outbackqueensland

Day 10 to 12 | Longreach

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You’re welcomed in to Longreach by a staggering construction that houses not one but four planes, you know you’ve arrived at the home of one of Australia’s iconic and possibly well known brands – Qantas!

After travelling through the smaller towns, Longreach boasts a population of about 3,200 although with the visitors and students in town, I envisage that number will swell to double at least.

There’s a storm brewing and experience tells me to run for cover – I elect to yet again trade my car-camping for the ringers quarters just in the nick of time. The storm hits with fury and I take cover from flying debris. Caravanners and campers have taken cover whilst their camp sites crumble around them.

Set of four double rooms with shared bathroom facilities and kitchenette!

I peer from my safe have to spot four brolgas standing still as statues, taking the storm head on – it reminds me of Clooney taking on the Perfect Storm!

So weird to see these birds taking the storm head on! Note the blue marquee to the right!

Bright and early next morning, I’m ticking off bucket list items as I head to the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame. Whilst there are crowds, the numbers are drastically reduced due to COVID – a bonus for me! This display of our heritage is sensational, you would need a month of Sundays to stand and read through every story, of every unsung hero who has taken their place along the walls of this museum. The cinematic collation of the pioneering west left me with an unmatched sense of pride, that I had history in the outback

Ox Wagon | Selection of animal bells | General Merchant Wagon | Pioneering Cottage

A quick visit to the Longreach School of the Air to meet with the teachers to assure them of our commitment to bring them to Storyfest in 2021, I’m left inspired to make a difference to these children. During a very brief visit, I’m hatching a plan to bring Storyfest to the Outback! Again with other towns in the west, the street art reflects the abundance of talent, the following are students’ artwork from the School of the Air.

Horse and rider | Spiny anteater

The Qantas Founder’s Museum is next on the agenda and doesn’t fail to disappoint. The history of this organisation is truly remarkable, the determination and perseverance by a small collective of families has ensured the iconic flying kangaroo remains in operation for us today. For a plane buff, this would be their utopia!

Planes – all of them!

I’m left wondering how some of these beasts managed to not only live out a worthy travel itinerary although they’ve found themselves highlighted in an outback museum for thousands of visitors each year to reminisce of yonder years and be thankful for the luxury (yes, Jetstar luxury) that we have available to us at this time.

To finish off my visit to Longreach, I join the Drover’s Sunset Cruise coupled with Smithy’s Dinner and Show. The cruise takes us along the Thomson river which is an oasis in this arid desert, the milk coffee coloured water laps the banks which are alive with wildlife and what strikes me most, is the erosion around the tree roots leaving a majestic sculptured array of natural art.

We disembark at Smithy’s for our camp oven dinner and of course, Barramundi is on the menu. The setting under the night sky fades away the harshness of the dirt underfoot. We’re entertained by storyteller “Hawkesy” whose comedic tales and songs have us knee slapping and toe tapping, in no time.

Love his stage companions Arthur and Henry!

My friend and travel companion, Debbie, flew in to Longreach and will join my travels through to Cairns – look out “Outback” – Girls are on tour…

Days 6 to 9 | A collective of small towns…

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My last day in Charleville is somewhat slower – catch up on some washing. I ventured in to town to take in Historic House and the Hotel Corones tour. Historic House is a time warp, there are so many artefacts jammed into one small place, it’s hard to appreciate what you’re actually seeing – worth the $7 entry charge just to admire these old vehicles

Ambulance | Fire Engine
Homemade wheelchair for a young boy!

My mother recalls the young boy scooting around the streets in this chair!

Again the tour of the Hotel Corones was a walk through history, the hotel being a place that has hosted many an aristocrat in its day. These days, it’s tired – the tours assist to keep the doors open!

Augathella (pop. 430) about an hour north east, seriously a quite small town, especially on a Sunday morning! The best cup of coffee, the ONLY cup of coffee I could find was at the garage on the highway and it was a push button machine – no barista in sight!

I quick drive through town which yields some delights –

Another painted water tower
Now the Augathella Men’s Shed although I’m thinking old cinema…

Tambo (pop. 400) known recently by the fame of Tambo Teddies, although this small town also boasts the only crash site of Qantas!

For me, it was an opportunity to visit my uncle – my last visit here was in 1977. I remember taking the billy cans out to the milk truck and getting them filled with milk still warm from the cows!

Unfortunately a storm came through in the afternoon, so I missed the highlight of Ben’s Chicken Races at the pub, I’m led to believe it’s a daily occurrence and lots of fun to be had!

A drive through Blackall (pop. 950), home the original Black Stump , a marker in which surveyors used to establish latitude and longitude measurements.

I had also seen signs for the Blackall Woolscour, I’ll be honest, I had no idea what a Woolscour was! Wow, this was a diamond in the rough. With a working steam engine which powers the Woolscour, the machine which washes the wool after shearing, prior to export!

After visiting the Sheep Station, this tour gave me the next step in the process of one of Australia’s biggest exports! Absolutely fascinating, quirky tour guide Ian didn’t fail to entertain on my personal tour! Tours run hourly on the hour and they’re just waiting for the visitors to arrive.

Steam engine | Looking down the line of the Woolscour

I had taken an award winning video of the Woolscour in action although for some reason it hasn’t saved. So follow this link to view the promo video from their site.

Barcaldine (pop. 1500) is the next stop on my trek, like other smaller towns, steeped in history. Most notably the Tree of Knowledge and home of the first industrial strike by shearers for fairer wages and working conditions – home to the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party! Whilst it’s great to look at the sights along the way, I love that I’m learning about Australian history – bits and pieces I kind of knew but not really.

The significance of that first strike is the reason we have regulations and basic wages, employers are bound to pay a fair wage for fair work. I know it doesn’t always work out that way and there will always be those that rort the system, from both sides.

Pledging allegiance to the Southern Cross! (Artist: Milynda Rogers)
Tree of Knowledge

In 2006, the Tree of Knowledge was vandalised through poisoning, a new memorial was developed by award winning m3architecture. The wooden structure is fashioned in such a way, as to reflect the original tree.

A theme that is found in each of these smaller towns and in fact, in every town I’ve been to so far, has been the artwork – murals and sculptures adorn every wall, every park and roundabout!

Giant Cod, St George
Horse and Jockey at Tambo Racecourse (Artist: Milynda Rogers)
Xylophone bench – Barcaldine

Artist – Milynda Rogers from Scrapmetalsheila is firmly installed in western Queensland, I encourage you to visit her site and look for her pieces as you travel from town to town!

Day 5 | Charleville

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After the exploits by last night’s fire, I gather myself to head off early this morning to delve into history and discover the best kept secret of World War II! I meet my tour group and expecting an old country fellow to tell us tales as old as time, we’re greeted by Sam from the north of England! I’d say from the era of the late 1990’s!

Sam starts out by asking how many Americans we have on the tour – there are none, he smiles and lets us know, he can speak more candidly about the happenings that went on in Charleville.

Our first stop is by the airport, over 300 Australians built 101 buildings for the Americans to take up residency as a line of defence during the second world war. Following the war, the Americans bunked out, buildings and all.

If you take a look at a B17 bomber, one of it’s feature is the bubble in the nose, where the bombardier takes his place, he’s the guy who coordinates the dropping of the bombs.

B17 Bomber – (© military.com)

To assist in this process there is an instrument called the Norden Bomb-Sight, a machine who enabled a more accurate shot, to avoid more civilian casualties. My understanding was this was relatively new intelligence and to ensure the patents, upon returning from a mission, the bombardier personally delivered these machines to the “secret” location which was guarded 24/7!

Norden Bomb-Sight

A hut encased with 30cm concrete walls that has withstood an attempted demolition by a digger!

I give you the Norden Bomb Vault:

Not the original door! NB: damage from digger front left corner

Our next stop takes us to look through a fence at an original plane hangar, another small hut which is the communications tower – interestingly still in use today. Charleville sits some 1,300m above sea level and is conduit for Brisbane to relay messages to other parts of the world. No wonder my phone drops out on the Gold Coast, my line of sight to Charleville must be compromised.

We then proceed to visit the “Bitumen Baths”. It is believed the US base commander wanted to ensure his men were kept clean and parasite free, fit for war! He commanded that each week, the men would bathe or ‘dip’ in crude grave like baths that had been fashioned from the earth and lined with bitumen to contain the unknown chemical solution. I’m sure we would all acknowledge hardships soldiers go through during a time of war. Take a minute to image these men lining up for their weekly chemical dip in a bitumen lined bath in summer temperatures that reach 48°c!

Bitumen Baths

We then move through a variety of concrete slabs showing us where the mess hall would have been, the dance hall and so on. An interesting note to take from this tour – US military were paid nearly 4 times more than their Australian counterpart working side by side. The Australian soldiers worked tirelessly in what can only be described as the harshest of Aussie bush conditions – heat, flies, lack of shade. The Americans demanded air conditioning in their hangars due to the heat, again when they left they took them home with them as well.

Whilst Charleville holds its head high and has claimed its rightful place in the history books, its not hard to understand why so many ‘villies (Charleville locals), look back on that time with loathing.

PSS – Sam the northern England lad, did a great job! An interesting tour and well worth the $15 and a bit of time.

The rest of my day saw me visit a far distant cousin and then to return to my camp site and sit under the shade of a tree reading my book until the sun when down.

For my evening escapades, stargazing is on the agenda. I arrive with anticipation at the Cosmos Centre and take my seat next to a power telescope that is going to transport me to another galaxy! It did not disappoint. Away from the city lights, the night sky is truly magnificent, we were also fortunate the moon’s arrival was late as well which provided the perfect backdrop for a starry night. From Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and beyond, we each took our turn looking through the powerful telescope to see the beauty beyond.

We are quickly reminded we’re really just looking at the light bouncing of dust particles and that our sun, is at half life. Destined to only continue to shine for another 4.5 billion years. I’m going to let that struggle go for generations long after I’m gone to worry about.

We were forbidden to have our phones on due to interference with the GPS on the telescopes. © OutbackQueensland.com

This tour was sensational – the arrival hall, fascinating and informative – definitely worth a visit!