Longreach

We had planned to stay at a free campsite we had heard about near the banks of the Thomson River just outside Longreach for at least one night before heading into town proper. But the sight that greeted us was too ghastly to contemplate. Hundreds of caravans squeezed into a dusty site with only two toilets in a small block could only be called a slum. Just about anything was preferable so we checked into the Longreach Tourist Park, a vast sprawling park, also with hundreds of vans but with the twin saving graces of hot showers and proximity to the main attractions we wanted to see in the town.

Our arrival night, a Wednesday, coincided with the park's fun entertainment program: a sausage sizzle around the campfire with a couple of Country singers to entertain the grey nomads.. I cannot say I am a fan of country music, but it must be said that under the stars out here in central Queensland in the true outback, the show was pretty good and appropriate for the location. We rather enjoyed it! Just as well we were early too - there was a run on the onions for the sausage sambos and any later and we would have missed out…

Next morning we walked into town for some provisions and a visit to the tourist info centre for some maps and brochures. We had expected bigger of the main town in the region, but a small country town it is; wide streets of course with centre parking and only one building, a bank, was more than one storey. In one park, emus wandered around and in another the trees were chock-a-block with white cockatoos. One avoided walking under them after noting the state of the pavement beneath…

One of the big attractions in town and one we were keen to visit is of course the Qantas Founders' Museum at the airport and in a new building as well as the original Qantas hanger.

We joined a group for a tour through an early 747 and a 707 - nostalgia trips for Russ. A DC3 was also open to have a look through though there was precious little still inside to see. The 707 on the other hand had been owned by a Saudi prince and the interior was lavishly fitted with lounges, bedrooms and bathrooms. The 747 had the small upper deck reached by the tight spiral staircase and photos of the deck fitted out as the first class lounge. We couldn't believe it was so small! The rest of the exhibits were beautifully presented and we were pleased to see names of fellow pilots who were intimately involved with the museum's establishment up on boards to record their involvement. In particular, may we say: great work, Warwick Tainton.

Another tourist must is a cruise on the Thomson River. We opted for a dinner cruise: first a cruise to watch the sun set while nibbling nibblies, then ashore to a bush setting on the banks of the river for a two course dinner with - you guessed it - some country singers to entertain us. The dinner was OK but again the show was very good indeed, a mix of songs, stories and amusing anecdotes.

Next stop, the famous Stockman's Hall of Fame. This was really quite disappointing. Not sure what we were expecting to see, but we certainly expected better than this. A large hall held what amounted to a history of pioneering in Australia with a bit of pre-history thrown in. Most of the exhibits were simply huge boards with lots to read. The lighting was appalling: many spotlights were out or flickering. Lighting in exhibit boxes was often missing or too dark to see the object by! And sometimes the exhibit item itself was missing too with no explanation about where it was. For the money, it was really a bit boring. There was a stockman show as well (pay extra of course…) which was quite good. The man presenting it had been one of the two singers at the campground the first night at the sausage sizzle, so the jokes weren't quite so funny the second time around. But his information about and displays with the stock horses and the kelpie dogs were quite enlightening and interesting.

And next door to the Stockman's Hall of Fame was the Longreach Rodeo and Camp Drafting Weekend Expo. We wandered in the back way and sat and watched the camp drafting for a while. Lots of very big hats sat and watched with great interest and lined up at the bar for a beer or three. A wander around the dusty tents revealed all sorts of odd things to interest the horsey person - plastic horseshoes, spurs, leather plaited belts and stockwhips, a display of equine dentistry, check shirts and big hats. Not forgetting too the Pluto Pups and fairy floss for the less sophisticated palate.

A long walk along the highway to the National Parks and Wildlife office as noted by numerous maps was a fruitless venture with the office having been moved to Charleville, or was it Cloncurry? Just a bit far to be convenient. But next door was the Longreach School of Distance Education - the old School of the Air - and we lobbed in for a tour. We are too late for the last tour but got chatting to the personnel there and so did see a bit a learn about it. It was also interesting to learn about a volunteer program to assist families on remote stations. Maybe we could do that sometime in the future.