We had a terrible night with winds gusting after 10:30pm making us regret setting up at the top of the ridge, and Darryl had to lower the canopy as the banging was keeping us awake.
Luckily there was a nice sunrise, and wind abated somewhat but Darryl still decided to use a sheltered spot to boil up.
After packing up we drove slowly down the ridge, but didn't discover until later that we had broken off the camper jockey-wheel handle; it must have happened while we bounced over the big rocks.
On the way out we went back for Darryl to get shots of the mine at Kuridala.
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| You can't see me, but I'm waiting in the car |
A lovely Blue-tongue lizard decided to cross the road in front of us, so we put him off in a safe place (after photos, of course).
Morning Tea was at the Cloncurry river (before the highway) and there were many birds, Jabiru etc enjoying the water.
We hadn't really planned on going to Mt Isa, but as Mitre10 in Cloncurry did not have replacement O-rings for our gas stove, we decided to try for them at the Isa BCF, and do some shopping.
Our plan was to look at all the sites along the trail, and we pulled in to the first town, but then took a wrong turn and missed most of it, so changed our plans to look on the way out.
The Rosebud Weir was very small, but had nice green grass and cattle grazing.
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| Dry river bed with magificent gum trees |
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| Rosebud Weir |
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| I just love all the rock formations in this country |
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| This looks interesting |
There really wasn't anywhere good to camp so we headed for Fountain Springs and parked on the other side of the creek. OMG...spectacular!
We were totally astounded by the beautiful rock formations with a pool at the bottom.
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| A beautiful spot for Happy Hour |
Spinifex pigeons landed near the top of the dry waterfall and hopped down a couple at a time to drink from the small pool.
Lots of other birds flew in at different times. A little rock wallaby just near us.
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| The light was too dim for our cameras to get clear shots |
A couple turned up and we chatted before they moved on. Other doves came down. Then a huge roo and once dark the Cattle came in for a drink. It seemed quite warm so we left the sides of the camper up that let a nice breeze come through the gap. Darryl went to sleep while I did write-up and read a little then it started to rain lightly. Around midnight Darryl woke up with 2 ticks, so I removed them and the stars were out with no cloud.
Because you cannot see anything behind the gap at Fountain Springs, it makes you wonder how come there is a waterfall, large pool and a creek at the base. It was not until I studied it with Google Earth that I realized that a large creek raised the height of the ground on the other side and eroded through the granite wall at the weakest point.
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