Day 35 Friday 21st July

After a little bit of shopping we went back to the Visitor Information Centre for our “Hard Times Mine Tour". A few years ago the mining company here used to conduct tours over the mines but unfortunately a woman broke her ankle on one of the tours and then sued the company so they decided not to run anymore tours. The Mayor at the time decided to then build a mock mine under-ground for tourists and this was done. The work was done by many of the people working for the mining company free of charge, in their spare time.  It really was an excellent tour lasting 3 hours. The tour guide was a Mt Isa miner. We were dressed in orange jump-suits, boots and hardhats with torches. We were taken down in a cage and were only 23 metres under-ground but it felt much further. Extensive tunnels and drilling areas greeted us. We learnt about both modern and pioneer mining and also had a go at drilling into the rock-face. There was quite a few huge machines underground and our guide demonstrated some of them. We were given lunch in the “crib room” which was a true replica of these rooms from the past. We got to experience the pitch blackness when we turned our torches off. A fabulous experience. In the afternoon we headed out to Lake Moondarra, 15kms north of the city. This is a huge lake and is the water supply for Mt Isa. Rob helped me put the kayak in and I had a great time exploring the islands and spent over an hour and ½ out on the water. When I came in we had a lovely BBQ tea watching the sun set over the lake. 



















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