Mount Isa to Longreach

6th June 2013

Our destination for tonight was Longreach and Sharon had booked ahead to secure us an ensuite site for the next two nights.

Leaving Mt Isa

Main street of Cloncurry

To get to Longreach from Mt. Isa, there are a number of small towns you pass through, the first of which is Cloncurry. As we'd only come 200kms from Mt Isa, we didn't stop here and blew straight on through out the other side again.

By the time we got to the little settlement of McKinlay we both needed a pit-stop so it was a quick trip into a side street to the public loos. The only notable feature of this place is the local pub, "The Walkabout Creek Hotel". Some may recognise the name as the pub seen in the Crocodile Dundee movies.

Lunch today was taken at a roadhouse in yet another tiny place called Kyuna. Again, nothing really remarkable apart from the pair of Brolgas wandering around right next to the highway. It was a surprise to see what I thought were water birds in a place so devoid of any water feature.

A pair of Bustards strutting along the main street of Kyuna

By now the wildlife we were spotting either side of the road included Emus, feral goats, unusually coloured sheep, cows and an Australian Bustard (or Plain Turkey).

At about 200kms out of Longreach, the amount roadkill we had to avoid or drive over became ridiculous. Most of the carcasses were what was left of kangaroos, but there was also the odd cow or two and even some feral pigs. It appears that the goats are smart enough to avoid the traffic.

Feral goats grazing beside the highway

Black Falcons and Crows feasting on roadkill

With so much fresh (and otherwise) meat available, the Black Falcons and Crows were thick. In the distance you'd often see a large black form in the middle of the road. As you'd get closer, bits of the object would peel off and fly away with only some small scraps left on the bitumen by the time you reached the spot.

We arrived at Longreach, located the Caravan Park, and settled in for the next couple of nights.