Into the Outback!

The tree of knowledge

Leaving Emerald before 8:00 on Thursday morning, we headed west on the main central east-west arterial, the Capricorn Highway. Many large road trains use this route, as do lots of "grey nomads", so we take it easy, pull over regularly, and keep our wits about us! We stopped at a small railway siding, Bogantungan, where an enterprising old fellow has created a small museum at the railway office, beside the memorial to a train crash in 1960. It was quite interesting, sobering, and very isolated. Continuing on, we stopped at Alpha, planning to buy a sausage roll from the bakery but ending up with 4 vegemite and cheese sausages from the butcher and a jar of passionfruit and pineapple jam from the local crafts store. Our plan had been to stop in Jericho for the night, but the pub didn't look inviting and with little else to see we continued on to Barcaldine. History abounds here, where the "Great shearers strike" of the 1830s is remembered at the Tree of Knowledge memorial outside the railway station. It was here that the first seeds of the Australian Labour Party were sown. This is also commemorated in the Australian Workers Museum complex, but we didn't visit there, instead we enjoyed lunch at one of the five local pubs! Later that evening we returned to view the Tree of Knowledge memorial at night (the tree was poisoned in 2006, but the enterprising local council had the tree trunk and roots preserved and created a stunning display in its place).

The tree at night

After a walk along beside the Frazer Creek wetlands, we had breakfast, packed up and continued on our journey; a shorter one this time, just 108kms. Being a Saturday, we were keen to find our spot, unhook the van and head into town, as most of the shops, especially the butcher, close at noon and we wanted to buy some food for dinner! The butcher didn't disappoint, cutting a small boneless lamb roast for us to enjoy that night. We bought some supplies from the supermarket and visited the Information Centre to make sure we knew what we wanted to target during our stay here. In the afternoon, we took a drive to the Stockmans Hall of Fame to check out what we might do the next day. We decided on an "Ultimate two day pass", giving us plenty of time to investigate the museum, plus two shows and a barbecue dinner! Later that afternoon we wandered over to the Outback bar and restaurant to listen to the country singers and enjoy a happy hour drink, before returning to our van to cook up a delicious three-course dinner.
Sunday was a big day of learning, laughing and enjoying ourselves at the Stockmans Hall of Fame. With five galleries filled with information and memorabilia, plus two different outback shows and a dinner to attend, we made the most of the opportunity, viewing two galleries before the first outback show, another gallery after lunch, then the last gallery in the afternoon before returning in the evening for the second show and dinner. It was an absolutely memorable day! Each of the galleries had its own theme, including Aboriginal stockmen and women, Pioneers, Communications and The Stockmen, as well as an art gallery. Both outback shows were very entertaining (as you can see in the photos below!!) and we enjoyed the company of other travellers over the dinner.

 

From one small aircraft...

On Monday we continued our learning with a visit to the Qantas Founders Museum. Once again, we spent several fascinating hours learning the history of this iconic Australian airline, which started from humble beginnings and a handshake in Winton, began flying and building aircraft in Longreach, finally moving to Brisbane and then Sydney as it grew to the multinational company it is today. From one small wooden plane to a huge jetliner, it has been an amazing journey, one its founders had hopefully prophesized but never really expected. That afternoon we spent some time in town ensuring we were well prepared for the next part of our journey, returning to a light meal of pizzas and icecreams before bed.

Tattersalls Hotel, Winton

North Gregory Hotel, of Waltzing Matilda fame.

We were on the road again fairly early on Tuesday morning, continuing north-west, up the Matilda Highway. We passed many other "grey nomads" heading south, as the winter weather dissipates (although they wouldn't want to move too quickly as there is still a lot of snow and frosts happening in the southern states!). We drove into Winton before 11am, walking into the Tattersalls Hotel to find out our site number at the caravan park opposite. Winton has the best-preserved country town feeling we have seen so far, with a couple of big old pubs and other large buildings in the main street, it looks like what you expect a country town to look like! We walked up the main street and visited the Information Centre for some local knowledge before going to the North Gregory Hotel for a counter lunch - very nice! Later that afternoon we returned to hear Gregory North perform "Waltzing Matilda" in the very same venue where it had first been performed by Banjo Paterson in 1895. It was a very entertaining performance, with crowd performance expected to sing the song!

Wednesday was "Dinosaur Day" - we drove out to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs site where we attended three fascinating sites: the Laboratory, where bones collected from digs are uncovered, sorted and prepared for exhibition, the Collection Room, where many incomplete but well-arranged bones are displayed with information about how and where the dinosaurs lived and roamed, and Dinosaur Canyon, where dinosaur activity and type is displayed in a most informative way. We were both so impressed with everything we saw and learned! we returned home for lunch, then walked into town to visit the butcher and greengrocer, to stock up for the next couple of nights. Tomorrow we head north-east, beginning our journey back towards the Gold Coast, but with plenty of new places to visit on the way!