Mt Isa to the Gulf, part 1

Tully to Richmond 18 June to 21 June 2011

As our initial post failed, I think as it was too large, I am breaking it into a number of posts, here is edition 1.

 

We have been out of mobile coverage for about a week so some of this information is a little old, but here goes.

We finally left Tully on Saturday June 18 after nearly four weeks spent with Mick and Catherine waiting for birth of their first child and my first grandchild who arrived on the 7^th June, a boy David William and very beautiful he is. It was difficult to leave but we will be back for a visit before we return to work.

After a shopping stop in Townsville we overnighted at historic Charters Towers. As we have spent time there previously we didn’t hang around but headed to Richmond for a few nights.

Richmond is a small outback town located on the bank of the Flinders River half way between Townsville and Mt Isa and has a permanent population of 800.

Richmond, according to the records, owes its existence to the gold rush of the 1880’s and previous to that was chronicled in the Burke and Wills expeditions as prime grazing land, which it is.

Having once been a large inland sea of 60 meters deep some 100 million years ago Richmond now has an extensive collection primarily dedicated to displaying marine fossils at the Kronosaurus Korner centre.  The collection is constantly being added to as new specimens are found and made ready for display.

There are also a number of sites where visitors can fossick, which we did and found a rock with an Inoceramus shell in very good order,  I tried to wash it and buggered it it was still very interesting finding something that was so old. We also found some stone that a volunteer at the fossicking site called “fish stew” because it was a mishmash of bone, vertebrae, scales, teeth and shells.

The caravan park we stayed at overlooks Richmond’s newest attraction Lake Fred Tritton which seems so out of place in such a dry place.  The lake is used for fishing, water skiing and there is a path all the round if you are keen enough to go for a walk.

The galahs were up early at Richmond.

While at the caravan park we met up with a lovely lady called Lizzy who is riding her push bike from Townsville to Mt Isa for the third time. Lizzy who comes from Mt Eliza in Victoria goes touring on her bike and little trailer for 3 months every year.  She is 72 years young.  Lizzy hasn’t been riding for that many years but had decided to have a go rather than die wondering if she could do it.

We had a full day exploring Richmond and moved on to Mt Isa which has changed very little over the years.