No travelling today. We are staying put in Longreach. Lots to do and see here.
It was so nice to not have to rush this morning. We even managed a bit of a sleep in and then joined Ian and Kathy for breakfast where we sat and planned out our day...
Whilst we were at the Stockman's Hall of Fame yesterday, we had bought tickets to go and see the Outback Show for today. Out admission costs yesterday included us being able to go back and visit again this morning.
Our aim was to get their by 9am so that we had a couple of hours to explore the rest of the Hall of Fame before the Outback Show began...
We were so thankful that we had spent so much time here yesterday as it was really busy this morning and it was a lot harder to use the interactive displays to find out the stories of the outback.
The place was packed....
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| Back at "The Stockman's Hall of Fame" |
It was really busy this morning and there were people everywhere, even a couple of big tourist buses were here.
When we arrived today we were greeted by this horse and rider. He was a pretty friendly horse and was happy to let us pat him. This rider was really friendly also and was keen to find out where we had all come from...
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| Being greeted as we arrived today.. |
I am pleased also that I took the bulk of my photos yesterday as it was a lot more difficult today with so many people around... We wandered around reading the stories where we could until about 10.50am when all those that had tickets to the Outback Show were summoned back to the Foyer...
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| The Outback Show |
We were then all escorted out into a back paddock where there was a ring with lots of covered seating half way around it. We were at the tail end of everyone, so by the time we got to the seating, all the seating in the covered area was gone and there were only front row seats left ( which were fine for taking photos) but you were in full sun and it was extremely hot...
I ended up with a massive headache due to dehydration and I got quite burnt.
In say that though the Outback show was really very good.
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| The show setup |
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| quite authentic |
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| Grooming kit that bought a few laughs... |
It wasn't particularly expensive to see the show. I think it was about $15 each, and they took us through things like grooming your horse, breaking in horses, showed us how the dogs work with the sheep, some horse tricks, even sang a few songs to us.
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| The show begins.. |
The first part of the show was about looking after your horses.
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| Never ceases to amaze me at how patient these animals are. Cleaning him with a dust buster.... |
It never ceases to amaze me at just how patient these animals are...
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| Time to try and saddle him up and he wasn't having any part of it... |
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| He kept throwing his blanket off his back... |
Well if he won't let you ride him with a saddle on, you just have to ride em bare back...
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| He did not want that blanket at all... |
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| he's game |
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He was quite entertaining and managed to sing us a few songs as well.
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| A good rump seat..... |
Always a reward at the end of a hard slog...
A bit of standing on the saddle.
Wonder what would have happened if the horse spooked and took off...
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| A little more singing |
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| Then we are introduced to the dogs... |
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| Working with the sheep.. |
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| working the sheep.. |
Then we were introduced to this little fellow...
This little fellow stole the show...
Then we got introduced to this big bruiser..
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| Finished with a song... |
The show only went for an hour, and whilst I enjoyed it, I was pretty relieved that it finished when it did, as my legs were really burning, and I ended up having a heat rash from the sun blazing down through my black pants, for a few days afternoon. I was keen to get back inside and grab hold of a drink and get hydrated..
We must have sat inside for a good half hour recovering from the heat and then we went and grabbed our picnic lunch that we had packed and went and sat under one of the shady trees just outside the building and had lunch. We didn't want to wander too far as we had intended spending the afternoon at the Qantas Founder's Museum which was housed just across the highway from the Hall of Fame.
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| Picnic Lunch |
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| Steve and Ian |
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| Kathy and I |
We had a pretty leisurely lunch and probably spent a good hour just recovering sitting relaxing and chatting...
I think we left the "Stockman's Hall of Fame" around 1.30pm and headed over the highway to the Qantas Founder's Museum. What a great place and even better in that they offered a substanial saving if you were a senior citizen. Very impressed....
Because of the interest show, they decided to run an extra tour of the planes this afternoon so we managed to book into the last one for the day which was running at 3pm. We really didn't know what to expect. We hit the jackpot... There were only about 15 of us doing the tour, about a third of what would do the tour normally in the morning.
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| The view from the car park. It really is a very big plane... |
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| The original Qantas Hanger.... |
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| Entrance to the Qantas Fouder's Museum. |
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| Close up of the very original Qantas building... |
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| Ian and Steve as keen as mustard to get in and start looking around. |
Inside lining up to buy our tickets. We decided to take the tour of the the jets, it was a little more expensive, but definitely worth it. It was an hour and a half tour, and we got to go through the three planes on the tarmac. I found the tour through the 747 very interesting as I flew on one back in 1974 when they first became operational, and the upstairs area was first class. This didn't last too long as it was not really economically viable...
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| Foyer of the Qantas Founder's Museum |
We had about an hour and a half before our tour was due to start so we wandered around the museum, listening to the stories of birth of Qantas. All very very interesting...
There were many different sorts of propellers and engines on display in this section of the museum..
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| Ian and Steve checking out one of the many old Propellers |
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| I think this was one of the 707 engines if I remember correctly |
When you look at aviation and see how far it has come this century, it is really quite amazing and fascinating... and when you look at the origins of Qantas and then see where it is today, I am sure the founders even in their wildest imaginations could not have foreseen the size of the corporation today.
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| Biplane... |
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| The sort of cargo that Qantas carried in its early years... |
Then there was Molly, the model T Ford that Fysh and McGuiness drove through rough terrain all the way from Longreach to Darwin looking for suitable landing sites. It was an unbelievable feat. In fact they tried to recreate the journey using the Model T Ford only a few years back and they couldn't make it. These guys were true explorers. It was very interesting to read all about it and watch the video's.
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| The Original Molly that made it all the way to Darwin. |
3pm came around all to soon and it was time to meet our guide and head off for the tour of the aircrafts.
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| Our tour tickets... |
This tour was excellent, it helped that there were only about 15 of us. ( we noticed the next morning that there were 50 odd in the tour that morning) We were very thankful we decided to do the extra tour that had been put on and with just a few of us, we were able to do a lot more than what we could have it there had been 50 people trying to traipse through these planes.
The first plane we toured was the 747. We started off underneath the plane were we were given all the dimensions and shown the different parts of the plane. Wish I could remember it all now, but unfortunately I have forgotten quite a bit of it.
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| The 747 |
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| One of Qantas's orginal passenger planes... |
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| 707 - this one had been decked out as a luxury liner on wings.... |
Our tour started under the 747.
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| Looking at the wings and flaps... |
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| Tyres are filled with air, they are filled with nitrogen - this is so they would not explode at high altitudes. |
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| The jets were so large that we were able to stand in them... |
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| Ian and Kathy inside one of the jet engines also. |
After looking at the outside of the plane it was time to climb the stairs up into the back of the plane.
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| About to board the 747. |
This plane is the highest landmark in Longreach. It is three stories to the top of the cabin and six stories high to the top of the tail. In fact if you were able to stand on the top of the tail you could see all around the district.
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| About to board the 747 |
This is the first time that Steve has been aboard a 747. I have flown in several of them, in fact we flew in quite a few 747's when we flew around the world in 1974. They were pretty new back then, and the upper deck was still first class back in those days.
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| Checking out the seating at the back of the plane. |
it was interesting to find out also that the little black box in planes is not actually a black box. In this plane they were orange..
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| The black boxes are always stored at the back of the plane. |
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| Ian checking out all the seats. This airbus seats over 400 passengers. |
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| Ian and Kathy |
We got to do down to the front of the plane and check out the cockpit. My goodness there were so many buttons. It is a pretty big machine to fly,
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| Cockpit of the 747. |
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| Engineers controls in the cockpit. |
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| Kathy and I relaxing...
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It was really interesting too to hear the stories of flying both the 747 and the 707 into Longreach to their resting homes. It was quite a feat to do this, especially for the 707 which was retrieved from a scrap heap in England and had to be rebuilt so that it could be flown. They had videos on large TV screens in the main machine with the stories of both of the final journeys of these magnificent planes.
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| The 707 |
There is a real history to this plane. It was one of only 13 ever built and had done over 500 flights before the Australian Government sold it. It has a few owners after Qantas with the later owners converting it to a luxury airliner... They had hoped to flog it off to a middle east prince, but obviously did not do their homework properly as they decked all the seating out using pig skin. They had trouble flogging it off and in the end did change the upholstery, but never did recoup their money.
It just so happens that John Travolta owns the last one ever built ( Number 13) and he also uses his plane as an ambassador for Qantas. On the trip out from England to Australia, they landed the 707 in Miami Florida and John got to see it and check it over.... There is a wonderful videip inside of the story...
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| The 707 Luxury liner on wings... |
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| Climbing the stairs to this flight |
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| Our second flight of the day. |
Once inside you could see that it had all been decked with very expensive fittings. They had used beautiful timbers and the best of everything...
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| Checking out the lounge area. |
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| Ensuite Bathroom |
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| Bedroom and Bathroom devider |
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| Main Bedroom |
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| Waling down the hallway... |
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| Looking across at the 747 from the 707 |
You can see the high set of windows - this was once first class but later downgraded to economy.
If you were flying economy though, who wouldn't want to sit up in this area. The seats were wider and more comfortable with a lot more leg room.
The last plane we looked at was one of the original Qantas Cargo planes, When Qantas was first set it, it was more about flying cargo around the outback than it was people.
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| The last plane we looked at. |
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| Kathy and I outside of it |
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| Outside one of their cargo planes |
This plane was never about passengers. It was more about how much cargo it could carry.
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| Inside the cargo plane. |
By the time our tour had finished it was almost 4.30pm which only left us half an hour before closing time. Not nearly enough time to finish all we wanted to see. We decided then and there that we as we really didn't have that far to go the following day, we would just come back when the doors opened at 9am and spend an hour here seeing the rest...
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| Check in desk... |
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| Simulator |
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| Some of the Hostess styles over the years... |
By closing time we still hadn't even managed to get out into the Hangers to see anything out there, plus we also only got half way through the video's about bringing the 747 and the 707 to Australia so I was keen to finish reading all about that also. It was decided we would come back for an hour in the morning and see the rest and then continue our travels back towards Barcaldine.
Longreach is also situated on the "Tropic of Capricorn" so we decided to go and see if we could find the landmark here in Longreach. It held special interest to us as we live on "The Tropic of Capricorn" on the coast.
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| Steve, Kathy and Ian on the "Tropic of Capricorn" in Longreach. |
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| Kathy, Ian and I at the Tropic of Capricorn in Longreach. |
It would have been close to 6pm by the time we got back to the van park. We had decided not to worry about dinner tonight as the Caravan Park was putting on a sausage sizzle with rissoles and sausages and bread free of charge for all the campers up at the Woolshed Restaurant. It was a lovely way to end a rather hectic day.
We need an early start in the morning so it wasn't a particularly late night. We usually finish the evening off with a cuppa together and also just looking at what we might be up too the following day.
Thinking of the highlights and things I am grateful for today.
1. Getting the chance to see the Outback Show and all the things we learnt about the bush.
2. Loved the tours of the planes at the Qantas Founder's Museum.
3. Very thankful that I wasn't a pioneering woman.
4. Free dinner at the caravan park and the fact that we did not have to come home and cook or clean up. Feeling blessed.
5. Gentle breezes.
6. Visit to the Tropic of Capricorn.
7. Senior's Discounts. Got to use it quite a bit in Longreach.
