The Kalkadoons, an Indigenous tribe, were here first and are famous for their stone axes. They know the value of the earth and what lies beneath. Then came John Campbell in 1923 who recognised that the rock he held in his hand was nothing less than lead. The ground is rich in copper, lead and zinc. A lot more besides and the colours and complexities of the minerals are extraordinary. From boulder opals to malachite and gypsum this earth holds countless resources. The copper mine is 1980 metres deep. Can you imagine that ? So its not surprising that our adventures in Mount Isa are mainly underground.

We visited the Underground Hospital built by miners in three weeks in 1942 when they were worried about Western Australia being attacked by Japan. An immaculate underground hospital which mercifully was never needed. Some boys discovered it years later when they fell into the ventilation shaft!

And then a fascinating tour of the Hard Times Mine. Alan, a retired miner, was our tour guide and he took us down the mine which was specially made for visitors, dug by volunteer miners, as if their life was not hard enough. However it was worth every minute spent down there examining the tunnels, the transport and ventilation. The work was done by a pick and shovel in the early days and then the early drilling machines called Widowmakers as the average life of a miner was just 46 years old. We tried drilling,( deafening) we tried putting on the air ventilation, (so noisy,) we imagined the heat from the machines and even sat down to Cornish Pasties which were the pasties the miners brought from Cornwall all those years ago. Alan spoke about the challenges and the complexities and we were wide eyed and humbled listening to his stories.

Nowadays, while they have massive machines which do most of the work it is still demanding and dangerous.The town celebrates its resources and recognises the importance of the mines for its own wealth and of Australia. When we were there they had a parade in which big machines and schools featured and the children wore hard hats and carried picks. They were launching into their three day Rodeo a huge celebration of cattle and horses in the outback. It will be interesting to see how this mining town will fare in the future.

Here is one standing out in the crowd.