Emerald to Longreach

---

On the road about 8-30 we headed west to Longreach. It was not too far and would take about four or so hours. It was a crisp, sunny morning and the travelling was easy, with not too many cars on the road.We made good time, with the scenery unchanging and we saw very few animals, apart from birds feasting on road kill. Our first anticipated destination was Barcaldine. This contains the famous Tree of Knowledge, where in 1891, during the Shearer's Strike, the Labor Party had its beginnings. It was over 100 years old when in 2006 it was poisoned. Now a replica stands in its place. It was easy to find, on the main street into town, outside the Railway Station. We examined the plaques etc. and then went across the road to the local Bakery and had some lunch there. We then went to the Australian Workers Heritage Centre. Here there are a collection of building,s each celebrating some aspect of workers and unions.The first exhibit was about the Queensland Police Force and had a replica old lock-up and other memorabilia of policing. There was a huge tent as the central feature; this was the Bicentennial tent which toured the country during the bicentennial year. Not much inside; the tent itself was the exhibit. Then there was a hut dedicated to the 1891 Shearer's Strike which was what led to the formation of the Australian Labor Party. Queensland was the first parliament in the world to have a socialist government in 1899. In the centre of the complex was The Young'Ün", a cutting taken from the original Tree of Knowledge before it was poisoned.Other buildings were dedicated to the AWU and there was a one teacher schoolroom. We hurried though the last few rooms as we were keen to get on.



We arrived in Longreach about 4pm. We drove into the main street and went for a walk. The Station store was a huge complex which had goods of all kinds but also various Coaches and other memorabilia out the back of the place. There was a myriad of souvenirs available and we browsed the array. We walked along the street and stopped for a beer at one of the pubs. We then went to our lodgings at the Saltbush Retreat. This was a cabin with two rooms and very comfortable. I booked in to Harry’s restaurant for dinner which was recommended as the best restaurant in Longreach. We settled in and then went to the restaurant about 7pm. This was upstairs in one of the motel complexes but was a large establishment with pleasant décor. We were quite impressed with the menu and wine list.

I decided to have two entrees while Fletcher went for one entrée and a main course.I started with scallops while Fletcher had the crocodile spring rolls. Both were excellent and I pinched one of his rolls. For mains, Fletcher ordered spatchcock while I had the kangaroo skewers. My scallops had been luke-warm, but when my kangaroo also came out nearly cold, I complained and I did get a warmed up version. Fletcher said his was OK and my kangaroo was delicious once it had been reheated. For dessert we shared a berry pudding macaroon which was rich and very yummy..We returned to the cabin and had a nightcap.

Tuesday was to be our busiest day so far. We had made some bookings on our way here so had the day mapped out. We started at The Stockman's Hall of Fame at 9-45am. This is a large building with a huge statue of a stockman at the front. We were given an ipod and headphones which was our audio tour. We started on the ground floor and the audio was excellent, giving clear introductions to each section as well as various stories to choose. We walked through an art studio, used by our narrator and then into the main hall. There was a replica pioneer's hut with washing out the front and rough furnishings inside. Through there, exhibitions about droving and the wool trade throughout NSW and Queensland, told the story of the pioneers of the Outback. Upstairs was an exhibit about the Royal Flying Doctor Service, including a plane suspended from the ceiling. Other areas included a Poets' Corner, a Pub with no Beer and information about Jim Sharman's travelling boxing troupe. A final section showed a fully stocked Blacksmith's shop. We had only taken an hour to walk around but had seen it all and listened to most of the commentary.



We drove into town and visited the Longreach Powerhouse and Historical Museum. While this is not as polished and slick as the former one, it was just as interesting.This had three sections: the former Longreach Power Station, a local history collection and an old cottage from Nogo Station. The historical collection included many household articles, newspaper clippings and old photos showing how Longreach developed over the years. In the huge corrugated iron Powerhouse, the old generators, switchboards and machinery used to provide the power needed for the growing town were on display. The small cottage was very interesting, showing how families lived in pioneering days. It had two bedrooms, a small kitchen and a dining/living room with a bathroom out the back.



Our next stop was to the Qantas Founders Museum. We were booked in for the Aircraft Tour at 2pm but before that we decided to have lunch there and look at the Museum. The McGinniss Cafe at the Museum was our first stop.Paul McGinniss was one of the founders of QANTAS and was Fletcher's grandmother's cousin.He also piloted the first flight. Fletcher had "Hudson Fysh" a pun on the other main founder's name, a piece of Atlantic Hake with chips and salad. I had a BLAT sandwich but without the L as they had run out of lettuce. It was very tasty. At 1pm we went into the Museum. This told the story of the first few years of QANTAS and their collaboration with Flynn to help set up the RFDS. There were many exhibits, including a ModelT Ford and many photos and videos.Fletcher tried the flight simulator but has not the talent of his illustrious relative. We also went into the original Hangar which had several of the early planes in it. At 2pm we met at the visitor's desk and our guide, Hamish, took us out of the main building to the enormous hangar area where there were several large aircraft. We looked first at the DC3 which had been an US airforce plane and was then used by Qantas in PNG . Next we went to the Boeing 747. Hamish took us under the fuselage and pointed out the various hatches and pointy bits and explained what each one was used for. We were able to stand in one of the large Rolls Royce engines to have a photo opportunity and then we went up and into the plane itself. The first thing we were shown was the "black box", which is actually two boxes and coloured orange. We went up to Business Class and then up the stairs into what was once a First Class bar but then became part of Business class and then an extension of economy.

The other planes we saw and walked through was a Super Constellation and then a 707 which had been refurbished at one time for a Saudi Sheikh but they had used pig-skin leather for the chairs and no Muslim would go in it! Then it was refurbished as a luxury plane for VIPs and Michael Jackson and his band flew in it. It is fitted out with a full bedroom. A fascinating tour and museum visit and we learnt quite a bit more about Paul McGinniss.

After a short rest we were picked up by the Outback Pioneer's bus with several others for our Thomson River Cruise. We were driven out of town a short way, past a huge council caravan park area which must have had a hundred caravans, down to the river, which is actually a series of large waterholes. Our driver told us some amusing tales along the way and we picked up other passengers as well. At the river we were directed to our boat, walking past a huge campfire area where later we were to have our dinner. We set out on our cruise and we were piloted by Lane Kinnon, one of two brothers who had set up this enterprise.He had the broadest Queensland accent I have ever heard. We motored along the very still, reflective water. It was very peaceful and Lane pointed out the coolabah trees and a kite's nest in the top of one of them. The second boat was a paddle steamer which had many more people than our small boat. We followed it as we turned to the west to watch the beautiful sunset. As the sun set, a full moon rose in the east. A beautiful sight. We had been served some nibbles; dip, kabana and cheese and we had taken our own wine. We returned to the dock and managed to get a front row seat at the campfire. Jeremy Kinnon then talked about the different equipment used by the drovers. He showed us how they used their belt to hobble the horses and other gadgets. We then were served a drover's dinner which consisted of beef stew, mashed potato and bread followed by apple pie, cream and custard. The stew was hot and surprisingly delicious and was served on tin plates.After the first course we were entertained by Scotty, an old codger who recited poems and told some stories. His more "modern "poems about how he was terrible at backing a trailer, and going on two day courses were very amusing. After dessert we went down to the river where there was a grandstand on the banks. Here we watched a film with around sound effects, all about Captain Starlight and his raid when he and his gang stole a huge number of cattle and successfully drove them to South Australia. It was really well done. The final part of the evening was damper and billy tea or coffee and we huddled around the fire as the night had become very cold. It had been an entertaining evening and we were then driven back to our cabin. A busy and full day !!

---