Longreach to Winton

Distance Travelled today 209kms 
Distance travelled so far 2,276 kms

Today we left Ilfracombe and headed for the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame, but could not get in to the museum until 12pm. So we headed over to the QANTAS Founders Museum to see it and got straight in, as we only wanted to see the museum not the airfield. Qantas Founders Museum | Longreach: The home of QANTAS (qfom.com.au) 

Again a wonderfully curated display of the history of QANTAS from the area it originated in. The information we learned here about the beginnings of the airline, should be taught to all our children in school, it shows resilience, determination, entrepreneurship, even the fact that there was a female pilot! The story doesn't just belong here though, there is a Winton connection which we will note in a later blog! The museum has part of an old QANTAS owned plane they bought back from Kuwait after the war began there; a simple computer interactive program where you can try your hand and take off and landing; examples of the seating back early on, a lot of photos and displays of uniforms and again ORAL HISTORIES!

Well worth visiting even if you only have finances and/or time for the museum part. We spent about an hour and a half and could have spent a little longer! Outside the main museum there is a Catalina and the heritage listed hanger that has the office set up as it would have been as well as wooden skeleton of a plane a couple of planes too as well as machinery they used.

We then went back over to the Australian Stockmans Hall of Fame Welcome - Australian Stockmans Hall Of Fame 

On arrival you are given an mp3 player and some headphones, the whole museum part is self guided and again very well curated with oral histories and stories. They even had a whip maker on site, so we got to see a whip being made and as a couple of people purchased one, out the back we went to see how they are cracked!

What an added bonus to see The Master whipmaker Anthony Rennick (5) Facebook 

We also learned that the crack of the whip is a Sonic Boom!

(Note: both Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame and QANTAS have online bookings so if you want to guarantee the airfield and the Stockman show book before coming)

We then headed out of town, filling up for $2.04c per litre first! Onward to Winton where we watched the temperature rise to 27'C by the time we arrived!

We have lovely accommodation in Winton in town and unpacked everything - that is a nice feeling...if only for a couple of weeks...to not have to live from a suitcase!

Dinner was 9" pizzas from The Australia Hotel, very filling and nice!

Looking forward now to our Winton Adventure!