Longreach

We have been to Longreach many times and stayed at the caravan park and the low cost van park, but this is the first time in a motel. This is the third time we have been here in the last ten months. We like Longreach. It is said to be the start of the outback and is located about 1200km north-west from Brisbane and 700km from Rockhampton and 840km from the NT Border. We planned to simply walk around town, even though it was a Sunday. We have been in Longreach on a Sunday, in fact many towns on a Sunday, it is the best time to see the old buildings and the history without the many cars and people.

Walking down Galah Street, past the Masonic Temple and turning down Duck Street to the main street Eagle Street (the streets are named after birds), we walked down one side and up the other.

There are many historic buildings in Longreach, all repurposed into either tourist facilities or local services.

One place we always visit in Longreach is the Merino Bakery, great food, great coffee. There is always a queue and waiting time. Last time Peter went there for his coffee, I had time to walk up the road and back just as he came out. Famous for its peach blossom cake, like a lamington but with jam and cream and dyed pink, but I like their eclairs and sandwiches.

As we walked down the street I was surprised there was no queue or people waiting outside. We saw customers coming and then leaving and when we got there there was a sign apologising for being closed for the day due to solar power company turning off the power for installations.

We had been to the cafe next door to the bakery a few years ago, and as we were walking past there was a lot of renovations going on. There is a new cafe opening soon - Kynda Cafe and Boutique - and I had a look at the menu and it looks great. Definitely going to try at least three or four of their sandwiches.

The site of the bakery and the cafe was once a pub, of course, so many pubs use to be in Longreach. It was originally the site of the Imperial Hotel built about 1892, and rebuilt and renovated after fires in 1898 and 1922. Longreach was gazetted a town in 1897, and was named after the long reach of the Thompson River.. The Imperial Hotel was, in its time, the largest timber hotel in Queensland and was regarded as fine dining. It met its end in 1954 after a fire. Located around the town are information boards telling history.

A few businesses still had Christmas decorations on their window, and we wondered if there was a competition between business for the best display. We liked this one.

Around town are interesting statues, plaques and history.

Further down the street is the now Station Store. We loved going in there for a look and morning tea however, like today, the last two times we were here it was closed. It was once the Central Hotel and is well worth a visit.

Next door is the old Welcome Home Hotel, now the Outback Pioneers Tours and Experiences. It was opened and we were welcomed to have a look around. We hadn't been in here before as we thought it was only a booking office, gee it was interesting. Apparently the Station next door no longer does the teas, they are done here now, as is the old time movie. Very interesting displays.

 The Outback Pioneers is also an accommodation booking agent.

One can book accommodation there, and across the road is a unique accommodation that we would like to try called The Stables.

We walked around looking at all the old horse buggys and even an old car.

Longreach is famous for many things, among them is the QANTAS Museum and the 747-200 Jumbo Jet on display.

Qantas was founded in Winton on 16 November 1920 by Hudson Fysh, Paul McGinness and Fergus McMaster, known then as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited. It moved to Longreach in 1921 and then to Brisbane in 1930. At the top of the main street, the information centre is a replica of the first QANTAS Booking Office.

Longreach is also located on the Tropic of Capricorn which also divides Queensland Torrid Zone (to the north) and Temperate Zone (to the south).

 We love Longreach and plan to visit many more times.

Dinosaur Capital of Australia/Home of Waltzing Matilda.

From Longreach we travelled 175km to the outback town of Winton. Our plan was to stay behind the historic North Gregory Hotel – but it was already full at midday, so we parked the van and had a walk around town and the new Waltzing Matilda Centre. In 2015 the Matilda Centre burnt down. I remember feeling sad as it was one of the few museums that we went to that we really liked. The new centre looks strange, and is very modern inside. It is meant to depict fitting in with the landscape and the outside mostly looks like a big rock, with heavy metal chains. Inside is a cafe, and Peter said the coffee was good. The info desk is small and most of the touring pamphlets are located around the corner. It still houses the museum, and it was pleasing to see some of the out buildings still remained after the fire.

Winton is famous as being situated close to gem fields and is a stopping centre for fossickers. It is also where Banjo Patterson wrote Waltzing Matilda, and where the music was first played – at the North Gregory Hotel, and thirdly and more recently, Winton is known as the dinosaur capital of Australia. Winton has its origins in 1875 when a man named Robert Allen camped on the banks of Pelican Waterhole. A year later Pelican Waterhole was flooded and Robert Allen moved his dwellings of a hotel/store to the site of today's Winton. It was then that Allen, as the postmaster, changed the name to Winton, to make it easier to write on postage stamps. The name comes from a suburb of Bournemouth in England. The town was gazetted in July 1879.

We walked around the main street past the North Gregory Hotel, the scene of the first performance of Waltzing Matilda in 1895, and next door the old open air theatre. If we had stayed behind the North Gregory Hotel we would have gone to one of the screenings. The theatre was built in 1918, and is one of only two open air theatres left. The town is getting ready for the Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival at the end of June. This festival is 9 days and about 30 films screened each day in the Civic Centre and each night in the open air theatre.

After walking around we got back into the car and went up to the Musical Fence, located up where the old airfield use to be. QANTAS was formed in Winton in 1920. There is memorial to QANTAS at the Musical Fence. The Musical Fence is a fun area to make music using strange objects. Created in July 2003, it was the first musical fence in the world.

After buying a few items for dinner - salmon rissoles - we headed out of town to the free camp Long Waterhole, for the night. It seems all the places we planned to go, and some we didn't plan are full of happy campers – REALLY FULL! Not that we are complaining, it is good to have so many other like minded travelers with us. Long Waterhole is an area put aside for self contained vans. It is located about 4 km out of town and is a made made waterhole that was the centrepiece of a bike track around the waterhole. We met up with some people we met at Longreach - so happy hour was good.

We stayed one night, it was a little cool overnight, but it is getting warmer. We had planned a few days in Winton, but with the North Gregory being full we decided to keep going. Before leaving Winton we went up to Arno's Wall behind the North Gregory Hotel. The wall is constructed out of concrete and rock and 'stuff' – most from Arno's opal mine at Opalton. An interesting wall that stands a couple of metres high and has at least three sewing machines that I saw.

After a quick stop at the bakery for bread rolls and Peter's coffee we were off again heading north and the warmer nights.