Day 6 Mt Isa to Barkly Homestead

Day 6 Mt Isa to Barkly Homestead

We got away at 9am after packing the whole camp away. Luckily our next door neighbours had made an early start too to attend a breakfast at the Mt Isa Rodeo where they are working on a stall with their Rotary Club (as they informed us several times) .... so our noise didn't disturb them.

We drove to Camooweal which is the final town before the border. We were surprised to see road works going on in town, but the diversion did still allow us to pull into the servo to fill up. Last fuel for 280 km!

We also indulged in a late second breakfast .... or was that early lunch .... at the roadhouse restaurant. It was surprisingly busy! EVERY caravan and truck was pulling in to fill up, including us, so those dire last fuel warnings seem to do the trick nicely. Most people also had at least a cup of coffee and the girls behind the counter were rushed off their feet. A bit different to John's last visit during the wet season when only mad Englishmen and truckies were on the road.

The road between Camooweal and Barkly Homestead is long and flat and ... dare I say it ... kinda dull. We saw some foreign tourists taking selfies by the side of the road with the background of miles and miles of nothing. Not even a tree to break the horizon.

It was hard to maintain concentration, so John's mp3 player was a welcome distraction. Once we crossed into Northern Territory the scenery did start to get a bit more lush. We saw trees and red dirt and a few bends in the road and rocky outcrops. Woohoo!

We've arrived at Barkly Homestead!

The old homestead with resident peahens (that we almost ran over)

We were very glad to reach Barkly Homestead and even more pleased that we got in early enough to pick a decent powered site. It's a very well kept campground, and although the sites are on packed red dirt rather than grass they are at least shaded by trees and the amenities were very acceptable and clean.

Barely a blade of grass, but plenty of shade

Set up in quick time

It's a lovely outback campsite

When we set up camp (we're getting quicker!) John took the time to also set up the TV for tonight's entertainment. A very large caravan and 4WD pulled in next door to us and the man was fiddling with his expensive looking satellite dish trying to get a signal for his TV for half an hour, before we went over to the main bar for happy hour and a counter meal. On our way over we heard a helicopter landing right next to the campground. We reckoned Bronwyn Bishop was popping in for happy hour!

Bronwyn arriving?

We were served a very decent meal and enjoyed the atmosphere of the busy bar. When we returned to our trailer the poor man next door was STILL working at his satellite dish trying to get a decent signal. Meanwhile we sat inside our tent with the heater on and watched TV till late, feeling somewhat guilty (okay smug!) that John's $60 widget and $10 TV antenna did a better job than his fancy dish next door. I bet he was annoyed - if he'd realised!

Barb enjoying Happy Hour at the bar

John shouts drinks

John makes coffee before we sit down to watch TV

The guy next door still struggling to make his satellite dish work

Despite the fact we were parked next door to the main generator for all the power at the Barkly Homestead we had a really good night's sleep. Our bed is far warmer and comfy than either of the cabin beds we've had this trip. Perhaps it's our own pillows and doona that make the difference.