The Mount Isa stopover

With an extra night here, we were less rushed about seeing everything. Mount Isa is really a very attractive place in spite of the mines all over the place. It is well-known for its extremely high temperatures in summer and we had imagined it to be a real desert place but in fact the landscape is very green, and interesting. One of our jaunts was to a man-made lake, Lake Moondarra, which has been built to create a pleasant picnic and recreation spot for Mount Isa inhabitants. It was delightful. With different vegetation it could have been anywhere in Europe.

Mount Isa is also the current home of the School of the Air, and our visit there was fascinating. We were able to watch two teachers on air, one a Year 2 teacher and the other Year 6. The distances involved in this education service are amazing and the work the children do is impressive. The children are on air for 45 minutes each day, usually about nine at a time so that they can all participate in the lesson. The rest of their work is done at home and sent in to the school regularly. It is then marked and sent back to them. They apparently perform really well in the standardised tests and indeed some of the work we saw was of an extremely high standard.

A Year 2 teacher broadcasting to her students

Student artwork on the theme of their home station

Warwick went down a mine, but Isobel chickened out at the last minute as she no longer does too well underground. It was interesting but a bit over his head technically.

It was altogether a very pleasant stopover, except for a very grumpy caravan park owner.