Great Artesian Basin country.

Reluctantly we departed Chinchilla area and pressed on further to the west. A stop in Miles to check for an expected letter awaiting us there, but it had not arrived yet. As we intend to continue further west through Roma then on a further 90km to Mitchell for 3 or 4 days, we will backtrack to Roma before heading north. Consequently the Post Office in Miles has agreed to forward the expected letter onto Roma when it arrives, saving us the additional 280km return trip. Our purpose in spending the time in Mitchell is purely to soak up as much of the beautiful artesian basin
hot water as we can. Mitchell has a magnificent public spa facility, which for a mere $7.50 gives us a 3 day pass. It is located a short walk from the caravan park, across the Maranoa River. The statistics of the Great Artesian Basin for those not aware are staggering.
Estimated 65,000 million megalitres of water stored in the Great Artesian Basin. It covers 22% of the Australian continent, the maximum depth that the water comes from is 3,000 metres and covers 1,711,000 sq kms. The basin extends 2,400km north-south and 1,800km east-west at the widest point. The water temperature averages 30-50 degrees C. The approximate age of the water is 2 million years old. Thought you would be enthralled by all that.
We visited the spa upon arrival for about an hour, then walked around town, which takes every bit of 10 minutes. Mitchell is a very typical outback Queensland town. They do however have 5 pubs. As it is their annual Show Day here, all the shops are closed. We appear to be following the annual show circuit at the present. Wednesday - another visit to the spa in the morning, a bit of food shopping, then a visit to the Mitchell railway station where there is a travelling roadshow (in a train) put on by the Queensland University Of Technology.
This is primarily for school students to see, feel and hear what the Q.U.T is doing in the field of research into all manner of things. The displays, many of which are inter-active, take up 6 specially built carriages. The educators travel with the train and are housed in sleeping carriages. There is also a dining/kitchen carriage, making the whole train totally self contained. The "SMART TRAIN" normally spends one day in each whistle stop town, then moves on to the next stop overnight. School kids atend in groups through-out the day under the control of their teachers. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and also learned something.

Kevin and Gail.