as we were about to set off the wide vehicle support vehicle followed by a cop car came by and the cop car drives down the middle of the highway forcing everyone off the road which means some sort of mine machinery is coming through ... oh goody I love watching these come through and sure enough it was a huge machine on the back of a truck

 Now did you hear me scream today?  This is what I said "(a naughty word), (another naughty word), (a really naughty word!) we have a (an extremely naughty word) headwind!"  I couldn't believe it!  It started around midday and we were going down a slight hill and I couldn't figure out why I was having to pedal and then I realised that I had a slight headwind! as the day wore on the wind became quite strong (around 15km per hour) and when we had lunch at Fountain Springs rest area we checked Elders again which were still forecasting 4km per hour easterlies but they had the actual wind at south, south westerlies at 17km per hour.  I tell you I was livid!
For the past few days since leaving Normanton every person we have encountered who has asked us which way we are going have all said that oh that is okay going to Tennant Creek you will have tailwinds once you leave Cloncurry.  Now I have heard from everyone in Australia that the prevailing wind is a Easterly ... now I hate to point out the obvious to everyone but the prevailing wind for the past 2 weeks has been originating from the south and very little has come from the east ... a south easterly is still a south wind and is not a tailwind when you look at the direction of the road from Cloncurry.  when I was waiting for Neil the other day while he was in Woolies a person started to chat to me and he too said that I will have tailwinds ... now I said to him 'when cycling, you can count on a headwind when you are meant to get a headwind (ie. Normanton to Cloncurry) but you can NEVER count on a tailwind when you are suppose to get a tailwind' and he just said nah you will get tailwinds, off course my motto is when cycling Australia is never trust information from a local about the weather!  and I am right ... so I inform Neil today that the next person who mentions to us that we will get tailwinds to Tennant Creek will recieve a hell of a tongue lashing from me!
So we plodded along, up and down, up and down.  Fortunately there are quite a few hills to protect us from the bulk of the westerly winds and also so monuments along the way to break the monotony.  The first is the Burke and Wills monument 

 We just shook our heads when we read they were in this area in January which must have been incredibly hot up here at that time (it is not uncommon for this area to have temps in the high 40's constantly during summer!)

Just down the road was a Aboriginal one for the local Kalkadoon people

 I laugh at this plaque they had up there ... you couldn't be any blunter in saying what happened to them!
So we continue on and the undulations are becoming hills now and it is a guess as you ride along as to which way the road meanders, still lovely scenery.  We start to look for a bushcamp at around 75km and find one 3km later.  It is close to the road (about 40m) and if you look between the tent and Neil you can see just how close we are to the road as there is a car passing through ...

 Now this road will not be as quite as the Normanton - Cloncurry road at night but that is okay it was such a hard day I think we will sleep like logs!

Now today Neil found a great device that is a trifle bit big to carry on our bikes but he picked it up anyway as it still goes ... it is a work bench torch 

 it folds up in half and it has still some life in the batteries but they need to be charged by some 6volt charging device which we don't carry so we might send it home once we get to Mt Isa as there are a few things that we are carrying that we are not really using!  actually it is Neil that is carrying stuff that we are not using!

So Mum do you remember me telling you about some curry meals in a tetra pack made by Heinz that we like as they are less heavy than tinned food ... well here is a picture of the packets

 they come in 2 packs (one rice and one chicken curry) and they are bound together, now I know what you are going to say about the next photo Mum but believe me it is very tasty - this one is chicken satay
 there are 3 other types all different forms of curry, they don't have much veges but they are easy to cook and filling to eat.

Tomorrow is a short day to Mt Isa - only 40km and Neil is hoping to pick up his package from the post office - another solar panel (foldable) and a solar battery charger.  I have been informed by Neil that we don't have to get up so early tomorrow and that I am not allowed to get up before 6am as it is so dark ... yeah whatever Neil!!!  heres hoping we get our tailwind!

Day 2:

Well it blew a strong wind for most of the night and because we keep the 2 tent fly doors open so it doesn't get too hot the wind was blowing in on our heads and at one point the tent inner door flicked Koutas face while he was sleeping that he jumped up with a fright and almost hit the roof of the tent ... ha ha ha!

The wind today was coming from the south, south east so a mainly a cross wind with either a slight head or tail wind ... depends on which way the road is turning.

We start out with one or 2 hills but it is lovely coming through the ranges as the sun is rising ... it really reminds us of when we cycled through the badlands of Montana, USA.

Not much traffic to start with but the closer we got to Mt Isa the more we encountered traffic coming out of the town, there were hundreds of caravans leaving.  We did come across this sign and thought it funny ...

 So to get into Mt Isa you have to go up this endless hill ... I tell you it was easy to ride gradient wise but it just went on and on and on.  Mind you the difficult part about riding the last 15km was that there was no shoulder to ride in and the road is very narrow so sometimes there was us and 2 road trains alongside each other!
Once over the hill you begin to descend into Mt Isa and all you can see are the mines ... now Mt Isa is a lead mining town and it is not a very healthy town, there is a very high incidence of lead poisoning from the 'dust' from the mines which contains lead so needless to say there are no rain tanks in peoples homes!  A bit like Managreva with the French nuclear testing fallout!

 Once in town the roads become very bad and basically we are not looking out for road signs, shops or anything but just a few meters in front of our front wheel as there is alot of pot holes, rough road and missing bits of the road!
We stop off to grab some lunch and continue to the caravan park.  We chose this one as we get a discount with our top tourist membership and the sign when we left Cloncurry said that it had shady grassed tent sites ... well the first thing I said was where is the grass!

 The majority of inner Queensland is in drought and they have water restrictions so they can't water the dust to make their grass ... hence most of the tent sites so far and in the future are dust bowls!  We do have shade for most of the day and we also have a little view of a billabong so it is a nice spot ...

 Once thing I didn'lt realise is one of my favourite politicans is in Mt Isa ...

Now this guy is a real hoot!  I always thought he wore a funny (almost 10 gallon) hat but I notice that everyone in outback Queensland is wearing them!
We are here for 4 nights and will have a good break and stock up on food for our next 9 day stint to Tennant Creek.