THE LAVA TUBES TO MT ISA

 

After a great couple of days in Undarra it's time to move on. 
Our first stop 200 km down the road was George Town, and it was here Marie-Louise gave birth to several healthy kittens -
or that is what it seemed like!!

  She used the ladies loo and laughed at the sign on the toilet system saying "Keep the lid closed to prevent green frogs." After flushing she looked in the bowl to see big green frogs half stuck in the rim of the toilet.  Her screams could be heard back in Undarra.

     From here we rode through Croydon to Normanton where there is a replica of the longest saltwater crock ever shot -- 8.46 metres -- (and the only interesting thing in town),  then on to Karumba which is an area rich in bird life.
     
     Here we had an awesome dinner, a rack of lamb with 10 vegetables (amazing that  1000 kms from the nearest city and they had such good food).
Karumba is famous for amazing sunsets and we were not disappointed.  The view from the Sunset Tavern where we ate was so romantic.  The seafood is the other thing to come to    Karumba for and Marie-Louise loved her prawns.
      
      In the morning a quick pack up  (now we know our jobs and we are getting away 2 hours earlier than when we first set out and no stress.)   Off to Mt Isa, a trip of 550 km . 
      The road was shocking with lots of gravel, road trains and single lanes 'till we reached the Burke and Wills Roadhouse.  
      Here we stopped for fuel, had some fun with our fellow travellers and moved on to a roadside stop for lunch where Marie-Louise did her screaming again, as a big yellow wasp chased her.

Soon after lunch we were hit by a swarm of locusts!!
      It was crazy, if you looked up the sky was full of them zooming past  (like stars in a star trek movie) and we had to lay low on the bike to avoid being hit for many minutes .
     The bike was smashed with them and Marie-Louise quickly got to washing them off when we stopped to fuel up. 


     We arrived in Mt Isa late afternoon after being held up by an 8 metre wide prime mover as it blocked the highway because it had broken down.
     We spent three nights here, Cookie and his brother Ron arrived the second night for a baked dinner of fillet of beef and kangaroo rump that we cooked in our turbo oven .
     
     2 days to go and 1250 km 'till Alice Springs with storms forecast. 
We are praying they don't eventuate .