Earth's treasures - garnet hunting and Mt Isa

After leaving Winton not so early, we decided to see how far we got before making a decision on where to stay the night.  We admit there was a greedy gleam in the eye when we thought about the lovely claret red stones that our fellow traveller had by the handful.  So in the end, we followed the map they gave us and turned off the highway onto a non-descript cattle station called Marandon.  After travelling along a long sandy track for 14km or so, and opening and closing several cattle gates, we realised we had gone too far. An 18 point turn later, and some friendly advice from some of the station-hands that happened upon us led to another completely secluded campsite next to the garnet fossicking area.  The farmer kindly lets anyone onto his property, provided they follow a few basic courtesies, to collect as many stones as they can find.

After setting up, we headed off into the hills in search of garnet. Once we ‘got our eyes in’ we realised the stuff was everywhere and the desire to find the biggest chunk was hard to ignore. 

Pretty sure that Kel won this with her ‘eagle eyes’ truly in form. After dinner, Rich headed back up the hill for some late night fossicking and a phone call home to wish Alice (who was heading back to England) well.

After some early morning fossicking (and getting the kids to perform some hard labour for their breakfast), we were back on the road with our haul of garnet.

Dragged the caravan along the dirt road, and back on the highway, through Cloncurry and onto Mt Isa - Bob Katter country!  (and Rob Katter as it turns out - they are in two different levels of government, clearly getting set to take over the world).

Mt Isa announces itself well before you arrive with the chimney stacks at the mine, which is right on the edge of town.  Kel came here about 12 years ago and many of those recollections remained true (see favourite below). 

No fun stuff and not even any fighting - how is a person supposed to have a good time around here?

First stop was the Mt Isa museum which provided us with an insight into the formation of the town, its growth and identity. On one side of the river is the town, on the other is the mine itself.  They mine several elements here - the focus seems to be on zinc and copper at the moment but in the past lead and silver have also been extracted.  We also heard that there are only 6 productive years left - which of course lead us to wonder what happens to the 20,000 odd townsfolk then?  We also found it interesting that residents have access to regular blood tests to monitor their lead levels.

Had a tragic fast food dinner, made slightly more acceptable by the great view of from the lookout.  

Oh the shame - lucky you can't smell us too!