Far from waking up to the dulcet tones of a tree shredder grinding away at leg sized boughs only feet from our bedroom window, it was to a strong gusting wind that we woke this morning. It had whipped itself up into a frenzy overnight, and it was the whistling sound of the stiff breeze trying its best to separate our awning from the van to which we were greeted this morning.

In some respects I was thankful that it had arroused me from my slumber, as I had neglected to set an alarm. Today being our last day in The Isa, we wanted to make the most of it. Not that there was a great deal left to do here in town.

Following breakfast, I pulled in the single annex wall we had erected, and began to ready the van for travel again tomorrow. That meant folding chairs and washing lines and the annexe wall, before playing what is akin to a life size game of Tetris, in an effort to pack everything back away beneath the bed.

Heading into town, we first stopped at the information centre again, where we had a browse through the art gallery that we hadn’t bothered to look at when we first arrived the other day. There were some sensational photographs and inked drawings, but the prices put them all well and truly out of our budget.

Bec with the ‘Copper Pour’ sculpture.

I was also going to enquire about going on one of the underground mine tours, but found that todays has been cancelled, so I was out of luck. I ought to have asked when we were last here, and I might have been able to go yesterday. Oh well, it gives us an excuse to call back through here one day. We can’t do it all in one trip afterall.

From the information centre, we drove over the bridge that crosses the dry riverbed that separates town side from mine side. It looks like a good number of seasons have past since the river last saw a trickle of water, let alone a decent flow. Mine side is, as the moniker would suggest, where the mining plant is. There is also a sizable residential estate this side, but really not much else. It was but a short drive, more so we could check out the mining operation from close up. Not that much could be seen past the tall chain link fence and shrubbery that enclosed the plant.

Our sightseeing completed for the time being, we next headed back into town and to the shops to get some supplies. Apart from buying some extra bits to allow me to fit a new electrical point in the van to run the invertor, we also bought a jerry can so we can carry an emergency supply of diesel. It’s only about extra 100Km worth, but ought to be enough to get us out of serious trouble, even though I hardly expect to require it. I then spent another ½ an hour at the Telstra store, having found that the ¾ of an hour we wasted at Tamworth was exactly that. A waste of time. All the promises we had been made by the girl over the phone had somehow translated to us being overcharged on our latest bill. With that hopefully sorted this time round, it was off to the supermarket.

We are quite unsure as to what we can expect as we head further inland, before turning right to head up towards Darwin. Between here and Darwin, the only sizeable towns that we are likely to encounter are Camooweal and Tennant Creek. So we are working on the assumption that, other than the most basic of supplies, our options will be limited and probably expensive. Thus, we were doing a big shop today, in an effort to ward off having to pay over inflated amounts for produce in the middle of nowhere. We walked out with what appeared to be enough food to feed an army, or at least the two of us for a week or so. With that and what we already have stowed away in the van, we will hopefully make it all the way up to Darwin without needing to organise a major resupply operation.

It was straight back to the caravan park then, so as to load the freezer with our freshly bought goodies. With a bit of pushing and prodding, and creative packing we managed to fit it all in, filling the freezer to capacity in the process.

I then knuckled down to fitting our new power outlet. It took me a little longer than expected, but wasn’t made any easier by the limited tools I had to work with, or the extremely limited space within I had to work my magic. It would have been easier if I hadn’t loaded up the under bed storage space earlier, as that was where I spent most of my afternoon fiddling around.

Not much room under here. Now, if I’d taken my hat off maybe.

I finally had it all wired up, and a quick test showed that it does in fact work. Only time will tell though, if it will supply power for a long enough duration, to watch a movie or two without breaking our eardrums with the high pitched shrill alarm that pervaded the van when we last tried to use the invertor. Since I wired this one up and can’t blame anyone else if it doesn’t work as advertised, if it doesn’t you will likely not hear about it anyway. Unless of course it fails in a spectacular fashion that includes fireworks and explosions.

I was done, and tidied up in just enough time for us to jump in ‘The Beast’ for a drive up to the Mt Isa Lookout to watch the sunset. We had been advised that sunset was the best time from which to take in the view from the vantage point. It was quite nice to watch the golden orb of the sun slip down behind the low rolling hills that encircle The Isa, as the city lights became to illuminate the streets below. And according to the sign at the summit, we are a mere 2008Km from Melbourne.

Only 2008Km To Get Home.

Sunset selfie at The Isa Lookout.

What was then meant to be a quick dinner collected from KFC, turned into a ½ an hour wait as more chicken was cooked. It seems we weren’t the only one taking advantage of the special Tuesday deal. Getting takeaway meant no mess to clean up back at the van though. This was a compelling reason to chow down on the fatty goodness of deep fried chicken, as we are hoping for an early night before an expected big day or driving tomorrow.

By this time tomorrow, we will be sitting on the side of the road, somewhere between here and Tennant Creek. With no idea exactly where we will be, I daresay we will be trying out my wiring efforts, to run the television for some entertainment. I can almost say for certain though that it would be an extremely slim chance that we have access to phone or Internet signal, and so, until such time as we do, this will be my last communiqué.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.