Day 15: Cloncurry to Camooweal

 On the road by 9.15am, we have about 310 km to Camooweal today, it is really just a convenient place to stop, as there isn't a lot of options for the next couple of days.


Not far out of Cloncurry we started to notice a big change in the landscape, which was a pleasant change from the wide, flat plains we have come accustomed to. It is more mountainous, with lots of rocky outcrops and healthy vegetation (possibly the result of all of the rain earlier this year).



Not far from Cloncurry, we made a brief stop at a monument to Burke and Wills. The monument marks a spot they crossed through on their explorations.


There is a fair amount of copper ore in this structure

Our next stop was Mount Isa, to top up our fuel at an unbelievable $2.175 / litre. We then kept going to Camooweal, capturing a shot of Mt Isa from the car on the way past.


The Mt Isa to Camooweal road turns out to be the best road surface we have travelled on since leaving Sydney.


Termite mounds are beginning to dominate the landscape

It is a more interesting drive than the many km's we did across the tableland, as it is now more hilly and there is more variety in the vegetation. 

Soon we arrive in Camooweal, at just before 1 pm. Our home for the night is out the back of the Camooweal Roadhouse, where they have quite a large area to accommodate campers with both powered and unpowered sites. The roadhouse itself is very busy, cars towing vans are lined up waiting for a chance ton get some relatively cheap fuel. I decided we will top up in the morning, rather than sit in a very long queue.

To get a campsite, you just go into the roadhouse, pay your money, and go and select any site you want. As we were first there we could set up anywhere.


Only one other van, and a tent arrived after us. It continues to be very quiet this year according to everyone we speak to.

After lunch, we went for a walk along the highway/main street to see what we could find.

The roadhouse is the only business open and trading (except the pub of course)



The Camooweal Roadhouse (the caravan queue is still long)

Just down the road is the Post Office Hotel, which also has a campground, and there were a couple of vans in there.


The Post Office Hotel (across the road from the Post Office)

The other major building in town, is the town hall (below). 



Town Hall


The statue, a tribute to Drovers

Late in the afternoon, the line up of caravans seeking fuel had died down.


Next to the roadhouse, there are a number of old heritage buildings where not much is happening, however on the way into town there was a "Drovers Heritage Centre" which looked like some money had been poured into it as a tourist attraction, now housing a museum.



This sign at the Roadhouse explains where we are relative to neighbouring destinations.


Tomorrow we head to Barkly Homestead, crossing the border into NT not far out of Camooweal, about 12 km.

No more campers joined us here, so there are only 3 of us in the campground, which is great ! The sunsets are improving every day.



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