95 kms / 1 ½ hrs

Wanora Downs Rest Area - Winton

We left the campsite at 8:15am and drove the short distance to Winton arriving at 9:45am. We are staying at the North Gregory Hotel which was made famous by Banjo Paterson (who wrote Waltzing Matilda in 1895 whilst visiting Dagworth Station) where he performed Waltzing Matilda for the first time in public on the 6th April, 1985.

Winton is also famous for being the birthplace of Qantas which registered as a company in Winton on the 16th November, 1920.

Our caravan is parked right next to Arno's wall which reaches 2 metres high and extends for over 70 metres. It is constructed from concrete and rock bought in from Arno's opal mine at Opalton and is studded with old lawnmover parts, boat propellers, old machinery from businesses in winton, motorbikes and even the kitchen sink!

We visited the Corfield & Fitzmaurice Building which is heritage listed and a preserved old style general stores. The building houses a life size diorama of the 95 million year old dinosaur stampede at Lark Quarry Conservation Park. There is also an Opalton and opal mining display, sheep shearing display, general store heritage display.

Our next stop was an Opal Shop where the kids were allowed to fossick for opals. They have spray bottles full of water which you spray on the rock so you can see the shiny opals. The kids loved it and it was hard to drag them away. They were able to bring some rocks home with us to add to our collection of things from the trip!

As we were walking back down the main street to our caravan we stopped near another pub and a nice man who was having a drink at the pub gave Josh & Bronte $2 each. It was very nice of him and the kids were very excited.

We went back to the caravan for lunch and I did a load of washing then we walked to the Waltzing Matilda Centre. They have recreated a billabong and the ghost tells his side of the story of Waltzing Matilda. It was really good and the highlight of the centre for me. The centre also hosts the Qantilda Museum (Winton's history), Home of the Legends and Outback Regional Gallery.

I walked through the shops in the main street and then we took the kids for a play on the equipment in the pub where they had fun with other kids staying at the hotel. We had spaghetti and meat balls for dinner.