Mount Isa Day 1

Today we started looking at Casa Grande a heritage-listed villa designed by Donoghue, Cusick & Edwards and built in 1949 to serve as the principal residence for the then MIM (Mount Isa Mines) mine manager, Mr Julius Kruttschnitt and his family. The style of the house is termed “Spanish Mission”. It is believed that Mr Kruttschnitt’s choices for style details of the house was influenced by his earlier posting to mines in Arizona and Mexico. This is reflected in the house’s name translated as “big house”, a common term of management housing. It was designed by a Brisbane firm of architects who later designed St Mary’s Cathedral in Darwin.
It is the earliest dwellings on “Mineside” of Mount Isa.





We drove past the Mount Isa Mines site on our way to the Underground Hospital and tent house built in 1942. The miners volunteered after there shifts and dug our the hospital in 2 weeks, and the community added the supports etc and furnishings needed to fit out the hospital. They are Australia’s only WWII underground hospital air raid shelter and lived in houses made of canvas. Four tunnels, one for men, one for maternity and children and one for women the fourth for operating and equipment etc. The common tent was converted into a Tent House; an adaptation of materials to suit a hot, dry climate. The building currently housing the Beth Anderson Museum has a story of its own. It began life as a hospital in Kuridala, a heritage-listed abandoned mining town in the Cloncurry Shire. It was dismantled and transported to Mount Isa in 1931.

Luckily the underground hospital was not needed during the war, however the nurses use to sleep there between shifts as it was much cooler than in the hospital.













We then drove to Lake Moondarra which supplies all the water to Mt. Isa. Many peacocks and peahens were wandering around and cows grazed where they wished to.







After lunch we went to ‘Isa Experience Heritage Display’ for an in-depth look into Mount Isa from its humble beginning 100 years ago to one of the world’s largest mining complexes, Mount Isa Mines. From early beginnings in 1923 the mining complex has grown to become of the most productive single mines in history. We walked through the Outback Park and saw the Rodeo Hall of Fame.






In the late afternoon we headed to Telstra Hill which was a very steep walk to the top to see 360 degree views of the area and also take advantage to see the sunset.