Min Min lights?

No these are not the famous Min Min lights. This is just what happens when you take a photo while driving at night on Camooweal street.

Virtual green finger

An image of an image.

Green

A classic view of a green with the wind lifting the pin flag nicely. If you look closely you'll find 2 golf balls. I was lucky enough to be the one on the green.

Golf

I finally got out to do 9 holes this afternoon. The Mount Isa Golf Club is a wonderful place to walk in a nice park. The rough is very rough and the greens are green. The water is no good to drink as you can see. This was found on the back nine. I managed bogey on two par 4's for my best effort.

Cool Air

Life without cool air would be difficult here. The evaporative type air conditioner pictured here is very efficient at what it does. Thanks to the low humidity it works very well. Mould can be a problem though, it makes the air cool and damp. Just perfect for little biological things to grow in.

Reading

A typical scene from my day today.

Silhouette

The mining-industrial-complex overshadows everything that happens in this town. From the earth tremors at quarter to 8 every morning and evening due to blasting, called stoping, to the jobs of every person who lives here. The mine still has a very pretty side and casts some nice shapes for viewing. Without it no one would live here, except maybe some indigenous inhabitants.

No bizarre secret life

I can confirm that this tree has not gone anywhere. Here it is in daylight. Still in West St.

Tree by night

This tree was in West Street one night. Actually I'm sure it's there every night, unless there is some secret life of trees to which we are not privy.

Irish Tenors

I saw a perfomance of some local Irish dancers and Three Irish Tenors who were on tour at the Mount Isa Civic Centre last night. Photography was not allowed till after the show when the lighting bloke let me get some photos of the piano on stage. It was a Steinway model D. From my seat I thought they had a mirror on the underside of the lid, but it turned out to be well polished wood.

Hand of Tree

When I walked outside, looked up and saw this scene in my front yard it made me think of the Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco of the hand of God giving life to Adam.

Splashez

This is the local swimming hole, Splashez swimmimg complex. Schools hold their swimming carnivals here and lots of people visit to cool off during the summer days. This was a particularly quiet time of day.

Where am I?

This sign greets you at the top of the hill near the town centre. Like many places, it's a long way to anywhere from here.

Shopping

This is the local shopping centre. The main shopping centre in town is a good attraction on hot days - it's airconditioned. I'll get a closer shot soon.

Cu

This rock is just oozing copper. You can see why this town is so wealthy because of this remarkable stuff. The rock even has patina on it. Mt Isa is built around the copper mine here, and to a smaller extent, lead and zinc. The extraction process is quite complex and the end result is a beautiful shiny copper. Many scientists and engineers are employed improving the methods to get the minerals out with minimal harm to both environment and budget.

Recreation

While at the lake here people choose many different past times to relax and while away the afternoons. One such past time is passing a football around. Others include cricket, frisbee and canoeing. If you have a powerboat then skiing and tuberiding are popular. Or just sitting in the shade too.

Oasis in the Desert

This is Lake Moondarra, a splendid oasis in the desert. Here you can go waterskiing, swim, canoe, or even sail with a good breeze. I was here for a BBQ lunch just a few hours ago and had a great steak hot from the plate.

Symmetry

Mt Isa has an abundance of frangipani (Plumeria rubra) trees. This photo, while technically not taken in Mt Isa, shows just how beautiful these trees can be, especially the flowers. The symmetry is remarkable for its compactness and functionality.

A shower comes to town

A light shower is heading into town here from the west. At the top of this hill where I took the photo there is an aviation installation that presumably provides a beacon for aircraft navigation. If I knew anything about the aviation industry there would probably be a really interesting story to how these things work to tell planes where they are. But alas I know no such story.

Wallabies in the Grass

On a short walk up a local lookout hill this afternoon we spotted some wallabies. If you look really close you'll see there are three pairs of eyes looking back at you - remember they are marsupial. The spinifex grass is surprisingly good camouflage for wallabies if they keep still.

Picnic table

This view greets you from the picnic hut at the tourist lookout. This is looking East toward Cloncurry. It is a nice spot to stop and eat a meal when you have the time.

Clean up day

While helping out with a Clean Up Australia Day effort I came across this old plane in the park. Some of you may remember an airline called Trans Australia Airlines, or TAA. This was one of their old planes, put on display in the local park down by the Leichardt river. It provides some good shade too.

Black and White

These two trees were on a hill near town. I started walking up the hill because on the map it said there was a lookout at the top, but a short way up the road there were signs saying 'authorised personnel only', and 'no trespassing'. They scared me away and I walked back down. But on the way I took a slight detour and got some photos, I wasn't going to come away with nothing.

Rain

This evening the bowls were rained out by a short storm. After the heavy rain, wind and lightning passed, a break in the clouds allowed a rainbow to form. I took a short break from chewing on my rump steak and grabbed my camera. Here is a copy of what I saw.

Outshine

The golden crown on the end of a wonderful day. The sunset here is something you can't get tired of too easily.