We had one last stop in the Northern Territory - Wanerah Bore. We also called into Barkley Homestead for lunch.

On Thursday 12 June we crossed the border into Queensland. We were a little disappointed with the entrance statement which was covered with graffitti. Definitely not as impressive as the sign we had a photo with at the South Australian/Northern Territory border (see previous blogs).

We spent our first night in Queensland at the billabong a couple of kilometres west of Camooweal. The weather was starting to look a bit dubious with clouds rolling in and spits of rain. By the time we were back on the road the next day we had rain for most of the way to Mt Isa. The coutryside into the Isa is magnificent as is to be expected with the huge amount of mining that is taking place in that area. They are mining Copper, Silver and a very small amount of gold. The town is a thriving metropolis and we parked near the tourist bureau and walked into town to do some shopping.

On our way out of town we decided that the cars and vans needed a trip through the car wash having been showered with dust and cattle urine from the road trains that had passed us on the way through. Tony had the car under the beam when we noticed the sign that said NO CARAVANS. Oops, we (that's us and Bert and Fran) had to put the cars into reverse and that idea was canned. We spent the night at another free camp called Fountain Springs.

We headed into Cloncurry the next day. The local show was on that day so we were privvy to some 'cowboy' locals in their cowdy hats, boots etc. Morning tea was on the agenda before we started to head north to Normanton and Karumba.