There was lots to see on the road between Barkly Homestead and Mt Isa.

Mt Isa is the last time I’ll be driving across Queensland. After this, I’ll be heading down towards the border of NSW and Q’ld, though I won’t be crossing into Victoria until I’m on my way home 2 weeks from now.

Then again, sometimes there was nothing much. Please excuse my thumb in the corner. It was a quick snapshot.)

And then you see something again…

I love the yellow with the blue.

Then, almost before I knew it, I was in the 4th state of the trip.

Well technically, the Northern Territory isn’t really a state, but you get my drift.

Things haven’t changed that much over the border.

I stopped to fuel up here and still couldn’t understand why my phone was still in SOS mode while everyone else’s had internet.

“Are you with Telstra?” was the question everyone kept asking me.

Yes I am. It was really annoying. I was wanting to download another album. Rumours is great, but I was getting a bit sick of it. Still, surely in Mt Isa I’d get reception. Surely?

It was hard to stay annoyed when things like this were constantly whizzing past me.

It looks like someone has tried to ringbark this tree, but it’s just said, “Stuff you!” and continued growing at a different angle.

I love this sign. It’s so … unambiguous.

More green was appearing as I drove along. The hawks were still flying overhead and the aircon was working in the car. All was right with the world, except for no internet.

If Lindsey Buckingham was to tell me to go my own way one more time, I’d deck him.

There were still heart-breakingly long stretches where the views looked like this.

Then, just as Mt Isa came into sight, the bars came back on my phone!

Incidentally, Mt Isa didn’t give me a great first impression. All I could see were big chimneys belching smoke into the air. After the pristine countryside I’d been through, it was a bit jarring.

Still, I found my motel, found wifi and decided to have a cheap and cheerful dinner in my room.

Hmm. It appears the egg shortage isn’t just in Melbourne.

I just had to take a photo of this, to remind myself to watch myself when I’m here.

Any town that’d have this guy as their Federal MP must be a wild and strange place… this guy is certifiable…

Dad Joke of the Day: