But nothing could be further from the truth.

This is a busy period for schools with award nights and formals and end of year fetes such as St Joseph’s in Cloncurry last Friday and St Joseph’s in Mount Isa this Friday.

I went down to Cloncurry for their fete and it was a lovely balmy evening before the rain came.

I was back in the Curry the following morning for their (and my) first ever parkrun.

Parkrun is a free 5km walk or run (though you have to register with parkrun Australia to get a time) on bush tracks near Mark Kathleen Park.

Almost 70 people turned up for run or a stroll despite the impending rain and there was much good humour out on the track.

Well done to Denis and Belinda Imhof for bringing this excellent concept to the north west and special mention to Michael Schultz of Brisbane who took three days to drive to Cloncurry just for the event.

Mr Schultz is a parkrun veteran and was determined to keep his record of having been to every parkrun in Australia.

I enjoyed it too and after cooling down it was back to Mount Isa to head out to the Clancy Corporation Lake Moondarra Fishing Classic. It was another well attended event with a lot of splashing fun in the dragon boat racing and some amazing catches out on the water.

Congratulations to young Joshua Moren who landed an enormous 26.70 kgs barramundi smashing the previous Classic record set 10 years ago.

On Sunday I attended the Lutheran Church’s 500^th anniversary service of Martin Luther nailing the 99 theses to the door of of a German Church, starting the Reformation. It was lovely to see the Catholic and Lutheran choirs combine in Mount Isa for the service.

The action continues this weekend with the aforementioned St Joey’s fete, Cloncurry derby races and the Outback Tourism awards that night, also in Cloncurry.

Then on Sunday there is the Isa Kids Expo at Buchanan Park and that night there is a free concert featuring Best of Brass and Bandana at the Salvos Hall – Derek Barry