CLONCURRY , 390km west of Hughenden, is caught between two landscapes, where the flat eastern plains rise to a rough and rocky plateau. Besides being the place where Australia's highest temperature (53.1°C) was recorded, Cloncurry offers glimpses into the mining history that permeates the whole stretch west to the larger and less personal settlement of Mount Isa. Copper was discovered here in 1867 but as the town lacked a rail link to the coast until 1908, profits were eroded by the necessity of transporting the ore by camel to Normanton. This meant that Cloncurry never reflected the quality of its mines: there are no traces of a wealthy past because there never was one. Even the current resurgence in mining hasn't had much effect on Cloncurry; miners are flown in from the coast to the mines, work their two-week shifts, then head home again, all without spending more than a couple of hours in town.

Buildings at the Mary Kathleen Memorial Park Museum (Mon-Fri 7am-4pm, Sat & Sun 9am-3pm; $5) were salvaged from Mary Kathleen, a short-lived uranium mining town between Cloncurry and Mount Isa. The museum is primarily of geological interest, a comprehensive catalogue of local ores, fossils and gemstones arranged in long cases, though Aboriginal tools and Burke's water bottle add some historical depth. The office gives out information on old mining camps and fossicking details if you feel inspired to try your luck hunting for garnets, copper and Maltese crosses (hard, reddish-brown staurolite crystals paired at right angles).

A positive side to Cloncurry's isolation is that it inspired the formation of the Royal Flying Doctor Service . Over on the corner of King and Daintree streets, John Flynn Place (Mon-Fri 7am-4pm, Sat & Sun 9am-3pm; $7) is a monument to the man who pioneered the use of radio and plane to provide a "mantle of safety over the Outback". The exhibition explains how ideas progressed with technology, from pedal-powered radios to assistance from the young Qantas, resulting in the opening in Cloncurry of the first Flying Doctor base in 1928. A very different aspect of Cloncurry's past is also evident in the two foreign cemeteries on the outskirts of town. To the south of the highway, before you cross the creek on the way to Mount Isa, a hundred overgrown plots recall a brief nineteenth-century goldrush when the harsh conditions took a terrible toll on Chinese prospectors ; equally neglected are the unnamed graves of Afghans at the north end of Henry Street, all aligned with Mecca. Afghans were vital to Cloncurry's survival before the coming of the railway, organizing camel trains which carried the ore to Normanton whence it was shipped to Europe - a role now largely forgotten.