My world walk blog Australia 68 - Overpowered with goodness.

Overpowered with goodness 

Thanks so much to Joseph DiLegge, owner of HjC Bicycle Engineering for his kind help. He replaced Karmas tyres, made some spoke adjustments, other checks and gave me four spare inner tubes, all gratis! What a man! Mount Isa, what an amazing place!

From there I was asked to address the Mount Isa Rotary Club and spent about an hour talking about the walk which also included a Q&A 

Many people ask why the town built a mine downtown. Well, the answers to that is the reverse. It's a classic example of a town which was literally built around a mine!

I have received so, so much help here in Mount Isa its difficult to keep up with all of my many thank you messages! But I'm getting around to them all and there are several more to follow!

I mentioned recently that because I'm going to be going remote for a few weeks where there will be no places to purchase supplies. My plan is to make up five boxes of food and to find someone to drop off these boxes to roadhouses along my route. Kim-Maree Burton, my great friend and major helper here has told me not to worry about the delivery as she will be able to source a driver going my way! You will also remember that she walked with me into town and will walk me out when I leave. I will be so sad to leave.

Thanks to the roadhouses who were eager to help when I phoned them up in advance.  Also to Tina at Avon Downs Station. 

Thanks to Terry Cleary for suggesting the following drop-off/pick-up locations. 

Mount sa to Avon Downs 252km package 1 

AD to Barkley HD 193kms package 2

BHS to Threeways 187km package 3

Threeways to Elliott 228kms package 4

Elliott to Larimah 222km package 5

Then I will walk from Larrimah to Katherine, it's 183km

Thanks so much to Bill, owner of the Townview Motel in Mount Isa. He is Kim-Maree's boss and friend. Upon hearing about my plan he kindly donated three boxes of food from his shop! Bills kind gift included pasta, canned food, oatmeal, snacks and biscuits etc! This is a major saving for me. 

Then if that wasn't enough he invited me over for a delicious steak dinner last night

And the Mount Isa thank you manual continues

During my eight days here I went to two history talks which were held at the Discovery Holiday Park. These were presented by my friend, local historian Kim-Maree Burton. On both occasions I was honoured to be asked to give an impromptu yap myself! 

I was indeed grateful when Angie on behalf of the Discovery company made a generous donation to my world walk fund! Thank you so much my friends, it was a great experience and I am so grateful for your generosity

Thanks a million to Rebecca, the General Manager of Mount Isa's Barkly Hotel for their extraordinary generosity! 

When Ritchie, an Irishman who is her duty manager mentioned that I was coming to town she rolled out the red carpet with an amazing 'stay as long as you like' invitation. 

This has been so, so helpful as I planned to take a mini-break here due to the huge interest in my walk. I also had to make arrangements for walking the next remote leg towards Darwin. To keep me going the hotel also fed me with lots of steak meals! What can I say? Only, thank you my friends for an absolutely fabulous time

Below, please see the video of my arrival last Sunday.

Today, Sunday I volunteered to work in Mount Isa's soup kitchen, food for the needy. Obviously, I didn't want to take photos of their clients and I was only too delighted to do my bit for a community that has been so good to me. 

Later, I met Ben and Chris Gillic who are senior members of the Mount Isa Irish Club. This is the largest Irish club in the southern hemisphere. There we met the President of the club, John Hetherton and his wife Anne. Thanks to Ben and Chris for treating me to a delicious mothers day  dinner We had a wonderful night with John and Anne. We had such a laugh that I forgot to take photos. That is a frequent occurance lately. 

Earlier, Chris popped out to a shop and purchased me some of my favourite snacks for the road. Please see the photo! What can I say? The Mount Isa 'thank you manual' continues.

A couple of days earlier while walking through a shopping centre I met two ladies called  Kath Swift and Joyce Nielsen. They've been raising funds for Leukaemia for 40 years. For many years they have been sitting outside Coles Supermarket each Thursday and Saturday (all day) . They have both been honoured locally by Queensland state and nationally for their efforts. This town sure has a huge heart.