SEE THE world as miners see it - go underground at Mount Isa. Go a step even further and try looking at a prehistoric world through the eyes of a dinosaur.
Visiting Outback at Isa is the chance to see the world in a whole different way. Amazing experiences await you at this exciting tourist precinct.
The multi-award-winning complex offers a diverse range of activities from exhibits in the Isa Experience Gallery to the Mount Isa Mines Theatrette to the peaceful beauty of parkland.
At Riversleigh Fossil Centre, come face to face with the prehistoric inhabitants of outback Australia. Riversleigh Fossil Centre opens the window into the prehistoric world that lies four hours’ drive to the north of Mount Isa. The World Heritage-listed Riversleigh Fossil site is recognised as one of the richest and most extensive in the world.
The award-winning Riversleigh Fossil Centre houses a series of exciting and informative displays and brings the once wet, tropical landscape and its long-gone inhabitants back to life. The theatrette, hidden away in a simulated limestone cave, screens a highly acclaimed film tracing the Riversleigh story with a commentary by Sir David Attenborough.
Take a guided tour of the laboratory where Outback at Isa’s palaeontologist and trained staff free fossil bones of extinct creatures from limestone and piece the puzzle of their lives back together.
Join a guided tour through Hard Times Mine’s 1.2km of tunnels where you will encounter the sights, sounds and sensations of underground life. This small-group tour begins above ground, where you change into specially designed miner’s equipment and protective clothing. After a briefing, you descend in the Alimak cage, under the historic P61 head frame, to the floor of the mine. Take a ride in the “mule” and try your hand at drilling on the air-leg drill.
Tour guides with mining experience and knowledge provide expert commentary as you explore the underground setting, complete with fully operational machinery and real miners in action.
Try one of Australia’s most unusual dining experience, “Lunch Under Isa”. This entails having lunch the way the miners do, eating from your crib port in the underground crib room!
To complement your underground experience, wander through the Isa Experience Gallery where Mount Isa’s history comes alive. The ground floor exhibit is comprised of artifacts, specimens, photographs, illustrations, dioramas and state-of-the-art audio visual displays, giving you an introduction to all the major themes of the outback - indigenous culture, early settlement and the mining history that has shaped modern Mount Isa. The award-winning Landsborough Tree exhibit holds pride of place in this gallery. This inspiring audio-visual display gives both commentary and comparison of realities of life in the outback. On the gallery’s upper level is the Mount Isa Mines Theatrette with seating for more than 50 people. Two films screen continuously and include moving footage of the early days and development of Mount Isa as a mining town.
Just when you think you must have seen all that this remarkable complex has to offer, you stroll into an outback oasis at Outback Park. The creative landscape will capture your imagination with its central lagoon, lush plantings and waterfalls.
Walking trails lead you through the gardens to several sheltered seats where you can relax and listen to the cascading waterfalls. Visitors can view fish, birds and aquatic plants from a purpose-built bridge spanning the lagoon.
Also located in the Outback Park is a cleverly crafted amphitheatre which looks as if it has been hewn out of the rock. This open air entertainment area provides seating for 200 people and provides a unique venue for weddings, parties, barbecues and even elegant cocktail parties.
Outback at Isa’s Visitor Information Centre is a great place to find out what the North West Queensland region and other parts of Australia have to offer. Contact relatives and friends on the internet or take a rest in the air-conditioned foyer. The friendly staff can further advise you about activities in Mount Isa or help you plan your journey through the outback.
To finish off a day of exploration in this all-embracing complex, sit down for a cappuccino, meal or order takeaway at the on-site cafe. Travellers will also appreciate amenities at the Outback at Isa complex including pay phone, toilets, showers and a caravan dump point.
