Finally made it to the Territory today, twelve days after leaving home. We traced our journey so far on a map tonight, and can see that we’re now much closer to the Kimberley than to Sydney. Hooray!

Drove through Mount Isa first thing this morning, and although it has useful shops like Kmart and Bunnings, it has a dirty great big copper/lead/silver/zinc mine that completely dominates the landscape, as you can see in the pic. Yuk. Give me Cloncurry or Tambo any day.

’Twas raining in Mount Isa, all night, but dried out as we drove to Camooweal, where we bought some lunch (including some delicious hot chips) from the roadhouse and ate it in the “park”. Black falcons were flying around quite close, and one swooped on Debbie and tried to grab her salad roll! Then the lady in the post office showed us her five-month-old orphan joey, called “Barkly” after the highway, and the boys got to cuddle him.

Saw heaps of birds today as we were driving, including Swifts and Herons and Dotterels. Around the campground this evening flocks of White-browed Woodswallows were feasting, and they let me get close enough for some decent shots. Saw more wildflowers from the car today than on previous days, and there is grass everywhere.