Thursday, August 5, 2010

CLONCURRY, LONGREACH and CHARLEVILLE















































We started our massive drive home on Friday from Adels. We stopped at Burke and Wills again for lunch and then continued on...arriving at Cloncurry...or “The Curry” as the locals call it by early afternoon. We set up in the Gilbert Caravan Park and couldn’t get over how warm it was there. For some reason, the weather was nudging 35 degrees...so we went down to the pool (which was really nice) and had a refreshing dip and a lay on the poolside lounges under the shade of a coolabah tree...lol! Before sunset, Frey and I walked to Sunset Hill where I took a photo of the little lass, face aglow in the twilight!

We got up early and headed for Longreach. On the way we drove through farmlands and barren places....all beautiful though! At lunch time, we stopped in Winton and had the best meat pie at The Waltzing Matilda Centre (Coolibah Cafe). On the way out, I took a good snap of the girls with the swagman outside the museum.
We got to Longreach at around 330pm and set up in a drive-thru site. We unhitched and relaxed outside in the chairs having a few drinks...then we walked over to the Woolshed (a restaurant in the park) for tea. It was a great meal and not overly expensive. Bec, Mum and Dad really enjoyed the country and western entertainment there too...a couple singing songs by Dolly, Johnny Cash, Slim Dusty etc. Bec said it reminded her of her Dad. The duo singers were actually really good.

As we were staying 2 nights in Longreach, we got to sleep in....until 9am, which was nice. Once we got moving, we headed to the QANTAS Founders Museum for a look around. It was an awesome place to visit. You got to see different planes in the evolution of the company, read lots of interesting facts, see lots of interesting items (eg. Old menus, uniforms etc.) and go into the original hanger where QANTAS started!

We met Mum and Dad for lunch there and then Bec, Georg, Frey and I did a tour of the retired Jumbo 747 “City of Bunbury”. We got to walk out under the jumbo and learnt all about different parts of the exterior of the plane. Georg and Frey then climbed a ladder and stood in the propeller/motor of the jumbo and had a professional picture taken. We climbed up into the cargo hold to have a squiz and then finally we climbed up into the jumbo. Inside we watched a few short videos and toured around different sections of the plane. We even got to sit in business class and go upstairs to first class for a look. On the way out we all went into the cockpit for a look....and gee....is there a lot of dials and buttons in there!

After leaving QANTAS, we drove across the road to the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame. After entering, we toured through the galleries looking at exhibits on: Aboriginals, explorers, pioneers, rural life and of course stockmen! My favourite part was the explorers section where you could read about each of the explorers...and then on the way out of that section there was a huge interactive map where you could push an explorer’s name...and see their path light up on a huge map of Australia. It was definitely worth going there...and before we left we had a decent coffee and some cheesecake too!

We moved to Charleville the following day...and took most of the day to get there...as we stopped in Barcaldine for a coffee...and a quick look at the Tree of Knowledge (where the Australian Labour Party started)...the we stopped in Blackall for fuel....and looked at the teddies in Tambo....and got fuel in Augathella....before finally arriving in Charleville at around 4pm. We set up in the Bailey Bar Caravan Park and set off to see the town.

We stayed hitched on, so we all crammed into Dad’s car and went to see the town centre. Bec found a few shops open and bought a few bits and pieces. Then we headed to the Bilby Experience at 6pm. This was awesome....for a small cost of $5 per person, you got to see a presentation about the plight of the bilby, read through lots of media articles, watch an interesting DVD about the Bilby Brothers and then you got to go and see 6 bilbies that are part of the Charleville Captive Breeding Program. They were very cute! You should have seen them all running around over rocks...chasing one another under the glow of the red night lights. A site to behold! The girls loved them and also loved the bilby shop on the way out. No guessing what they got....more soft toys!

We had a late tea at the Cattle Camp Hotel...and Dad shouted....since it was our last night together. Tomorrow they continue on in Queensland, while we drive further south towards good ole freezing Victoria!

1 comment:

  1. did you see a Douglus DC-3? it was a very famous cargo plane for around the 1940s

    p.s i got first

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