On the way to Longreach we pass through the little town of Iifracombe,27 km from Longreach home of our illustrious Governor General,Quinton Brice. There is a mile of antique machinery lining the main street including old road graders and an army tank converted to a bulldozer. An old pub in the main street locals say was moved to follow the workers building the rail line,final resting spot where it is now,a good horse ride from Longreach.
"Wellshot Station" was the largest sheep station in the world shearing over 460,000 in the early days. The wool was taken to Rockhamton by bow wagons pulled by horses and took 3 months. In the bad drought at the turn of the century they lost 230,000 sheep never to recover from his disaster. The biggest mob to be moved was from this station when 27 stockmen plus cooks etc drove 43,000 head. The Gov took a lot of their water front land off them and they had water problems,they sunk one of the first bores into the Artesion Basin running open bore drains for hundreds of km and you can still see where they went by the trees growing along them. They were small you could step across them but were very effective to open up the open plains.
Longreach on the Thompson River the home of the Stockman's Hall off Fame and the Qantas founders Museum. Two very popular tourist attractions which should be on everybody's bucket list. Thompson River sunset cruises are great and the river is famous for it Yellow Belly and Yabbies. The area is vast Mitchell Grass Downs which stretch across the horizon. They are mainly treeless as the ground cracks when it dries out and pulls the bark off the roots killing the small trees
The Gov, in their wisdom brought in Prickly Acacia from Africa to try and give cattle etc something to eat in the times of drought Now spending millions to try and get rid of it. A noxious weed that has spead over most of the country and the seed is spead by Emu's passing the seed out miles from where they ate it.
The Mitchell grass plains are the worlds best natural grass for fattening cattle etc.Having 13% protien when green and still 8% when dry
Winton is where you will find the Waltzing Matilda Centre as good as anything you will see on this trip. Has an old codger sitting out the back to answer any questions about the exhibits on display. Many old original shops still operate in the town.
The centre of the Dinosour trails including Larks Quarry a few clicks down the track,where the only Dinosour stampede ever recorded in the world. It was found by a guy looking for opal and found something as big as his little finger nail and recognised it as part of a Dinosour
They have now uncovered many tracks of large ones that were chasing the little fellows. There has been a large building built over them to protect them from the harsh weather. Head South you come to the beautiful Mesa formations and into the Channel Country.
Carisbrook Station where President Johnston was forced to land during the war is a Farm Stay and Charlie and Penny are the perfect host to show you their magnificent station including Opal fossicking and Aboriginal Art. The colours of the jumpups etc have to be seen to appreciated and you can see why Myer use the place to photograph their new outfits for their catalogues. Last place you would expect to see models doing their thing.
Boulder Opal is found in many places in the district. Banjo Paterson spent time on various stations in the area.
The Blue Heeler pub at Kyununa is where Banjo handed the famous song "Waltzing Matilda" through the hole in the wall to the striking shearers celebrating their victory. Just down the road is the Combo Water Hole said to be the Billabong where "Andy" the swagman became so famous. "Andy" watched and waited till his billy boiled. "Andy" jumped into the billabong.
Every inch of the pub walls and ceiling were covered in writing or bra's,pants,hats or anything that would stick to the ceiling,the outside has now been painted over but there are still some famous names written there. They have a Surf Boat hanging from the roof of the beer garden and a surf reel with barb wire instead of rope. Their Surf Life saving caps are famous the world over. A couple of resident Brolgas wander around the beer garden.
Mc Kinlay is the last stop before Cloncurry made famous by the "Walkabout Creek Hotel" were Hoges filmed Crocodile Dundee. Call in and look at all the photo's etc but buy a beer or something the publican is sick of people using his toilets and spending time looking around but not spending anything. A little old town where the fuel bowser still had Diesolium displayed.
A lot of the grass around the Cloncurry district has come from the discarded Afghan Camel drivers saddle bags that were stuffed with grass before they came to Australia and has spead for thousands of Km. There were 200 Afghans in town with 2000 camels and some of their graves can be seen at the cemetry all facing Mecca. They opened up our vast country but none were ever allowed to become Australian Cutizens. Most of the Copper used for artillery shells in World war one came from the mines in Cloncurry.
Enjoy your trip. Please excuse my spelling and stuff ups as I'm suffering a slight case of Chemo.Brain which will take a few months to get over. Clair Voy.
CDU Price at posting:
$4.21 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
