A quick refuel on some dried fruit and water from the troopie at the 40 km mark, and on we pushed. Alan had read that Mt Isa is in the Guiness Book of Records as the world's largest city by area, so when we cycled into the city limits with 20 km still to go and were still in the bush, we weren't that surprised.
But a few kms on, we rode over a crest to a completely different landscape. Gone were the shrubs and dense spinifex fed by recent rains and floods, and we were now surrounded by red rocky outcrops, jagged hill lines, and an abundance of eucalypt trees.
We swooshed down our first hills since the Finders Ranges on day 3, and rolled into Mt Isa past a huge power station, and the enormous vents for the mine.
With Harry, Brian and Terry given leave to proceed independently from Bedourie, they had reconoitered a campground some 3 km from the centre of town for us. Perhaps a little too far for cyclists with weary legs, but shady trees and lovely flowing showers helped soothe some of the soreness from our bodies.
We headed out for a Mother's Day lunch with Julie, with Pete and AP even shaving for the occasion! A sumptuous feast of steak, lamb, seafood baskets and barramundi, washed down by the odd XXXX and Julie was appropriately rewarded as our adoptive mum. She's done a fabulous job commanding "Mummyship" during the trip, most often exhorting her boys to "eat it all".
With a lazy afternoon beckoning, the lads wandered further into the town centre with the thought of catching a movie. Pete was keen on a kiddie cartoon, but the gang prevailed on him to see a thriller 'Source Code'. It was a pretty good movie, and a nice way to spend some quality time on padded seats and not bike saddles.
We wandered the few kms back to camp, did some much-needed washing and then returned to the big smoke for a Chinese meal. It wouldn't be a late night, and everyone had turned in by 9.30pm for a long and deserved rest.
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