Longreach to Townsville
Winton - 23 to 25 June
Winton is only 180 kilometres northwest of Longreach, so it wasn't a long day of driving. Just 13 kilometres south of Winton we turned off to take a look at the site of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs. The Museum sits on top of an ancient mesa called 'The Jump-Up'. I had tried to book a tour weeks ago, without luck. This is a busy time of year, but it was nice to see the area.
Winton is only 180 kilometres northwest of Longreach, so it wasn't a long day of driving. Just 13 kilometres south of Winton we turned off to take a look at the site of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs. The Museum sits on top of an ancient mesa called 'The Jump-Up'. I had tried to book a tour weeks ago, without luck. This is a busy time of year, but it was nice to see the area.
Winton was a-buzz due to a writers' festival and a film festival. We were lucky to have booked our accommodation weeks ago. On arrival we went straight to the Waltzing Matilda Centre, the museum dedicated to Australia's favourite song. We had been years ago before it burnt down, so were looking forward to seeing how they rebuilt. It is slick and well done, but we preferred the older rustic one.
We checked into the North Gregory Hotel, where legend has it that it was the site of the first public performance of 'Waltzing Matilda.' It was a great spot in the centre of town, and as luck would have it, a performance was given each afternoon in the beer garden with talks and poetry recitations on Banjo Paterson. We learnt a great deal about the man and enjoyed revisiting his poetry.
Happily for the west, but unfortunately for me, the skies grew dark and rain fell in the district. My long awaited visit to the Dinosaur Stampede had to be cancelled. Rain closed the road to Lark Quarry Conservation Park, 110 kilometres out from Winton. Now I have an excuse to come back.
Happily for the west, but unfortunately for me, the skies grew dark and rain fell in the district. My long awaited visit to the Dinosaur Stampede had to be cancelled. Rain closed the road to Lark Quarry Conservation Park, 110 kilometres out from Winton. Now I have an excuse to come back.
My dinosaur disappointment didn't last too long as we enjoyed other aspects of the area. One night we enjoyed a night of nostalgia at the open air picture theatre. Over the next days, the festival will feature screenings under the stars at this 103-year-old Royal Open Cinema, The Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival, inspired by the Sundance Film Festival, showcases Australia’s film industry. Winton is in the heart of the Australian outback is the birthplace of QANTAS, and its reputation as “Hollywood in the Outback” is emerging with several major film productions including Nick Cave’s "Proposition" and Ivan Sen’s "Mystery Road" and "Goldstone" being filmed here.
Another highlight was catching up with an old work mate who now lives in Winton and is raising a growing family.
Another highlight was catching up with an old work mate who now lives in Winton and is raising a growing family.
Winton to Cloncurry - 25 June
Today was a fairly long drive, covering about 350 kilometres. There was a slight drizzle as we left Winton, but it gradually eased and had cleared by the time we neared Cloncurry. Of course we had to take a break at McKinlay to have a drink at the Walkabout Creek Hotel. The quirky pub, made famous in the blockbuster movie Crocodile Dundee, stands as one of the few buildings in the town. Inside the pub there's plenty of memorabilia from the days when Paul Hogan swaggered up to the bar as Mick Dundee.
Today was a fairly long drive, covering about 350 kilometres. There was a slight drizzle as we left Winton, but it gradually eased and had cleared by the time we neared Cloncurry. Of course we had to take a break at McKinlay to have a drink at the Walkabout Creek Hotel. The quirky pub, made famous in the blockbuster movie Crocodile Dundee, stands as one of the few buildings in the town. Inside the pub there's plenty of memorabilia from the days when Paul Hogan swaggered up to the bar as Mick Dundee.
When we got to Cloncurry we paid a visit to the cemetery (yes I have a dead ancestor here). Dame Mary Gilmore, who is featured on the $10 note also rests here. Next stop was the Mary Kathleen Memorial Park Complex. The park incorporates the Cloncurry Unearthed Visitor Information Centre and Museum. You pay to go into the museum, which was very interesting with information about the old mining town, the Indigenous people of this land and information and artefacts about Burke and Wills. The free outdoor display features historic mining, rail and farm equipment, including a replica of the Kuridala Train Station. My Great-Grandfather McNeill worked for a while as a miner at Kuridala in the early 1900s.
The 10 minute walk up to the lookout behind the museum and is well worth the panoramic view of Cloncurry and the surrounding rugged landscape. I wish we had allocated more time here, but there is always the possibility of a next time.
Another interesting place worth visiting in town is the John Flynn Place Museum and Art Gallery., which commemorates the work of Flynn and the beginnings of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
The 10 minute walk up to the lookout behind the museum and is well worth the panoramic view of Cloncurry and the surrounding rugged landscape. I wish we had allocated more time here, but there is always the possibility of a next time.
Another interesting place worth visiting in town is the John Flynn Place Museum and Art Gallery., which commemorates the work of Flynn and the beginnings of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
We hit the road early next morning to head east, planning to make Hughenden by nightfall. It was a gorgeous morning through more magnificent country. As we ate up the kilometres, we continued to relish the open spaces and big skies. 116 kilometres east of Cloncurry we made a short detour off the highway to Gilliat. My grandfather taught at Gilliat in the early 1930s, when the school was newly opened with over 30 children. In its more prosperous times, the town had a telegraph office, a railway station, pub and Shell depot. Now it is only marked by a sign and little else.
It was only a short drive onto Julia Creek, a lovely little town where we stopped for coffee in its busy Saturday morning main Street. Like most outback towns, it was very attractive with wide streets, neat buildings and an interesting Tourist Information Centre. An interesting thing we noticed here was the covered parking in the centre of the road offering cars some protection from the intense heat in summer.
Next stop was Richmond. We planned to have a quick look around, but as we parked at Kronosaurus Corner, we discovered we had a flat tyre. In a small country town there is nowhere open on a weekend to fix a tyre, so we booked into a motel and decided to explore while waiting for Monday. It turned out that the first place we got to explore was the Richmond hospital. As we checked into our room, Reg tripped, and suddenly his little finger was poking out at a strange angle. It turned out to be dislocated and not broken, which was a relief. It required a few stitches and some bandaging, and we were on our way.
Getting caught in Richmond turned out to be a good thing as we really enjoyed discovering so much here. A great inland sea that covered the Richmond landscape 110 million years ago has left behind an intriguing story of marine creatures from the Cretaceous period, and Kronosaurus Korner is a marine fossil museum helping to tell the story. It showcases nearly 1,150 unique fossil specimens from the area.
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The Cambridge Downs Heritage Display Centre is a replica of the originalCambridge Downs Homestead and this provided a wonderful insight into the area over the past 150 years. A beautifully restored Cobb & Co coach and an old bullock dray out the back particularly impressed us.
Richmond is another proud outback town that is lovely to explore on foot. The streets are wide and neat, and the buildings are well kept. Lake Fred Tritton is a peaceful place to walk around or enjoy water sports. It has playgrounds and picnic areas and gardens flanking its shores.
A particular feature of the town are round objects known as moonrocks. They range in size from a golf ball to huge boulders., having formed on the ancient sea floor.
A particular feature of the town are round objects known as moonrocks. They range in size from a golf ball to huge boulders., having formed on the ancient sea floor.
On Sunday morning the local doctor checked Reg's finger again and gave him the "thumbs up". On Monday morning the tyre shop repaired our flat, and we were on our way to Hughenden. I think we managed to get the last motel room in Hughenden that night, so I was able to get my visit in to Porcupine Gorge.
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Porcupine Gorge is about 60 km north of Hughenden on a sealed road. The Hughenden Tourist Information Centre has an excellent booklet available that gives a detailed description of numerous points of interest along the way. After enjoying a great view of a section of the gorge at a designated lookout we continued on to the campground. Although it was now midday, I decided to walk down into the gorge. Despite only 2.4 km return it was very steep and very hot, but worth the exertion.
The road from Hughenden to Charters Towers leaves the flat, wide countryside we had become so used to, to wind through tree filled ranges. We made short stops to admire the quirky pubs at the little towns of Prairie and Torrens Creek, then as we approached Charters Towers we learned that Townsville was about to be locked down for three days due to a COVID scare. We had to make a decision to go in or bypass the city. In the end we decided to stay in Townsville with Reg's son as we would at least get to see him for three days, if nothing else.
After our many days on the road it was rather nice to sit still for a while. We had chosen wisely to stay in Townsville. We were also very well fed, thanks to Murray for his dedication to crabbing and fishing and foraging and cooking. We left Townsville fuller, fatter and well rested.