Monday 3 August 2015

Australia..Mt Isa and nearby sights..Trips to Lake Moondarra, Heywood granite mine, Mary Kathleen and the Fountain springs trail ( May to September 2015)

There are some wonderful sights around the Mt Isa area and during this midwifery contract (from mid May to early September) I have been very fortunate to have been taken by friends and colleagues to these places.
Theses 2 photos are taken from the lookout above the town looking towards the mine. The striped chimney is the copper smelter and the large one is lead


Road trains come through the town regularly

This photo is taken from the staff accomodation block

There is a closed down granite mine 15 mins drive out of Mt Isa with some stunning scenery of Bolders and slabs of Granite. I enjoyed a visit here with friends Mala and Patrick and Kay






Kay, Mala and me (Cathy)
Pat and Mala





Lake Lake Moondarra is an artificial lake on the Leichhardt River 16 km downstream from the town of Mount Isa. It provides water to the city and the adjacent Mount Isa Mines (MIM) mining lease.

It is a great spot to go for some peace and tranquility. I have been here several times with and enjoyed a trip with Jan who is a very keen photographer. I had just bought a new camera and was eager to get some photos of the birdlife and plants





Yes there are crocs in Lake Moondara









 


Another trip was to Mary Kathleen 55km from Mt Isa . There was a thriving township with a population between 1200-2000 residents where Uranium was mined. It was closed in 1984 due to political contraversy and the homes were auctioned off and within one week it became a ghost town. All that remains is the concrete foundations of buildings


This is what it looked like when the town was occupied




It is a very popular camping ground now just off the main highway between Cloncurry and Mt Isa

Mala is standing where the changing sheds were for the swimming pool. Pat and Mitchell are walking over the filled in pool
The picture below is how it used to be



Open pit Uranium mine


Copper leeching from the rocks


After exploring here we drove on to Fountain springs passing the old mining towns of Bulonga and Ballara
Old foundations of the railway


The hills were rich in  minerals


The colours were spectacular

Fountain Springs  This is a beautiful spot in the Fountain ranges where the ravine is cut. 
In the rainy season a 12m waterfall cascades over the top




Patrick and Mitchell tasting the spring water

Mala supplied a great lunch



Stockyards and windmill

Getting lost.. We had planned to come out the other side of the station on the other side of Mt Isa near Duchess but there were so many dirt roads without names that we got lost and came to a dead end. We  then decided we should follow our tracks back the way we came..





It was a great day out with super company and spectacular scenery. Thankyou Pat and Mala

2 comments:

Kathi Cuffel said...

Hi Eric & Kathi,
We met you last year at Mayaguana with Roger & Lynne on Schatzi. We will be traveling south and hope to meet you again along the way.
svjarana.blogspot.com

Best Regards, Kathi & Bill Cuffel

Unknown said...

Kathy you write amazing blogs, so interesting with superb Photos. Where are you now? That por little boat must be almost worn out, the miles it's done. May see you again at Isa one day.
Regards christine glasgow

SV Erica

SV Erica

About Me

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We met in 1971 and it was Eric's dream to build his own yacht and sail the world. This became a joint dream but it was not until 1994 that we were able to start building. "Erica" was launched in 2001 after 7yrs building her. It then took us 5 yrs to prepare her and ourselves before leaving NZ to see the world

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