Surprising Longreach

 

We had originally intended our next stop to be up in the Gulf country at Cobbold Gorge - but they had a school camp with over 200 kids at the precise time we wanted to be there, after Cobbold we had hoped to take a ride on the Gulflander Train at Normanton - but it had swapped to off season times and the next ride was at the end of the first week in October, too long to wait. It seemed that fate was steering us away from the gulf, so we decided to make our next stop Longreach (which had been in one of our early intineraries anyway).

 

This turned out to be a good decision as our heating issues with the car bubbled over.  There we were on the side of a road in 40+ degree heat waiting for the RACQ (mmmm think this might be a familiar feeling).  Greg from RACQ Jericho was awesome.  A true outback bush mechanic who gave us better advice than a number of larger garages in Canberra.  He got us back up and running (albeit a bit more slowly) and made some recommendations that we could implement in Longreach (as we needed an autoelectrician again). 

It may not have been the quickest drive but we made it to Ilfracombe which is a small town just outside of Longreach.  We chose Ilfracombe even through it was about 15 minutes from Longreach because the recommendations for the caravan park were excellent and all of them listed the shade as a major quality (have I mentioned the heat in this sentence?).  Ifracombe also had a swimming pool and artesian spa very enjoyable at the end of a hot day of touring Longreach (sorry no photos too busy swimming).  It also had a very old outback pub were we went for dinner one night.  The food was good outback pub food, but the pub itself was the star.  Even the boys were running around photographing all the ‘cool old stuff’.

The notes on the ceiling have been thrown up with a coin and a pin.  If you get your note to stick to the ceiling and caught the coin on the way down you got a free drink.  As to the money on the ceiling it was destined for local charities.

Mr L found one not so old thing on this table.

Yep - we even found a bit of Canberra out here.

 

Longreach

We were really surprised by Longreach.  We knew it had something about the founding of Qantas, but we hadn’t expected the range of activities on offer.  We booked the car in with the electrician and had no trouble filling our days with fascinating activities.  Even a trip to Target to get a couple of new shirts for the boys was more fun than it ever is in Canberra.

Can I order a lift to my local Target like this back home please – it would make shopping so much more fun.

Qantas Founders Museum and Jet Tours

After a good chat with electrician about the car and a bit of shopping we were off to one of Longreach’s major attractions.  Whilst the first board meeting for Qantas was held in Winton, in the end they decided to set up their first aerodrome here – the key reason being that the railway came to Longreach back then.  It is hard to believe that idea from two war pilots with the one plane that could only fly a single passenger:

Went on to this:

Mmmmmmm you might note that this is another bit of Canberra out here although this time a bit bigger.

And even this!

There are number of options at the Museum including a standard entry.  But we added in the Jet Tour which provided us with an exclusive tour of two former Qantas jets a 707 and 747 (the exclusive part was luck not that we paid for it – we were the only ones on the tour at that time).  The tour was interesting, informative and fun.  We went through both planes and the boys were truly amazed at the 747 as they haven’t been in a plane this big (or a plane with an upstairs).  As part of the tour you can stand in an engine, walk through the plane, see inside the cockpit and go to the upstairs lounge (which is a little less glamorous today as the furniture has been removed).  

Its hard work all this walking around and listening - must be time for a rest.

The Museum itself is made up of a couple of buildings and a further plane you can investigate outside.  The main hall of the museum is new, large and very comprehensive.  There are a number of short films on display and lots and lots of planes.  Planes you can look at:

Planes you can hop in:

 

And planes you can fight World War 1 in:

Our verdict on the Qantas Founders Museum – 8 thumbs up (2 from each of us)!

Starlight Cruise

That evening we went cruising on the ‘historic’ Thomson Princess for an “evening of sights, sounds and entertainment.  From the sunset colours to the legend of local larrikin hero Captain Starlight, this cruise invites you to be part of the real outback”.  We booked too late to be on the Thomson Belle paddlewheeler, but with hindsight that wasn’t all that bad as there were less people on our boat so more room to move around for the cool shot and we travelled alongside the paddlewheeler so we could see and photograph her.  The whole experience included a:

- Thomson river sunset cruise;

- Traditional stockman’s campfire dinner with bush poetry and live entertainment; and

- Starlight’s Spectacular Sound and Light Picture Show.

The Thomson River is apparently a series of waterholes for much of the year and only runs freely after rains.  Downstream the Thomson merges with another river to form a creek – only place in Australia where two rivers become a creek.

Our boat with plenty of space and great views!

The paddlewheeler in action.

We scored a beautiful sunset and both boats positioned themselves perfectly for the passengers to take a photo or two (or maybe quite a few more when it comes to David and myself).

 

We came ashore to an already blazing fire (not that anyone was cold) for the stockman’s dinner which consisted of beef stew, mash potato then apple pie and custard.

Mmmmmmm they did say I’d be the star attraction at dinner. Is chicken on the menu tonight?

The barefoot bush poet.

 

This is a less serious poem – but one with local content.  It is about a frog, in the toilet (happens a lot here up north)

We all moved to a screen at the back of the camp to watch a movie about Captain Starlight, a daring cattle rustler from these parts.  The family running this cruise (and a number of other tours in Longreach) had this movie made specifically for this (you could tell, while the key parts were played by actors I think, both boat drivers and our commentator were in the movie as well).

And the ending - he rides off into the sunset of course!

The night ended back around the fire with freshly made damper with golden syrup and some billy tea.  The boys loved their damper and to my surprise both tried the billy tea.  There was also a sincere thankyou from the organisers. They told us that it was travelers like ourselves who kept Longreach going in the hard times and as there was a significant drought at the moment our visit and patronage of any and all local businesses was appreciated!

Stockman’s Hall of Fame

The car was booked in bright and early, so we started the day with brekkie in Longreach.  At the end of an enjoyable round of bacon and eggs for all, we looked up to find the Federal Treasurer walking through the door ordering coffees.  There seems to be something about Longreach and Canberra (at least for us). 

While the car was being worked on we decided to take in the attractions of the Stockman’s Hall of Fame.  We were greeted by some lovely and very gentle animals which the boys immediately took to patting (as did all the other kids).

Like the QANTAS museum the Stockman’s Hall offers two tickets – one just to see the Hall the other with the Stockman’s Show included.  As we were likely to be there some time we decided we would see the show as well.

The Hall is a striking building outside but even more so inside.  The size and lighting is amazing, highlighted by the full scale Royal Flying Doctor Service airplane hanging from the roof being lit up by different colours representing a full day.  We started with a short movie on stockmen, but the Hall has a large range of interactive displays.  You can choose to watch or listen to all manner of electronic material.  One display even had a range of excerpts from the old show the Flying Doctors.  We spent hours pouring over the displays, examining every gallery (admittedly our extensive exploration was assisted by the fact that there had been an accident at the car garage and the manager was taking a bit longer as he had taken his dad to hospital – he had tripped outside the garage).

Mr L and Mr C add the Royal Flying Doctor planes to there extensive plane flying repertoires!

The Stockmans Show had everything you’d expect.  Horses, cows, dogs, sheep, singing ….

 

 

Mr C got selected as a volunteer – his job HOLD THE HORSE.  Of course as soon as the MC turned his back the horse slipped his rope halter and bolted.  This left a rather embarrassed Mr C by himself in the stadium.  However, he did a great job and was a bit of a natural if an overly proud mother can be allowed to say so.  

 

Interestingly, the crowd here got another round of thanks for being travelers willing to experience and learn about stockmen and what Longreach had to offer.  Our patronage during a time of drought and hardship was acknowledged and applauded. 

By the time we were ready to leave hours had passed and fortunately our car was now ready.  We could leave Longreach having been thoroughly entertained and educated for the entire time we were there!