Julia Creek.

Monday 28th July.

Time to move on after our three night stay at Corella Lake (also known as Clem Walton Park).

We are in no particular hurry so we took our time packing everything away. We also pumped some fresh water from the lake into our water tank. This was accomplished by holding our 12volt bilge pump in knee deep clear water with the hose connected and powered by our battery booster pack.

This water will be used mainly for showering, clothes washing and toilet flushing. Although it is clear enough for drinking after filtering and boiling.

We moved on to Cloncurry where we spent an hour or so. Some shopping at a Woolies supermarket, lunch at a beaut bakery, and topped up our 10 litre jerrycan with unleaded for the Honda generator.

It was then on to Julia Creek about another 130 km's east from Cloncurry.

On arrival at Julia Creek we were amazed to find a camp host was there to greet all new arrivals at the free camping area beside the river. He explained that he was a volunteer and went on to point out suitable camp sites that were still available. We were also informed that the nearby caravan park hosted a dinner every Monday night for $10 per person with a courtesy bus to pick us up from the camp area and take us back to the caravan park. It appears that the local council controls both the caravan park and the RV Friendly free camp area. They have taken the initiative to do this each week with profits going back into one of the non profit organisations within the town who take it in turns to provide the meal. We even had entertainment provided.

It was a case of take your own chairs, plates, cutlery and drinks. The night was so popular that the mini bus had to make four trips each way from the camp area to the dinner at the caravan park.

Red Claw, Roos and Crocs.

Sunday 27th July.

Success this time with three decent sized red claw in the net which were dropped into boiling water for a minute or so then de tailed, shelled and placed in the fridge ready for a nice crayfish sandwich for lunch. Another great morning with the sun quite hot so any outdoor activity was best confined to the shade of the awning or sheltered against the shady side of the motorhome.

One of our immediate neighbours moved on this morning but their vacated spot was taken up by a new arrival within an hour. This couple had a boat on the roof of their vehicle which I gave them a hand to unload. I was in turn invited to go out on the lake late afternoon to set some crab nets for red claw crayfish. We motored around the edge of the lake away from any sign of humans only to come across fresh water crocodiles basking on the waters edge. We were quite surprised at the size of these freshies. The smallest one was about two metres but of the eight were saw in total at least half of them were over 2 1/2 metres with one big one at about 3 metres. Fortunately I had my camera with me and was able to get some great photos. We set three nets in this area and then motored to the dam wall where I dropped my one and only net in only to see it sink and drag the float below the surface. Heavens knows how deep the water was but suffice to say it disappeared like the Titanic. Oh well, I won't need to check it in the morning.

We had another great fire tonight sitting under the stars.

Swans denied 13 consecutive wins.

Saturday 26th July.

First thing this morning I checked our crab net only to find that nothing had ventured in.

We went for a walk around the area and talked to a lot of people en route. We also had a visit from a lady who was camped with her husband about 200 metres away. She enquired if our satellite TV was working ok as they were having problems getting their's operating. I paid them a visit and together we were able to resolve their problem. 

Set our crab net again to leave overnight in the lake.

Watched the Swans play Hawthorn but unfortunately the Hawks stopped the Swans run of 12 consecutive wins.

Beautiful Corella Lake

Friday 25th July.

We were only about 10 km's from where we were heading for last night so the trip to Corella Lake only took a few minutes. This location has been recommended by a number of people and we were not disappointed. The lake is quite large with a winding track of about 1 km following the waterline to the camping areas. There are a number of inlets around the northern shore, a number of them only accessible to 4WD's. We located a nice level spot right at the waters edge with a couple of other campers nearby and proceeded to set up our own camp. I took the opportunity to bait up our crab net and drop it into the lake beside us.

Around 4:00pm we lit a nice fire which we later used to cook our dinner of sausages and mushroom sauce. The remoteness of this location makes it an ideal location to view the night sky so we spent an hour or so after dark star gazing.

Farewell Stephen R.

Thursday 24th July.

We checked out of the caravan park this morning, drove into town and parked the motorhome at our favourite parking lot while we went to Bunnings and Jaycar. Filled an empty gas cylinder at the caravan park prior to departure at the best price so far - only $13.10

Around 2:00pm we drove out to the Sunset Lawn Cemetery and parked under a huge shady tree, then got changed into respectable clothes to attend Stephen' funeral.

About 1/2 an hour later dozens of vehicles started to arrive, most 4WD Utes driven by Stephen's workmates from the Xtrata mines. Barbara's brother Rodney has arrived in Mount Isa this morning having flown up from Melbourne for the funeral. There were also a large number of people from the Mount Isa Bowls club where Stephen had been a very active member for the six years he had been in Mount Isa. Our best guess is that there were approximately 100 in attendance for the service which was held under an avenue of shady trees leading into the lawn cemetery.

The coffin was placed on a trolley in the centre of the roadway with a lectern to the side and 30 or so chairs in rows facing the coffin.

Stephen was an avid supporter of the Richmond Tigers so a Tigers AFL jumper was draped over the end of the coffin. Several people including his boss, the president of the Bowls Club and Caroline gave a short talk on his involvement with the local community and his dedication to his job as a superintendent in charge of the lead/zinc plant here at Mount Isa.

It was a lovely service and as the hearse containing the coffin moved off slowly into the sunset the Tigers theme song filled the air.

We then adjourned to the bowls Club for drinks and eats. The room was decorated in yellow and black (Richmonds colours for the uninitiated) with helium filled balloons of the same colours filling the ceiling space.

There is a section of the bar bearing a large sign "Steve Rooney's Sportsmen's Bar", with the Tigers logo and the words "Go the mighty Richmond Tigers".

Gail and I were invited to assemble in the centre of the bowls rinks with family and close friends to release dozens of these balloons while all the others circled the entire playing area. This ceremony was accompanied by the Tigers theme song played over the arena PA system.

It was truly a beautiful send off to a young man who had definitely left his mark in Mount Isa.

We departed Mount Isa direct from the wake heading east toward Cloncurry.

Darkness overtook us before we reached our planned overnight stop so we decided to pull into the Fountain Springs rest area. Wow - where odd all these vans and Motorhomes come from ?.

The large area adjacent to the highway was clock a block however we managed to weezle our way in to a spot for overnight.

Lucky Gift Day

Wednesday 23rd July.

Did some washing, tidied up a few cupboards, the went for a walk around the local neighbourhood.

We met a lovely lady who is a permanent resident in the caravan park who gave us a perfectly good electric hand mixer and carving knife which she said she had no further use for. It was only a few days ago that Gail was doing some cooking and said she wished she had an electric mixer..

Lunch with the Family

Tuesday 22nd July.

We left our "Site Occupied" sign plus our chairs and outside table smack in the middle of our site then drove the motorhome into town to do a few chores. Then out to Stephen's house where we were also met up with Gavin's daughter Stacey and Stephen's best mate Mark who had only just arrived on a flight from Melbourne. We all had lunch and a drink to celebrate Stephen's life.

Gail and I departed late afternoon as Barb and Frank had more appointments in town.