Thursday 31^st – Longreach

The sky is leaking.

Since we couldn’t fix the leak we went off to the Stockman’s Hall of Fame which is conveniently located across the highway from the Qantas Founders Museum which is 200 metres from the caravan park. All this convenience – I’m just not used to it!

The Stockman’s, as it is know locally, is quite a large building and inside there are 4 levels connected by gently sloping ramps. After paying you just wander through.

There are exhibits and photos on the walls everywhere with a potted history of the people who were the legends of the outback. I don’t just mean the stockman but all the early settlers, the store owners and their families. It has a wall just for the unsung local heroes of the early years up to the present time. This was one of the things we enjoyed the most.

I suppose the exhibits are dominated (in size anyway) by a replica of a travelling merchant’s wagon and one of a bullock wagon (the wheels are about 2 metres high). The merchants had the same route each year and they could be away for up to 6 months during the dry. They sold everything imaginable from clothes, house goods, tools et It would not just be the one wagon only as they also took other wagons and spare horses sometimes up to 4 extra wagons and 12 horses. At the end of the trip they would sell absolutely everything except the wagon and the horses they needed to get back home. The route eventually had to change and they had to go further into the outback as the train lines went into the interior of the land.

It was a great display and the potted histories on the wall were fascinating and addictive.

We also saw a mini movie of the outback and we were supposed to have an outback show with bullock teams and the like but because the sky was leaking …! We had the show indoors but obviously the bullocks could not fit. The room for the outback display was the same room as we saw the movie at the start of the day – with a few mats on the floor. The “cowboy” rode his horse into the room, told a few corny jokes (talk about “dad” jokes) sang a song or two then got his horse up on his back legs and left. I felt a bit duded.

Other then that it was a great exhibition. We have seen plenty of displays about early Australia but this was well set out and explained.

Also the first exhibit was about the first Australians, the Aboriginal people. It was beautifully and extensively done. All thru the rest of the exhibits the contribution of the aboriginal people to showing the way for explorers and the farmers was acknowledged. Also acknowledged was mistreatment of the indigenous people and also the totally different philosophy about the land. Many of the explorers ways were the ways the aboriginal people have travelled for thousands of years.

There was also a fabulous exhibition about the flying doctor. Most extensive one we have seen

We changed caravan parks so as to share our money around as this is a little local one and not part of a chain. We are closer to town and also some nature rides but not sure if this will happen with the weather. Amenities clean but not as new. Had a smoko so we chatted to people under cover in pouring rain.

We love listening to the radio. Weather and rain reports are so important here and road closures. These are all broadcast regularly as are funeral notices.

Friday 1^st June Longreach

Just a lay day as there is rain no matter where you want to go. Having said that we did managed to walk around town for a couple of hours this morning with barely a spit all that time. The road to Winton, our next destination, is open but the sides of the road just off the tarred surface will be very soft and that’s where you head when the road trains come along. We will have a slow trip tomorrow but that is all part of our journey.