Free camp in Longreach is just out of town near the "longreach" of the Thompson river. Lots of vanners & motorhomes coming & going. Funny how vanners are like sheep & line up beside each other even when there is acres of vacant land! This is a good quiet free camping spot, toilets, and not too far to town. Plenty of flat ground for parking.
Now did I mention the flies? There are a few.
At the Stockmans hall of fame various levels are dedicated to the first explorers, the drovers, rodeo riders & squatters. The wives of the early explorers are also remembered with personal stories. They certainly did it tough in the outback living in tents & timber huts with little social contact. God knows the food would have been basic & water precious.
An outdoor show at the same venue about training horses & dogs was an insight how one man trains with kindness. It was really well explained how the drover works with his his animals & the gear he carries. This bloke had plenty of jokes, songs & information. He was good value. Had his family with him for winter in Longreach but normally lives near Finley.
Unfortunately I was called up to "help" in the show with a couple of pigs. Don't think my heart was in it to try to catch them! Bit of fun anyway.
QANTAS started operations in Longreach after a couple of Pilots from WWII saw the need for an aircraft service in the outback to cover the huge distances that took days by car or horse & near impossible in wet weather. The Flying Doctor Service also started with the same needs in the outback.
From this small operation grew the big operation of today. The display of QANTAS uniforms through the ages was interesting. The mini skirts of the 70's were a bit of a hoot & brought back memories of "how high can they go?".
This early plane carried three passengers inside & the pilot outside so he could see where he was going. No instruments then!
The comfy seats on early QANTAS. Well that hasn't changed much?
Me on the Douglas. I flew to Coonamble on these planes in the 1960's. I remember them as very noisy with not a lot of room in the seats especially when I had a big fat man next to me on one flight. I know I was scared stiff of crashing all the way there.
I was hoping to find a movie made in Coonamble in the 1980's in which the locals starred including Aunty Mary & Aunty Nance dressed in period costume. Talking to the curator Tom shed some light. He knew of the movie clip & thought it was made in 1986 as an add. He knew it hadn't been made in Longreach because of the difference of the windsock on the front of the hangar so he was pleased to find out the location. A bit disappointing not to see it in the archive films though.
Longreach is a very nice country town, worth stopping and taking in the sights.
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