The NT Nomads: OutBack June 2010 Longreach and Winton Part 1

When we left Lake Dunn it was our wedding anniversary and we had plans to celebrate with a counter lunch at a local hotel in Barcaldine but our plans went astray. Firstly we checked out one with a nice beer garden but no meals were served there as it was a Smoking area and then we decided to stock up the grog supplies only to be told that both items were sold out due to a heavy run on them over the weekend. The next hotel didn't do lunches on a Monday so as we still had time we decided to head off to Longreach after collecting the mail.

The road goes through mainly open plain with an unusual row of sorghum beside the road that seems to have fallen from trucks but also appears to have been planted as it is so even.

By the time we got to Ilfracombe we had passed a number of signs advertising meals etc at a historic pub so we decided to check it out only to be told they don;t do lunches we would have to go to the local cafe. This appeared to be an interesting set up with an outdoor dining section so we opted for that and had a lovely meal.

The Blitz based vehicle

This interesting vehicle was being used as a camper/ motor home to a couple who were WW2 Transport buffs who were touring around and displaying their vehicle at various shows. It was parked across the road from the cafe.

The scenery to Longreach didn't change over the last 20 odd klm's and we arrived there early afternoon. We headed straight out to the camp at the Thomson river and were surprised to see quite a number of other vans there already. Camping is allowed for 4 nights and we decided to take advantage of that so that we could see the attractions there without rushing.

Some o

the rigs at Thomson river, Longreach

Thomson River

an interesting storyboard about 2 rivers that form a creek

Lynn and the DC3

Qantas museum.

Avro , one of the first Qantas planes in old hangar

While we were at Longreach we played tourists and visited some of the interesting exhibits that were available here. We spent a very interesting morning at the Qantas museum. The little plane in the picture above was on a track so that it appeared to be flying above us. There were several small planes travelling on this track. There was also plenty of interactive displays and films on the history of Qantas and the flying of an old jetliner from England after it had been restored. the original Hanger was also part of the displays and you could do a tour of a 747 which included a wing walk but we opted not to do that.

We were also lucky to see a Australian War Memorial display on" Animals in War" through time so that they included the dogs used in tunnels and bomb detection in the Vietnam and Iraqi Wars.

Entrance to Qantas museum

747

Restored plane that was flown from England

Another afternoon we found the arts and crafts centre which was set up in the old ambulance station which was a beautiful old building with large verandahs and old housed a historical display about local events in Longreach such as floods etc.

Queensland Ambulance Centre, Longreach

Lawnmowers at Stockman's Hall of Fame

Their minders

Stockman's Hall of Fame

We spent another interesting morning at this place. It was really fascinating and the displays were beautifully set out so that they weren't too crowded. The sheep grazing on the front lawn under the watchful eye of the sheepdogs really tickled us. We think they were also part of an outdoor display that was being run much later.

From Longreach we headed off to Winton and the country side was much the same with wide open plains and very few trees it was easy to see why some people call it big sky country. On the way we passed a few rest areas which we noted for future reference as place to stop. Some of them had trees where you could tuck yourself back from the road and the traffic noise although there wouldn't be much traffic during the night just a few trucks.

At Winton we drove through town and continued on the road to Lark Quarry but turned off just out of town to the Long waterhole where we found a nice spot to camp. The birdlife were prolific and we were only 4 klms from town. We stayed here for several nights and saw a partial eclipse of the moon and visited a number of the various activities the town had to offer.

We also drove out to the Bladensberg National park one afternoon. There was an interesting display at the old homestead and we also called at the woolshed but that was quite small in comparison to the one at Yanga ( See earlier blog). From the homestead we drove out to a waterhole and gorge. the country side here was very deceiving as the gorge was below the level of the surrounding area, and trees were the only indication of the waterhole.