Cathy in Mt Isa about to join Eric in NZ

Mt Isa is situated 1830km NW of Brisbane and 900km SW of Townsville, surrounded by the harsh but picturesque ochre- red Selwyn Ranges. It is on the banks of the Leichhardt river which changes from a dry river bed in the dry season to a flooded river in the wet season.

Copper, zinc lead and silver are mined here. Twice a day there is an earth tremor caused by the underground blasting.

My 6 week midwifery contract in Mt Isa finishes today and I fly to NZ to join Eric. We will resume our cruising aboard our yacht "Erica" in January.

This has been my 3rd time working at Mt Isa hospital. It has been nice to catch up with past colleagues and meet other agency staff

The hospital is undergoing some renovations and a face lift as well as some extentions..

I spent my days off getting fit, by walking and doing aqua aerobics in the pool.

A popular walk by the hospital staff is to a lookout named "Cardiac hill" . It is a great hike with views over the town, mine and countryside. My favourite time to walk is at dawn before the sun gets too hot.

Looking down the road

View of the mine

Typical landscape

                                                       Spinifex

Another lookout takes in a closer view over the town and mining area.

                                             Mt Isa Base Hospital

Icons around town

 During WW2 when bombs were dropped on Darwin an underground hospital was built in fear that Mt Isa could be a target. The tall smoke stacks of the mines would have provided an easy target for the Japanese planes

My accomodation was great. A large room with table and chairs, a desk, fridge and ensuite, overlooking the pool.. We shared a common room with kitchen, dining area and lounge

View from my room

The town centre is only a few minutes walk from the Staff quarters

During the storms we had alot of rain and high humidity which set off the fire alarms. Several times we had to evacuate the staff quarters.

waiting to get the all clear

Pictures around town

Six weeks was very quickly gone and after saying "farewell" to new and old friends and colleagues I turn another page in the story of our lives. New discoveries, adventures and people to be met.

Biloela Queensland, Australia (580kms north west of Brisbane) (Sept/ October 2011)

I'm back working to earn some more "cruising funds". This contract is for 6 wks. I'll either extend or go somewhere else for another 6wks.
Eric is in Langkawi, Malaysia working on "Erica" to keep her in top notch condition for our transit of the Indian Ocean next year.

I flew in from Malaysia via the Gold Coast and spent 2 days with my twin sis and bro in law before flying to Thangool, which is 20mins drive from Biloela. It was interesting terrain as we came in to land over cropping land.
The Biloela area is supported by coal mining (open cut and underground) and agriculture

I've been here for 2 wks now and really enjoying the work. The staff at the hospital are very friendly. I'm employed as a midwife but as there are only around 100 births/yr I work as a general nurse as well.
The accomodation is 30m from the hospital, set in parklike grounds.

Accomodation is a 9 bedroom self contained "Queenslander type" building, shown in the picture below

This  view is from the enclosed verandah outside my bedroom looking across a school field

From my bedroom window at the back I look across to the hospital

When I'm not sightseeing I'm enjoying reading, surfing the internet, editing photos and skying family and friends

Without a car there's not alot to do on my days off and between shifts, but I'm getting fit by walking each day and swimming in the pool .

These are some photos around town.

Enjoying the pool and doing aerobics

Woolworths supermarket and shopping complex

Highway into town from Gladstone

Tennis courts

My Johannesburg colleague and walking  friend Veronica

View from the top of Valley view road to the Callide power station

The Lindsay Daniels walkway

With all the crops being harvested there's alot of grain around to attract the birds

These horses enjoyed the fresh green grass I gave them

Grain silos

These Parrot (?Ashoka) trees are flowering everywhere. The birds are magnificent and the birdsong is beautiful

 

2 big night outs while I was in Biloela was the 8oth Commemoration of the Hospital and Las Vegas night at the Bowls club

Friends in the Staff quarters dressed up for the Ball

 

 Director of Nursing on screen

This was quite a fun night out at the Bowling club with Las Vegas look alikes

The last couple of days in Biloela I enjoyed a visit to a lookout point above the Power station and Callide open cut mine where there was a steep walk to the top of the road

I flew to the Gold coast on the 23rd of October for a couple of days with my twin sister and brother in law before heading to Mt Isa for a 6 wk midwifery contract