Mount Isa Trip – Day 2 – 4Author: jawapro
Date: Tue 22/01/2008 11:31 PM
Well, it’s been a couple of days since I last posted.
On Sunday I spent most of my time just hanging with Daniel and his crew. We ended up going to the movies to see Cloverfield. It wasn’t as great as everyone expected, and the general response at the end was “that was ……” – insert appropriate negative expression here. But at least I can say I saw it.
On Monday Daniel went off to work, and dropped me at the train station – so Glenn and I (he was spending the day in town) caught the train into town. From there I caught the SkyBus to the airport – and arrived an hour or so early, which is far better than the alternative (which I’d been dreading). In fact, the idea of missing a flight was one of the most worrying parts of the journey so far. Not so worried about the driving back – getting there was the part I was worrying about.
As I was early enough to do the web checkin thing, I was able to score a window seat, and the hop from Melbourne to Brisbane was fairly interesting. Unfortunately there was a lot of clouds, so I couldn’t see much. The trip took two hours, but I landed an hour after taking off – thanks to the time difference.
I’ve only ever flown twice before (2 round trips) and both times my parents have organized everything. This was my first time flying alone – and I wasn’t sure what I’d think of it. I remember being rather paniced last time when we hit some turbulence.
This time it wasn’t bad. The flight was pretty smooth, and when it was a little bumpy it didn’t fuss me much. And thanks to the in flight display, I can say we just topped 900kph on the trip. The return journey will be a tad slower I think.
After that I had over 3 hours to wait in Brisbane, which was extremely boring. Nothing against Brisbane Airport, but I was both tired and hyped up, so I wasn’t really in the mood for reading any of the stuff I’d brought for this section, so it was a rather boring wait.
The good thing was I was early enough to score another window seat. This time it was behind the wing, which isn’t as good (cause you can see it flex and bend, which doesn’t inspire my confidence). But regardless of the position, it was a more enjoyable flight.
I got to watch a boring movie called September, but the Qantas crew handed out food and drinks and things too – which was nice. But I stupidly chose the spring water (I thought it was lemonade) – and promptly remembered I hate Spring Water!
Along the way I saw some signs of the flooding that caused us to change our route – but it didn’t photograph very well.
After 3 hours or so, I finally arrived in Mount Isa.
The above photo was taken by Klutz. Its me at the top of the stairs (the fat looking one with the backpack).
As soon as I stepped out of the plane, I found myself swamped by the heat of the jet engine.
As I climbed down the stairs, I realized it wasn’t the jet at all – it was just hot here.
I’d been expecting it – but I still wasn’t quite prepared for the 40 plus degree heat that greeted me (humidity to boot)
Anyway – Klutz met me in his Shopping Trolley – and took me back to his (air-conditioned) home, where I was able to catch up with the rest of his family.
Klutz with the Shopping Trolley that we’ll be taking for the journey back.
We relaxed that night, and I had a very nice home cooked meal (at Daniels we had take-aways all the time, and I had more at the airports – so I was sick of them).
Klutz took me up to the local lookout at night to see the lights of Isa (including the mine). It didn’t photograph terribly well unfourtuantly.
The next day (Tuesday) we spent the day packing Klutz up. His Mum and I spent a fair part of the time pestering Klutz to get a move on :)
He still had some stuff to do on his computer before we could pack it up – so the packing had to go on hold while he finished it (photo below).
Eventually we got the Shopping Trolley packed with the exception of the stuff we’d need overnight.
To relax, Klutz took me to the local lake. I cant remember the name – and Klutz isn’t in the room to ask at the moment – so I’ll just call it the M-something Lake.
The other thing I don’t think I’ve mentioned, is the fact that I decided ages ago that I would shave during this expedition, just to see what the results were after 2 weeks. Probably not terribly obvious due to my light coloured hair, but I feel fury already.
We’re off bright and early in the morning, heading for Tennant Creek. Not sure when I’ll be able to blog again – but it shouldn’t be too long.
Cheers!
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