Outback Queensland road trip Day 9: Longreach, Changing plans

 

 

By the numbers

Plans changed 2

Bogged 1

Randomness happens 2

Walked 7.61kms

 

Overnight I listened to the rain on the roof for a couple of hours. I think there was rain for most of the night and I wouldn’t know it, but this little bit of wet weather would change my whole day around as plans would shift and swap days. We were booked for an early start and I was happy to be on the road just before 8am so I could go on a stage coach ride in the morning with lunch and morning tea, then a paddle boat ride later that afternoon with dinner and sunset. That was what I hoped for.

 

The reality was much different. We turned up and was told the tour would be unable to proceed as it was too wet for the coach and the horses so we could change it for the next day. The thing with tomorrow was that I had other plans and wasn’t sure if the Qantas Founders museum would allow for that. I told the lady at the tour group that I will rock up and ask. She loved that idea. We left and then turned up at the museum just as it was opening for the day. I was told I sure can change the day and got a wrist band where I could come and go as I pleased, and if I wanted to could jump on any tour.

 

I was happy for this and was able to walk into the museum. It was about the people who founded the museum, and the hardships of the country. The two main founders veterans of Gallipoli and had done some flying during World War 1 had seen the need for flights in the regional part of Australia especially Queensland. Travel to many places could take weeks or months due to weather conditions especially if the ground was boggy after rain. There was even a point in the life of the company where Qantas was building their own aircraft until the newer versions came out that performed better. They even had numerous discussions with John Flynn who would go on to create the Royal Flying Doctors, and was told they were not there technologically to do so. Throughout the museum they had interviews with family of the founders and even included talks with Nancy Bird about her relationship with Qantas. There was quite a lot more about the business than I had ever thought about including stories about their engineer who could fix a plane, but not a car. I could have gone of the other tours that were on offer, but the museum itself was remarkable and that includes showing the different uniforms of flight attendants and pilots over the years.

 

After several hours of reading about Qantas and looking at their many displays, I ended up in the gift shop to have a look and then we were off to have a look at Longreach Cemetery. We started off on one end and then the road became soft and we were a little stuck. I got out and pushed to get unstuck and we learnt just how bad a wet unsealed road in the area would be like after rain. The mud was sticky and we got out, which was lucky. We returned to the room to look for something to clean my boots and wash the car. We ended up at the local carwash and that was closed and there wasn’t another one to be found anywhere. We did try the cemetery again from a different side and the road was sealed.

 

The problem with walking around the Longreach Cemetery was that the whole area was soft and depending on where you would walk, you would sink in the soft ground. I wanted to find several of the people who had died on the Qantas plane that had crashed in Longreach back in the 1930s. If I was going to get muddy feet in a cemetery as I had to clean my boots, I wasn’t wanting to stick around for too long. I tried sticking to the stones and the further I walked the more I realised I would get bogged. While it was an interesting wander I thought it was best we didn’t linger on the soft ground as we would have more things to clean. When we returned I set to wiping the excess mud off my boots and got them to a point where I could just wash the mud off by hand. I did get to watch planes land as the airport is across the road. Around this time the second part of out tour was cancelled due to the bus not being able to get to the paddleboat. We also changed that for tomorrow, so will try again.

 

The next part of the adventure begins for the day and I liked this bit of randomness. We headed to the town of Ilfracombe, which was around 20kms down the road. We stopped and then I was directed to what was beside us. It was in a way a living museum as there were machinery lining the side of the road from trucks to earth moving equipment known as the machinery mile. Mum had been there before and this was my first time. We walked all the way along the street to see what there was. There were trucks, old pumps, a bottle display and static displays of life in the old days. There was a house that was the old police station that had pictures of a station that was called Wellshot that told about life on the property. We did have a look in the pub and there were hats on the walls and money stuck to the roof. I found the town to be interesting as I wandered around and it was slowly getting to late afternoon, so we headed back to Longreach for some food and to try again tomorrow. The RSL was packed when we arrived, but out food came fast. There was some tagalong group and another group and I would say it was hard to hear in there. We ate and got out of there.

Outback Queensland road trip Day 8: Longreach’s Stockman’s Hall of Fame museum

 

By the numbers

2 Fingerbuns

1 museum

4kms walking

 

The day was to start early as we had to be at the Hall of Fame by opening time as it was next door to where we are staying. Though next door is really a 15 min walk or a couple of minute drive and we had supplies to get when we finish at the museum. It opens at 9am and then closes at 3pm. We arrived around 10 mins before the doors opened and there were already people arriving and getting ready to storm the doors. We walked up to the entrance and then I went to have a look around the grounds and to take photos. The most annoying thing is that my phone updated the night before and was being a little bit buggy, but I cam work with that.

 

I seen people walking in and I rushed to get in the door as well. I had booked to see a show as well as the museum. It starts with a 15 min video explaining about the reason for the Hall of Fame. We had a little wait before that happened and I went looking around the gift ship. I think I found several things I wanted and that included a new wallet to replace the one I got in Scotland as it was starting to wear out. The movie was about the early settlers and how they worked the land including the shearers strikes and also the strikes at WaveHill, the hardships of the Federation drought and the hardships of working the land when it was boom and bust. It covered little bit of what we would see in the museum. Also had audio tours to go with the museum experience.

 

We were all handed an audio tour before leaving the theatre and it would be activated by a team member before we walk into the museum. Some of it would connect with the location, but you would have to hit the story that you wanted to hear. Kids were running around pointing them at everything and wondering what to do. There was even an elderly couple arguing with each other about one of them hitting buttons. I wandered through the parts about the various trails like Birdsville, the Strzelecki and the Canning Stock route with the watering holes and points of interest with little bits about the people who ran the cattle. There were people who moved cattle from one end of the country to the other doing over 1000kms all before modern conveniences like vehicles, motorbikes and helicopters. Not only were they talking about the stockmen, but also the people around them from Blacksmiths to the Hawkers who travelled to distant locations to sell their wares and bring supplies. They had a bloke making Australian Stock whips so you could see how they were being made.

 

I went onto looking at the display on the Royal Flying Doctors and how Errol Flynn the pastor started the service for the people of the outback and some of the hardships they went through themselves in getting to their patient. A video screen had the number of flights the day before and the number from today from that time in the day. Later in the day there would likely be more. One of the last displays was about the entertainment and I had somehow started one of Banjo Patterson’s poems that seems to go on for a while as many of the kids seem to have vanished even though it is school holidays. The entertainment was about the events that entertained the country people like shows that included rodeo events and even boxing bouts travelling through the bush. Dancing like debutante balls along with country bands who played. Pubs that might not have had beer or very little that had people like Slim Dusty sing about them and Dusty Dawson another country singer. There was an area dedicated towards country poets and I ended up with a list of poets like Banjo that I could listen to.

 

Another part of the whole visit was an extra that I had booked and that was an horse experience. A few people were going to see that and I am pretty sure people had arrived from a bus tour who filled up the stands. Mum and I ran out of seating in the stands and instead had front row seats below the stands. The MC who was giving the demonstration gave us a talk about the horses that were used like the stockhorse, the extra and the packhorse for the supplies they needed to bring with them on long trips away. There were dad jokes aplenty like talking about how he doesn’t use Samsung to get hold of his mates as apple is better, and leads out the horses. Others like counting all legs on the animals and then dividing them by 4 to get the correct number, or counting to 98 and rounding them up. The jokes that got groans out of everyone. He spoke about the stock whips and the trust in the horses that he would not hit them and the story about the Australian stock whip, we even got a live demonstration on how they used dogs to muster the sheep including how they were used just to hold the sheep in position. Apparently the horse had great trust in the bloke as he took one of the horses into an elevator at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Trust that he wouldn’t harm it in any way, also about the ANZACs and the light horse charge at Beersheba.

 

 I was glad I had booked this part of the experience as it was worth going to and after we walked away there was still one small area that we had not yet seen and that was the Unsung Heroes of the bush. There were many people in the display that had been nominated for their hard work as research had been done, but wouldn’t appear in bookform outside of the Hall of Fame. Many had some form of hardship when working the land and could be away from home for months on end. One lady was names due to her role in getting the Stockman Hall of Fame to be built in Longreach and she petitioned the politicians, another worked for the Kidman pastoralists on their properties and there were a few people including women who were stockhands who still went out droving with their kids. I didn’t read every single story as there was plenty to read including one lady who had a sing named after her by Banjo Patterson that would be called Waltzing Matilda. Then we ended up having a coffee and browse through the gift shop.

 

After that we headed for the local supermarket and there was no Coles or Woolies here, only IGA. I needed flynetting as some places could have bad flies like out at Winton and it was suggested. The hot food I had a look at to see what they had and there was the usual chicken and pork, but also pluto pup, hamburgers and several other hot foods. They did have microwave meals that if you were in a pinch could be used. One of the guys bought out a freezer pallet and I would say it would take at least half hour to get done. Nothing like at home. We got the supplies we needed and that even included a bakery visit to get fingerbuns. We would later go out for dinner as we had a table reserved at the local caravan park. I did make another booking for Thursday morning and that was a tour of the Longreach School of the Air. Since its school holidays that would be interesting.

 

The weather for the next couple of days is supposed to be in the 30s and that is winter.

Outback Queensland road trip Day 7: Windorah to Longreach

 

By the numbers

17 litres left in tank on reaching Longreach

More cars than yesterday

5kms walking

No actual Stonehenge

 

The day started early in Windorah as we had to be out of the room by 10am sharp though we had breakfast and were up around 7am and leaving by around 9am. We headed out of town with the intention of heading towards Jundah and then onto Longreach. At this stage we didn’t have phone service still and we would be on the road for around 3 or so hours. The cars GPS was confused and giving us directions. Just out of Windorah we encountered the roadworks that we had gone through and we went through the bypass to the road so it wasn’t that bad and the best part was that it had dried out or else we could get stuck. Not far down the road we encountered a large road runner type bird called an Australian Bustard. We slowed down and stopped for it as it slowly walked off the road. It was an interesting bird and I think it was keeping an eye on us. There were also more Wedge tailed Eagles including one that just stood its ground as we went past and didn’t fly off.

 

Between Windorah and Jundah there were at least 5 cars with two passing us and some going in the other direction. At least we were building up for that as we headed for Longreach. The scenery kept on changing from trees to plains and then back to trees. When we reached Jundah one of the vehicles that passed us had actually stopped there as I guess they were farm workers. A while up the road as the roads were still quite narrow with them widening for a little while calling themselves overtaking lanes. We had a pit stop in Stonehenge, which was a little bit off the highway. It was a very small town with a sign that said ‘Hit the skids, Not the kids’. I didn’t see any, but there was a pub and that was open. There wasn’t much to see in town and after a brief stop we kept on heading towards Longreach. When we were near Longreach the car sent a message to the GPS telling us we needed fuel and listed a few fuel stops, and then there were the beeping that we couldn’t work out until I realised the centre lane markers had appeared and the car was detecting those.

 

We did a lap around the outskirts of Longreach before we were dragged back into the town onto the main road heading out of town heading for Barcaldine. We were searching for our accommodation, which was near the Qantas museum and Stockman hall of fame. We were staying in some budged rooms and when we got down there was a sign directing us to check in at the Albert Motor Inn at the other end of the street. We go to reception and have a chat with the nice young lady who tells us we had actually booked through a third party and our rooms were more or less dongas with shared bathrooms and showers, not fully what was described by the 3^rd party website. You would have to think hostels instead of decent places to stay with a family member. She had complained about their tactics as high up as the CEO who laughed in her face and told her they can do what they like. It did explain the address for the website being in the US. I would have gotten a better rate when going to the legit website. It was explained they were barely legal as they charged fees on top. We were given the option of upgrading to a room in the motel as we are staying most of the week and we took it. Usually I am more careful with booking places and I was rushing due to the lack of accommodation in the area. I will learn for next time and a good thing to know about the websites being disguised as the legit locations.

 

Once we were in our room at the hotel, the best part is when we check in, we can do it by text and same with check out. The door codes are pin numbers so no need for keys. The best part is they have washing machine and dryers so I was able to get that done as I was at the point I needed more underwear. While the clothes were in the dryer I went for a wander across the road to the Qantas museum and out to the airport, which was really a big shed around the same size as the airport in Whangarei. I had to wander back pretty quickly as I knew the washing in the dryer would have long since finished. The walk in the path beside the main road is part of the botanic gardens with information so that should be interesting in itself. By the time I got back and sorted out the washing, it was time to get a meal at the RSL, which was a Sunday roast. Tomorrow night we have a table booked at a nearby restaurant that was recommended to us.