Night 24 - Kurnturlpara

We left Mt Isa at 10.30am and drove west towards the border.



Finally we reach the Northern Territory!!





Check out the speed limit!!



We drove until the kids couldnt handle it anymore. They lasted until 5pm, they have been so amazingly good in the car. We found the nearest free camped and set up. A little spot called Kurnturlparra. Someone at Mt Isa advised us not to free camp between Mt Isa and Three Ways but there were about 4 other vans there so we felt safe to camp there the night. Its so quiet at night, except of course for the occasional 52 metre long road train screaming past!



We quickly cooked up a meal before the sun went down. Check out this gorgeous picture Craig took of the sunset....



When the sun went down we lay the kids ontop of the car to check out the stars. Bailey was so unbelieveably excited to see his first shooting star. Its a moment he will never forget Im sure. When we put the kids to bed at night Craig and I sit under the stars and we see them all the time but Bailey has never seen one until that night.

Night 23 - Mt Isa

This morning I went straight to Coles and stocked up on everything as the next few days we are going bush. Ellie was so excited to go to the ‘mall’ although it wasnt anything exciting. Probably smaller than Warriewood Square!

We did a morning tour of Mt Isa underground hospital which was great. They built the hospital underground as they were worried the town would be bombed during the war.





Afterwards the tour guide told us of a new kids park that had recently opened so we went to check it out. Well the kids thought it was Disneyland!! They had an absolute ball. Definitely worth checking out if you pass through Mt Isa with kids.





Later that night we got talking to our neighbours in the caravan park. One couple plus 4 year old boy were from Coogee and had just come from N.T. They gave us so much info on where to go, where not to go and fuel prices. The other older couple were so lovely. She was telling me that her husband always talked about travelling Australia, it was his dream. Finally he retired and they bought a huge van and 4WD but only months before leaving they discovered he had a terminal illness. They still decided to do the trip but have cut it short as he is too tired to do anything. She said he is kicking himself he didn’t do it when he was younger but he was always too busy. Made me realise that life can be short and we should get out there and just do it and have fun.