History of Cloncurry (Wikipedia) is a town situated in the north-west of Queensland, Australia, 770 kilometres west of the city of Townsville via the Flinders Highway. The town lies adjacent to the Cloncurry River. It is the administrative centre of the Cloncurry Shire. At the 2006 census, the town had a population of 2,384.

Cattle grazing is the significant industry in the region, and a large sale yards is located in the town. Cloncurry is known as the Friendly Heart of the Great North West. The population in Cloncurry decreased from 3,898 in 1996 to 2,900 in 2002. Cloncurry will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2017.

History

The first Europeans to traverse the area were Burke and Wills on their epic, and ultimately fatal, transcontinental expedition. The Cloncurry River was named by Burke after Lady Elizabeth Cloncurry, his cousin, with the town eventually taking its name from the river. Ernest Henry discovered copper in the area in 1867, and the town sprang up to service the Great Australia Mine to the south. Roger Sheaffe established the first pastoral run in the Cloncurry district – “Fort Constantine”. Gold was discovered at Top Camp. The town was surveyed in 1876. Cloncurry was proclaimed a town in 1884. Queensland’s Northern Line railway reached Cloncurry in December 1907 and was officially opened the next year. In 1914 a fire broke out in the town resulting in the destruction of the Post Office, the hotel, eleven shops, two store-rooms and a cottage. The telegraph office was saved by employees who kept the office damp and protected with wet blankets. One man died in the blaze which cost an estimated £15,000. The discovery of uranium at Mary Kathleen brought wealth to the community in the 1950s. Until the development of Mount Isa in the 1960s, Cloncurry was the administrative centre of the region. The first ever flight of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia took place from Cloncurry on 15 May 1928, using a de Havilland DH.50 aircraft hired from the then small airline, Qantas. A Royal Flying Doctor Service museum is situated in the town.

Climate

Cloncurry was widely regarded as holding the record for the highest temperature recorded in Australia at 53.1 °C (127.5 °F) on 16 January 1889. Recent investigations have revealed that this temperature was measured in an improvised screen made from a beer crate and that it equated to 47–49 °C under standard conditions. The highest temperature ever recorded at Cloncurry’s current weather station is 46.9 °C (116.4 °F), well short of the 1889 temperature of 53.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 584.5 mm (23.0 in), almost all of which falls between the months of December to March Because of the area’s extreme solar conditions, Cloncurry was expected to become Australia’s first solar-powered town. However the planned 10MW Thermal solar plant was scrapped due to light pollution concerns  and a 2.128MW flat panel photovoltaic solar farm was to be built in its place. However, the Queensland Government withdrew financial support for the solar farm in May, 2012 4^th July, Friday The drive from Mount Isa to Cloncurry is very pretty. It is very hilly and the road is narrow and winds it’s way through the hills, certainly not a boring drive at all and the travelling time went by really quickly. The town of Cloncurry is quite a lot smaller than Mount Isa. This is also a mining town and has lots of Interesting things to see. There is a gems and mineral show with a bit of market here this weekend. We didn’t know that it was on and of course Ralph is in his element. It’s at an oval which is situated right across the road from the caravan park. There is also a tavern right across the road and we think that we might treat ourselves and have dinner there tonight. Hugo should be ok in the van on his own for awhile. Ralph bought his prospectors come fossicking licence and some tickets to a few of the museums which we will tomorrow. He has a licence for WA (which is for life), The territory have done away with licences and his licence for Queensland is valid for 6 months. The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), started off in Cloncurry and that is one of the museums we will visit today. We went to the happy hour they have here, sausage sizzle, take your own chair and plonk, most of these caravan parks do that to raise money for local charities and it’s a great idea. We didn’t eat though as I already cooked. We chatted to 2 couples from NSW and they were telling us where to go and what to see. It’s a great venue for getting info about travelling. It’s not as cold here as Mount Isa, weird really because it’s only 120 kms away. You wouldn’t have thought that it would make that much difference. 5^TH July Saturday We mosied on into town after breakfast. I needed a few things at the Supermarket and we needed to buy the paper and lotto (you never know). We went to the RFDS museum and that was quite amazing. Different levels for different things. They had all the old radios for the RFDS and also the first one for the school of the air. We love these old places with all their amazing history. We then went to the mineral and gem exhibition. The gems and rocks (not allowed to call them rocks) is awesome. You don’t what you are getting until you cut them open. I think that we are coming home with a car load of rocks for Ralph to buy his little diamond saw and cut them all open (Watch out Gumtree) We haven’t even started yet and he has quite a collection. We vegged out for the rest of the afternoon and then went to the tavern across the road for dinner. It was awesome. The steak was so tender and you could chose all your own salads and veggies etc. from the smorgasbord counter, it’s very good value. Tomorrow, we think that we will drive the 90 kms from here to the Walkabout creek motel where Crocodile Dundee was filmed. There is nothing else there, just the pub, so it is 90kms there and 90kms back. We think that we will have lunch there. We will go and visit the Chinese and Afghan cemeteries as well (I know, it’s my fascination with old cemeteries, such history). Having a liquor while I am writing this and waiting for the planet of the apes to come on. Ralphie is watching the footy so I am trying to stay awake. Nothing has changed. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

6^th July Sunday We had a long chat to the couple in the caravan next to us this morning. They are from the USA and spend 2 months of every year in Oz fossicking. He sends a 44 gallon drum full of rocks back home where he saws them and sorts out his gem quality. He makes jewellery as well and he fossicks for anything. They go to different places every time and they know Oz so well. They are a retired couple and they store their caravan and vehicle in Alice Springs until the next time they are here. He gave Ralph a few pointers and some maps – very kind and lovely people. We might bump into them on the way as they are heading in the same direction as us. We took a drive to Chinamans dam and the we drove 110 kms to McKinlay to see the pub (Walkabout creek hotel) where Crocodile Dundee was filmed, had a beer and drove 110kms back. We were lucky that they weren’t that busy so we could have a long chat with the owners and get a good history of the place. The pub was opened in 1910 so it’s quite old. The town of McKinlay is tiny. The few houses there are inhabited but very old. There’s a police station, a library (the smallest library in Queensland), a church, service station and of course the pub. This is real outback Australia and it’s awesome. There was a service (I think it was a christening) going on in the little church and the peoples dogs were tied up on the fence at the police station across the road. The terrain from Cloncurry to McKinlay is mainly flat and sparse and very dry, their wet season this year was very dry and you can tell. I think that it is mainly stations as there was quite a bit of stock around the place. Tomorrow, we will spend a night stopover at the Burke and Wills roadhouse and then head off to Normanton for 3 nights so Ralph can go fishing and I might go on a train ride that is there.