hittin the road: Winton, Longreach, Barcaldine and Blackall.

The drive back to Boulia via Bedourie took me a couple of days, although doing it in 200km stretches wasn’t too taxing and knowing I only had about 120 kms of unsealed road also made the drive relatively easy. The rats weren’t a problem either. So after a bit of dust removal, (from me and the van) and restocking the pantry, I headed off for Winton.

First stop was Middleton, which was originally a stage coach stop but this town is now best known for its classic Aussie pub full of old-world charm. On arriving I had to pop in for a drink and to soak up some of the atmosphere. The bar tender is also a camel herder and has been around the area for years. The Hotel Hilton is where I decided to stay for the night (check out the photo. Note the ladies showers. I decided against using these.) There’s nothing left of the original town.

The next day it was a short drive in the Lilleyvale Hills to Cawnpore Lookout where I had excellent views of the spectacular scenery. The rest of the drive to Winton was quite scenic as the road wound its way through Jump Up and Channel country, beautiful red earth, spinifex country and Mitchell Grass Downs, which all highlight the diversity of the landscape.

Winton itself has a rich history with links to the Great Shearers’ Strike, Waltzing Matilda and Qantas, and is also well known for dinosaurs. Winton is the place where Banjo Paterson wrote Waltzing Matilda in 1895 whilst visiting Dagworth Station. Legend has it that the first public performance happened at the
North Gregory Hotel in Winton on 6^th April 1895. (It just happens to be the hotel where I camped for 2 nights out the back. So of course I had to celebrate with a couple of fellow campers over a couple of beers.) The Waltzing Matilda Centre was well worth the visit.

Twenty five years later, Winton became the birthplace of Qantas. The local expression is that Qantas was conceived in Cloncurry, born in Winton and grew up in Longreach.

The first official dinosaur discovery in Winton Shire was made in 1962, on Cork Station – a fossilised footprint with the site later revealing a stampede with over 3,300 footprints. Still later “Elliot” was discovered. I visited the Australian Age of Dinosaurs which is home to the world’s largest collections of Australian dinosaur fossils and the site of the biggest fossil preparation laboratory in the southern hemisphere. People actually pay to stay here and work on the relics. It’s located on top of a huge mesa plateau called “The Jump-Up” with huge rocky outcrops, cliffs, canyons and spectacular distance views.

Winton also has an old picture theatre (The Royal Open Air Theatre), which is now a working museum, and which runs a program of nostalgia, reminding us of years gone by with old time slides and black and white film. One of these, “Our Gang”, was a favourite of mine as a child. Oops, I’m showing my age! It was a real trip down Memory Lane.

The opal mining industry also flourishes in Winton with apparently, some of the best boulder opals found from claims within the Winton Shire.

Then it was on to Longreach, which boasts 2 of Australia’s major attractions, the Australian Stockmen’s Hall of Fame and the Qantas Founders Outback Museum. Both showcase the characters and spirit of the Outback. One certainly needs time to go through both of these exhibitions to digest all the information which is displayed. Such a lot of work and money has gone into these.

Another 175 kms down the road there’s a little town called Barcaldine home to some 1600 residents. It’s a thriving community with lots of retail therapy outlets and services. Right in the middle of town is the Tree of Knowledge site which has been part of the history of the town right from the beginning of settlement. The memorial recreates the size of the canopy of the tree when it was in its prime during the 1891 Great Shearers’ Strike. The Australian Workers’ Heritage Centre is a place to reconnect with the history of all kinds of workers who have helped to build our nation. As you can see after my last few days I’ve pretty much ODed on history.

The next town on my travels was no exception. The town of Blackall and anything west of here is “beyond the Black Stump”. This is located behind the school and was once used for surveying purposes and was where surveyors placed their transit on the stump for latitude and longitude observations. The stump was more stable than a set of legs. Hence the saying “beyond the Black Stump”. I was a bit disappointed that this is not actually the original one as it was burnt.

Jackie Howe, the legendary shearer lived and died in Blackall. He shore a record of 321 sheep in 7 hours 40 minutes back in 1892. Obviously he used blades. And while on the subject of sheep, the historical Blackall Woolscour is also located here. It is the last example left intact of a steam powered wool washing plant with a 20 stand shearing shed attached. It operated under steam power (from an artesian bore) from 1908 till 1978 and the machinery is now as functional as it was then. When you see the pond, the water is actually crystal clear and very hot to touch.