26th August ; Mt. Isa ; 634kms today, 9,272kms to date

Because of the incessant wind we thought we’d start early today and get to Barkly Homestead roadhouse (180kms) for breakfast. We were up at 6am and on our way by 6.45am just as the sun was rising. What we didn’t think about that as we were heading east into the sun. For the first half hour we were riding blind following the white line in the middle of the road. The other risk at this time of day was wildlife especially kangaroos. Luckily they had enough sense to stay tucked up in bed as any sane person should be at sunrise. The wind was quite manageable on the way to Barkly Homestead roadhouse where we had a hearty breakfast and filled up the bikes. My GS is still misfiring slightly and uses a lot of fuel especially riding into the wind. I am only getting around 300kms from the 20 litre tank. I am carrying 10 litres of fuel just in case I get caught short.

Here are Colin and I outside the Barkly Homestead roadhouse before we took off after breakfast. A Belgian woman tourist offered to the photo. She was heading back to Airlie beach (North Queensland) via West MacDonnell ranges (Alice Springs) which is a pretty circuitous route.

Just in case no one believes how windy it was there were warning signs along the road confirming it. The wind got stronger as the day wore on but started to abate in the afternoon. It is hard work riding into or with a cross wind and we had regular stops to recover.

We met the driver of this road train in a lay by and he said we were crazy riding into the wind but not the worst affected. We had passed a couple cycling the same direction as us and battling the headwind. Now that IS hard work. We didn’t stop to chat as I didn’t think they would be particularly receptive.  We had to pass a few of these road trains on the road as they were going our way at the same pace.  Because of the cross wind the back trailer was usually swinging quite a bit making overtaking a challenging experience.

Colin took this photo of the famous chimney stacks of Mt. Isa  where they just appeared out of the scrub.  The taller is the highest in Australia and was erected because the toxic fumes from the smelting sometimes get blown back across the residential area. The smaller chimney wasn’t high enough to protect the townsfolk and they would have had to evacuate.  The higher stack disperses the fumes over the top of the houses.

We are staying at the Irish Club in Mt. Isa. We stayed here in 2010 so we thought we’d try it again. The accommodation is Donga style with all single rooms. It used to cater for mine workers only but now is mainly itinerant clowns like Colin and I. Tomorrow we are going on a simulated mine tour. There are no tours through the working mine so they have created shaft(s) to simulate a working mine. We have to make sure we bring a pair of socks as you have to wear a boiler suit  plus boots.

Mt Isa Irish Club dongas

This is our accommodation at the Irish Club. There is a bar/restaurant across the street where we have enjoyed draught Guinness and some delicious meals very reasonably priced too.