Day 22 - West to Mount Isa - Unfinished Business

May 22, 2023

Day 22 - West to Mount Isa

After breakfast chatting with Larry, an engineer who specialises in road safety, I was on my way at 9. It was terrific for a km or two and then things went downhill.

Almost immediately, I left the Matilda Way and joined the Overlander Way that goes from Townsville to Tennant Creek.

This sign should have served as a warning. The combination of mining road trains, men in white utes and cars towing caravans made cycling unpleasant at times, especially in the first 50 km of hilly, winding road.

It really should say that the mining industry owns the road. Cycle at your peril

After 40 km I stopped to look at a memorial to Burke and Will's. This is what I found.

The plaque has been taken - officially or unofficially, who knows

A little further on I came to a moving monument to the Kalkadoon people.

A monument to the Kalkadoon. What beautiful country they inhabited here in the Selwyn Range

I wondered whether the bullet holes in the head were part of the art or vandalism. I so hope the former.

Just before these memorials I crossed the beautiful Corella River.

The Corella River. Downstream is the site of Mary Kathleen, a former town and uranium mine.

Half way between Cloncurry and Mount Isa, I stopped at a fancy rest area. I had my stove going, biscuits laden with cheese and was scribbling my diary when a roadtrain pulled in. The fellow left his engine running for 45 minutes. "Any chance of turning it off?" "Can't be bothered" he replied.

It was the story of my day - good but hard cycling in a beautiful landscape but all tarnished by a few miserable humans.

Look closely. There are giant termite mounds on this hill.

Eventually I got to Mount Isa. It was all very exciting after a hard day in the saddle. I was stopped by a red traffic light and shopped at a supermarket with normal prices. Oh, and a little earlier in the day a couple of participants in the "shit box rally" passed. Look them up.

Today's ride: 125 km (78 miles)
Total: 2,547 km (1,582 miles)

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