Longreach

We've reached the town of Longreach OK, with no hold-ups on the highway, although the road crews are going to be very busy for quite a while repairing all the water affected sections of the road. As a driver you need to be on the defensive the whole time, especially when you see oncoming traffic. On more than one occasion we had to come to a complete standstill and wait for oncoming traffic to pass as our side of the road was totally broken up.


Our first night at Longreach we experienced a storm that dumped several inches of rain and caused the whole van park to go under water. We had planned on going to the night market in town but the deluge put that idea to rest. At least the frogs loved it, they serenaded us all night with their 'rip' 'rip' 'rip' calls. All the rain bought an unwelcome visit from the 'gidgee bugs' as well, millions of them, the whole town is over whelmed with them. They don't bite or cause any harm other than the sheer number of them is over whelming. They get into everything, even our bed. On our last night when I was heading to the showers I came across an enormous toad, it would have been at least 25 cm stretched out.


Longreach is a tired town, it needs a new council or some locals to revive some interest, Barcaldine with one third less population is a far more vibrant community.


We did the 'touristy' things in town, visited 'The Stockmans' Hall of Fame' and 'The Qantas Founders' Museum'. Each of these places took nearly five hours to look over, some people say it takes two days for each of them, but we saw what we needed to see.

The entrance to The Stockmans' Hall of Fame is impressive.

A typical bullock wagon that was the only way to transport goods before roads were formed or rail tracks were laid, just one of the static exhibits that took my eye.

Much of the total display is made up of these panels detailing mini biographies of the lives of many of the early pioneers. How long you spend in 'The Hall' depends on how many of these panels you actually read.

All the outside of the walls and all the plants in the gardens are literally covered with 'gidgee bugs', unfortunately the inside of the amenities block is over-run as well. It certainly pays to have a shower before sundown.

The rubbish bin and the plants around it are also covered, you can't see them in the photo but the air is full of flying bugs as well. I didn't stand here very long I can assure you.

Jude and I doing the classic pose in the engine of a 747 jumbo jet. This is one big aeroplane.

Under the wing behind engine #4

Jude is trying to start the engines on this 1945 Douglas DC3. One of Qantas's early work horses.