Tonight we have arrived at our final overnight stop before home
We left Tenant Creek bright and early, and made the short trip north to Three Ways where main the highway from Queensland meets the road that runs straight through the middle of the Northern Territory. We made the right turn, and we have been driving south-east ever since.
Before long, we arrived at the Queensland border then headed for Mount Isa, where the mine well and truly dominates the landscape. When we drove out the other side of Mount Isa, there was an air of familiarity, as the rocky hills carpeted with greenery in every crevice reminded us of the landscape we had travelled though in the Kimberley, and on the way across to Katherine. About half way between Cloncurry and Longreach, there was a perfect hill just off the main road with obvious signs of a 4×4 track up one side and down the other. I couldn’t resist the temptation to climb it, and veered left to investigate further. In a jiffy, I was climbing the hill, with at least a 50 percent gradient, then descended down the other side. The Landcruiser surprised me with the way it handled the track with relative ease.
Then it was back to the black top headed for Longreach. First stop was almost on sunset, at the Qantas Boeing 707-138 display. This jet was first registered in 1957, and is the first jet handed over to Qantas. After being sold in in 1967, the aircraft had a further 6 owners until it was abandoned in the U.K. When Qantas heard about its fate, it was restored to enable it 
to make one last journey across the oceans, where it is now on permanent display in Longreach. We also pulled up at the Stockman’s Hall of Fame, and watched the beautiful sunset illuminating the clouds and turning the rain in the distance a glowing red colour.
Tomorrow, we head for home, down the Queensland interior and in through Toowoomba. It’s going to be another long day, but nothing out of the ordinary when one considers how far we have travelled in the last 12 days!
