Kynuna QLD
Known as the Blue Heeler, this pub is very busy with one night stays of passing nomads and farm contractors. Before arriving at Kynuna, we travelled through wide open space of grasslands and rocky mounds. The pub was very old fashioned and the food wasn’t something I would go back for again.
McKinlay
This town is known for a lot of laughs; crocodile Dundee laughs. Amazingly, while we were using the outside dining area to have breakfast, sharp on 10:00am, the doors opened for tourist business. There are many memories from the movie, all relating to the humour style of Crocodile Dundee.
The jalopy car hadn’t been brought back from the McKinlay horse races held two days before our arrival; the car standing outside the “Walkabout Creek Hotel” is a great memory we saw last year on our Darwin trip.
Corella Dam
We had passed the turnoff to this dam last year on our way to Darwin and the reports told us not to miss out on this hidden gem. On arrival, after shutting the farm gate entrance and travelling a dirt road just a short while, we realised this was not a one night stay but at least a two night stay location, even longer. With a blue lake before us and many spots to camp at along the shore, we made the decision to do just that.
Lake Corella is a concrete faced rockfill dam built between 1956 and 1957 on the Corella River to provide town water for the Mary Kathleen Uranium Mine. The dam originally had a gated control structure which was removed in 2004, lowering the spillway and reducing the full supply level. When full it has a surface area of 200 hectares and holds 10,500 ML of water.
Mary Kathleen Mine
Mary Kathleen was a mining settlement in north-western Queensland, Australia. It is located in the Selwyn Range between Mount Isa and Cloncurry.
With the mine long closed, the structures of the township have been all but removed. Mary Kathleen’s secrets are not hard to uncover, you’ll find the old town fountain, outline of the pool and the concrete slabs where homes once stood. Follow the road to the abandoned mine and marvel at the sheer expanse of the pit.
The entry road is good for having the motor home do the rock and roll, in slow motion. Even at almost walking pace, the motor home rocked with every divot in the road. You drive about 2km into the now ghost town of Mary Kathleen. In the 50s, 60s and 70s, Mary Kathleen was the town where the miners of the uranium lived.
There are literally hundreds of concrete slabs to camp on. We found a parking spot beside what was the floor to the cafeteria; I’m still waiting for service. I’d like some hash browns for breakfast, please.
Many countries in the world have benefited from the uranium for their energy needs but Australia has reneged on using this clean energy resource.
History tells us that politics has played a major role in allowing the operation of the mine in the past and then politics eventually stopped the mining of uranium for domestic energy purposes. Always something to “wonder why” when you’re a logical thinker, which I tend to be.
The night skies do justice to the statement “the heavens declare the glory….”
Mt Isa Qld.
This town has been a lead mining town for many years. The mine is central to the town’s business area.
Our mission in Mt Isa was to collect a parcel at the post office that had been sent from Tamworth to enable us to use less power on the Starlink setup. The parcel was initially to arrive on Monday next week, but came into Mt Isa on Thursday this week. Good service Australia Post.
We had a bit of a hiccup coming into the town. The steering sensors went on the Iveco and showed an error on the screen. Fortunately, the Iveco service Center was able to rectify the problem and after $330 worth of computer checks and labour, we were on our way.
There are quite a number of free camping rest areas along the Barkley Highway. We decide on the WWII Historical Site Rest Area for a two night stay. We have missed out on a stunning Friday sunset, sorry to say.
great life - retired got nothing on 
Thank you for the great pictures and for “taking us along with you” Take it easy and enjoy the rest of the way.
Ken and Barbara Dove, ARV Caloundra, Q.