Onwards .... Yet again

  I hadn't planned on riding very far today and was pottering up through the hills outside Mount Isa, which are beautiful in an orange and scrubby sort of way. After about 40 mins, I saw the turn to Mary Kathleen and decided it was worth a look. 

Its a ghost town now, with just plots, no buildings, but it's not very old. 1954 think, pegged out for the iron ore that was found here by two blokes, one of who named the town after his late wife.

The first hurdle was the cattle grill which looked a bit hardcore and more suited to dinosaurs than cows, but nothing a bit of a run up and a prayer couldnt fix, and Gerty was over it like it was nothing. Phew. The gaps between the bars looked leg breakingly spaced.

And of course because the town is derelict, so is the road, so the ride in is another off road experience without actually getting off road. 

It was bone dry too but it clearly gets very wet round there if the washouts are anything to go by. Fortunately for me, a thoughtful soul had put a branch and some boulders just where the road disappeared. Luckily I saw it- wouldnt have fancied the consequences otherwise.

The old mine is still there, disused of course, but you can still get up to it for a look. 

But then disaster.... I happened to glance down at Gert's back wheel and noticed the tyre was flat as...... Not a job that I relished, especially in the hot sun, but it had to be done. So off came the bags and off came her wheel, then the tyre. I had a new tube so I put that in instead of patching the old one and risking the glue not setting.

 A nasty thorn turned out to be the culprit. Actually, it was a bit of a bugger because when I got a new tyre in Broome, I asked them to tape the inside of the new tyre as I  was going up the Gibb River Road. I even offered them my reel of gaffer tape which they declined. They told me they did tape it.....but guess what? Yep, no taping....lying little shits. Who knows, that layer could have been enough to stop the thorn. 

Anyway I sorted it and was just pumping it up when car came by and loaned me  their compressor. I was using a hand pump but the compressor was a luxury, esp in the heat. Thank you nice people!

Just goes to show though how important it is to be able to get yourself out of a fix. It's a no brainier and I have never understood why anybody would wander off the beaten track ( and even many of the main roads in Australia qualify as that) without being able to fix a flat, adjust the clutch,or swap a cable. To me, it is a must and I think anybody who habitually relies on the help of others ( professional or friends) or dies not have a usable rescue service, without knowing the basics shouldnt be on the road. It's so not on. 

Anyway, I was filthy after all that and didn't dare stop anywhere civilised  for fear of being chased out of town,  so carried on until 90 kms west of Julia Creek and camped.