August 3 Mt Isa

We had an easy run across to Mt Isa and were onto our site early. The country we passed through was quite hilly and basically reddish in colour with lots of rocky outcrops. It is still hot – the forecast for Mt Isa today was 280. As soon as we’d settled in I put in a call to RACQ and although it took a while until the patrolman turned up he was quite helpful once he did. In no time flat I was talking to Premium Care at the NRMA and got the lowdown on what help is available. It turns out I could have had the Prado and van towed anywhere to a total value of $3000 – probably not far given the cost of towing! Alternatively I can have accommodation up to a total of $700 and care hire for 7 days also to a total value of $700. I’ve already paid for 9 days in Mt Isa so if the car takes that long to fix they will reimburse me what I’ve paid – if it goes longer than 9 days NRMA will pick up the tab until the $700 limit is reached. I’m going to have to jiggle the 7 days car hire after the Toyota people have had a look at the car and given me an estimate of how long it will take – at the moment I’m thinking of picking up a car on Tuesday (The RACQ guy said he wouldn’t be surprised if it took a couple of weeks to fix). Perhaps I would have been better off going from Emerald to Rockhampton in the first place! Mum had a swim in the pool at the caravan park this afternoon – the water was quite cool she said but bearable – its length is a bit short of 25 m so it’s not too bad. I guess the water is cool because although the days are hot the temperature drops down quite a bit at night.