Another great drive along the Diamantina Development Road with its delightfully desolate terrain brought us eventually to Mt Isa. My impressions had not changed from a previous visit last year, it is still a rather drab city, with a skyline dominated by the smoke stack of the mine works that seem to lie within the CBD. Nor is Mt Isa RV friendly, with the closest free camping opportunity 50 kms to the north, so it is into a Caravan Park for us where we were reunited with Mel who had been visiting her Sister.
The Coaster needs some minor repairs to replace an annoying slipping fan belt and also a routine oil change. By coincidence the Fiat - Jayco Motorhome of Billeeeeee and Jules has blown a water pump which must be replaced before they can move on. By sheer luck, through word of mouth, I obtained the name of a young local mechanic with a small workshop and a good reputation. It is easy to be ripped-off by unscrupulous repairers so off I went to try him out. To my pleasant surprise he was indeed a fair and honest young fellow who carried out the necessary repairs with efficient, expertise, all at the right price. I was so impressed that I convinced Billeeeeeee to also employ his services for the water pump repair. There was one complication here though, the necessary part was not available and must be flown from Melbourne to Brisbane then trucked all the way west to Mt Isa. As this will possibly take up to a week, it was decided that Marj, Colleen and I would head for the Billabongs at Camooweal where we would wait and that Mel would stay with the others to keep company.
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