The Isa and the Rodeo

8 -13 August

Mt Isa

What a great town. A nice feel and a great caravan park although grass is something they don't have any of. Dropped off the van and went looking around town. We got our rodeo tickets and I was trying to get some boots and the girls needed hats. We wondered why all the shops in town were closing early. It wasn't until that night that we realised we were in a different time zone and had lost 30 minutes. Whoops we went back to one of the shops the next day and apologised for keeping them so late. That was where I got my boots. Giddy Up!!!

We spoke to our neighbours at the caravan park,  Con and Kaye and it turned out he was an ex bull and bareback rider and he taught Linc to tie a lasso and showed the kids how to throw. Next morning was spent doing some last minute shopping, including my boots. We now all look the part.

The kids look so cute. We went to the rodeo just after lunch. It was so cool. Lots of excitement and these guys mean business. We watched in awe as they rode, wrestled and clung on to some amazingly big beasts and rode horses with so much skill. Incredible.

Big Al the clown entertained the crowd and our kids made friends with him. He even picked up Patrick and held him up for the camera man who zoomed in on him and we all got to see him on the big screen.

Then it was home for dinner and back for mardi grass and the night events. The atmosphere at the rodeo was excellent and not full of drunken cowboys as we thought might have been the case. Kids were really welcome and it had a nice family feel about it. We stayed till late as a band, Will Day and the Alibis came on at 10pm straight after the last event. The kids were straight out on the dance floor and went at it for an hour just having a ball and making lots of friends. They were high fiving the band and lots of the people who came and went on the dance floor too. Just a hoot. We wonder where Patrick got his moves from as he fit right in and entertained the audience and attracted plenty of attention from a few of the filly's on the dance floor.

Straight to bed and a big sleep in before getting up and doing it all again. We went back to watch more of the events and entertainment which included three guys parachuting into the arena. Patrick caught the attention of one of the MC's from the arena who asked him where he was from? Would he like to come out for a beer? Or rather a soft drink, ice cream? All of which Patrick said no too. TJ was right he only said no because he wanted to check with Mum first whether he was allowed. It was so cute and funny. He was a celebrity at the caravan park as a few different people said they had seen him on the big screen.

Then home for dinner and back for the night time competition. We had been told that Sunday was quieter as most of the spectators are too hung over after a big Saturday and you could see why. It was definitely a bit different tonight with a lot more drinking going on and even more police around than the night before. We watched the events form a great seat and then went up to see the band but only stayed a little while as the grownups were out to party and Milly said she felt like a mouse surrounded by elephants on the dance floor and was worried about being squashed. The kids still had a few dances and met up with some of the people they had danced with the night before. The band were McAllister Kemp who were hard rock country western which was not the right atmosphere.

It was another late night and a bit of a sleep in. Then back to the rodeo for the finals and what a great day it was. Lots of action and excitement. Both Lincoln and I had already picked up nice belts and belt buckles and on Sunday TJ couldn't resist. She got herself a lovely sparkly belt but did resist the jeans to match.

Here is a selection of the photo's we took over the three days.

 

 

We watched the rest of the events and then the final band for the day where the kids had another dance although the weekends activities had caught up on them and they were lacking energy. It was really nice for both of us as we were approached a few times at the rodeo and at the caravan park by different people telling us how well behaved our kids were and what great fun they were too have around.

 Very proud parents again.

We were planning on heading out on Monday but as we had seen nothing but the shops and the rodeo for the last four days we decided to stay one more night and have a look around. After a very slow start we went on a tour of the underground hospital which was an amazing story. Just after Darwin was bombed the town had decided to build an underground hospital but didn't let anyone know. So they dug into the mountain side and set up this hospital ready in case. Then as they didn't need it they closed it up after the war and it was forgotten about. 30 years later someone decided to do some digging as there was some subsidence on the hill and came across the tunnel. After getting a mine inspector to do a quick check they decided it was too unstable and closed it in again. 20 years later someone else said lets look into it. So some of the local miners said they would fix it up on their days off and four years later it was opened up to the public. What is amazing about this place is that it was a local, secret. There were no records found anywhere at either the hospital or the mine even though it was built and furnished locally.

What an amazing story. They eventually came across three photo's  in some random section of the mines archives which helped them with replicating the original layout as 50 years of twice a day blasting at the mine just a couple of hundred metres away had caused some major damage to the structure.

 

We went to a lookout which gives a good view of the town and the mine which is right in town. Then back to the van for a swim and dinner. Early to bed.

 

Tuesday morning we packed up and went to do the tour of the School of the Air which runs at 10 am as we had missed it the day before. It was a really good tour with some amazing stories of isolation and motivation. There was one family who live on 220,000,000 hectares. The start of their driveway is a 3 1/2 hour drive from their house. There is another kids who's Dad contracts as a fence repairer so he follows him around all over the place and there is a photo of him sitting at his desk in the middle of a paddock with nothing around him while he talks on the satellite phone to his teacher. These kids are amazingly independent and very polite as we listened to them having a class.

What a great tour and just puts into perspective the size of this country and how hard it must be for some of these families. Unreal.

Then we jumped in the car and went to the library so I could print off some things for work, Inspectors Promotional thing that I need to get in now as I have been waiting four years to do it. We also wanted to get Linc to read a few more books so he could sign off on his Premier's reading Challenge. Once all this was done we headed out towards Cloncurry and onwards although we are still not sure which way we are going home. We have put in some calls and emails to station stays in the QLD and NSW outback and if possible we will go home through the outback and do some farm work on the way home.

How good is this country???