Lifestyle
Where is Mount Isa?
How big is Mount Isa?
What is Mount Isa's History?
What is the Climate like?
How can I get there?
Where is Mount Isa?
The City of Mount Isa is located 1829 kilometres from Brisbane, the Queensland State Capital, and 883 kilometres from Townsville, the nearest major City.
How big is Mount Isa?
Mount Isa City covers an area of over 43 310 square kilometres, making it geographically the second largest city in Australia to Kalgoorlie-Boulder WA.
Located within the Mount Isa City boundary is the town of Camooweal- "The Western Gateway to Queensland"- approximately 200 kilometres to the west, making the highway between Mount Isa and Camooweal the longest street in the world. With a population of approximately 23 500, Mount Isa is a major service centre for North West Queensland, and a thriving city well equipped to satisfy residential, business and industrial needs.
The residents of Mount Isa lack nothing when it comes to shopping. All of the shops and services that one would expect to find in a modern city can be found in Mount Isa.
The major retail chains, such as K-Mart, Coles, Best & Less, Rockmans, Sports Power, Mathers Shoes, Millers, Super Cheap Auto, Retravision, Beta Electrical, Harvey Norman, Autobarn and Woolworths are represented, together with a wide range of specialist retailers.
What is Mount Isa's History?
In 1923, lone prospector John Campbell Miles, while travelling on a gold prospecting trip to the Northern Territory, camped by the banks of the Leichhardt River. Sampling a nearby rock outcrop, he realised that it was heavily mineralised.
Campbell Miles had stumbled on to one of the world's richest copper, silver, lead and zinc ore bodies.
He decided to call his discovery "Mount Isa" after the stories he had heard of the Mount Ida goldfield in Western Australia.
Almost 100 years later, the Mount Isa Mine now owned by Xstrata is still one of Australia's largest producers of copper ore.
The early pioneers of Mount Isa faced many hardships. The lack of water, remoteness, the summer heat, high costs and scarcity of essential items made life extremely difficult.
Despite these hardships, the pioneers endured to create a city that has attracted people from all around the world.
What is the Climate like?
Mount Isa has a great climate with an average of 9.5 hours of sunshine a day and only 50 wet days per year.
There are two distinct seasons – the wet season from November to March and the dry season centred on June, July and August.
Summer months are hot, with average minimums in the low 20s (degrees Celsius) and maximums in the high 30s. Most houses and businesses are air-conditioned.
Winter is much more pleasant, with average daytime temperatures in the mid-20s and nights averaging a very comfortable 12 degrees.
The lowest temperature ever recorded in Mount Isa was –2.9 degrees!
For more information on Mount Isa's climate visit the Australian Bureau of Meteorology website.
How can I get there?
Despite its geographical isolation, Mount Isa is easily accessible by all modes of transport.
Qantas currently operates daily jet services to Brisbane (a two-hour flight) with connections to interstate and international destinations.
MACAIR operates daily services between Mount Isa and Brisbane, Townsville, and Cairns.
Please note fights to Cairns do not depart Mount Isa on Sunday.
Additionally, there are services provided to numerous towns within the region.
Queensland Rail operates a twice-weekly passenger service (the Inlander) between Mount Isa and Townsville.
Regular freight services are also available to cater for the industrial and commercial needs of the city.
Coach services operate between Mount Isa and Brisbane and Mount Isa and Townsville on a daily basis, and between Mount Isa and Tennant Creek five times a week, with connections to Alice Springs and Darwin.
Visit www.greyhound.com.au for travel times and information.
The major highway into the city and to the Northern Territory border is sealed. Major roads in the region are sealed, but there are a number of unsealed roads.
Several companies operate car and four wheel drive vehicle hire services. Aircraft and helicopter charter services are also available.
