The P word has finally entered our vocab!

The P word has finally entered our vocabulary

Not P for Penny Pinchers, Problematic, Pursuing, Perambulating (Carole’s word) or even Pleasure, but P for … Planning. Thus far we have managed to make little to no plans, just jumping in the car and letting Pearl (really Carole) do the navigating. This generally meant we drove for as long as Carole could tolerate my Perambulating? in the passenger seat.

We knew we were getting close to FNQ (Far North Queensland for the sandgropers out there) the XXXX signs got larger and pineapple and beetroot began appearing in the sandwiches. It dawned on us that time is slipping away faster than the pennies jiggling about in our ashtray. We are going to have to do a bit more planning if we’re going to see a quarter of what we hadn’t even planned to see.  

Whilst we were busy planning out our next 9 months…errr…. 6 months, we were hit from behind by a huge unexpectation (had everyone going there…). Mt Isa -we didn’t expect much, my mum described it like Townsville without the sea. This of course possibly doesn’t give you much of an idea about Mt Isa, if you haven’t actually been to Townsville so I shall endeavour to paint a completely biased view of our experience in the town affectionately known as the ISA.

A few biased facts;

Yes its an ugly town,

Yes the mine is right in the middle of town,

Yes there are three huge smelter stacks puffing out smoke day and night long (in the middle of town).

Yes, we were a little disappointed when we discovered that the Buff Club wasn’t a gay man’s Mecca, infact, we didn’t hang around long enough to find out what kind of mecca it was.

And yes, they are processing seriously toxic materials (Lead, copper, silver and zinc). Yes, they could possible hold the title for having the largest collection of sardine packed caravan parks- as Carole put so delicately at 8am this morning “I don’t want a caravan park to be so crammed in that its like camping in someones backyard. Its ok to fart in front of family and friends, but not in the backyard of strangers”

Yes, the tourist information stand is completely kayotic (I had to physically restrain Carole) and splattered with brochures titled “Living with Lead” and “Lead and water” and my all time favourite “Maintaing a healthy diet with Lead in your community” All I could think was, I hope SLQ has some of these in their ephemera collection.

SO why did we leave with grins on our faces and a strange desire to return to this peculiar place?

Yes, you can get a decent sized fried egg, cheese, salad with pineapple and beetroot burger and old fashioned milkshake (full cream milk and real fat ice-cream filled to the brim and served in the aluminium cup) at the greesy spoon Niffty’s where everyone’s welcome and the food comes with a doily, a huge smile, and proper chat.

Yes, you can visit the underground hospital museum where they have absolutely everything on display, including a real (I mean real) skeleton and assortment of surgical instruments dating back to the 1900’s. There were Dr’s notes and instructructions for mixing medicines. The preservationists in us both remained completely uncalm- kill the laminator…

Yes, you can visit one of the most interesting museums we have been to yet. Outback at Isa manages to captures the unique history of a turbulent town through oral histories, creative visual footage, and artefacts. It’s so comprehensive the ticket is valid for 2 days.

Yes, you can spend 3 hours experiencing what it was like to be an underground lea minner in the 50’s, feeling the sensation of blasting the face off mammoth rocks whilst sipping your tea in the crib room.

Yes, you begin to develop a sense for the community that ‘old school’ miners had, as their lives really did depended on it. You also start to realize how ruthless the whole business was and still is.

Yes, you can hear the stories of the ‘short-cuts’ miners took to boost the pay packets from a man who was there and somehow survived to tell the tale.

Yes, you can see a town that serves good food and coffee, and has a wee boutique shop selling Maggie Beer products (this was a big strike against Katherine)

Yes, you can get good mobile phone reception that doesn’t drop out everytime an F-one-11 flies overhead

Yes, you realize that once the Profits from the minerals disappear, so will the town.

Perhaps with a bit more Planning, this Perculiar town might just live to Puff through another century.

Now we’re on the …Carole?…Barkly Hwy… heading to…Carole? Julia Creek, where (as the lady from Bella Duck said) “you’re not going to find a shady tree beside a babbling brook to camp under”. Just left the mountains to discover what a flat plain is really like. Its flat. It’s plain. It’s time for a snack.