A day at Mount Isa

After a quite afternoon yesterday with lots of play at the Caravan Park pool after the kids were in bed Cathie and I snuck out to McDonalds. But get this Mount Isa Maccas is closed on Sunday nights - now that's not as good as Stanmore Maccas:)

So instead we headed up to the lookout.

Mount Isa at night is spectacular. But there is nothing to do.

Here's the distance map at the top of the lookout.

First thing this morning we headed back up to the lookout with the kids to show them what it is like.

Then I took the car to be serviced. We've been a little suspicious that it isn't cooling as it should. And we don't want to find out that we are right somewhere between Mount Isa and Alice Springs. So we are playing 'better to be safe than sorry.' I met a really nice German guy called Bert who has run the car yard for 40 years. One of his offsiders had a look at the car and is going to do something. Bert dropped me back in town and we walked from the shopping center to the Outback Hospital.

While I was at the car place Cathie bought Hannah the third book in the a series about a guy called Eragon. After Harry Potter I think this is her current favourite series. After three hours Hannah is up to about page 180.

In WW2 Darwin Hospital was bombed and their was concern that the Japanese might go for Mount Isa next (as much of Australia's lead (ie bullet) production was done here. They decided to build a backup underground hospital. It was built with volunteer labor from the mines over 12 weeks. As the Japanese never bombed Mount Isa the underground hospital was never used - except as a night sleeping area for the nurses. But Cathie likes visiting medical things so we checked it out - Australia's only citizen built underground hospital.

We were totally hot by the time we walked back to 'Outback at Isa' and didn't feel like another Australiana Museam. So we didn't pay to go in to that. We're now back at the Caravan Park, Cathie is having a sleep. The kids are in the pool and I am writing this update.

In terms of budgeting. We had set a nightly max of $50 for the caravan park. Petrol is pricey out here. Entry for a family to a museam/exhibit seems to cost $40-50.

We're having a very nice time.