Leaving Carnarvon Gorge, we headed to Emerald for a couple of nights to restock and see a few sights. When we arrived in Emerald we had to scrub the roof of the camper and wash the car to get the bat poo off before it caused any damage.
While there we checked out the giant Van Gogh painting in the park, got some supplies and cooked up some pre prepared meals that we vacuum seal and freeze. We also did a short 1/2 day trip out to Sapphire and had a bit of a look around there.
Monday 17th October we were off again, this time to longreach for 4 nights. We actually stayed at the caravan park in Ilfracombe which is 25km east of longreach as there was quite a bit of rain forecast and the council campground in Longreach was known to turn into a mud pit when it rained (not ideal).
It is a great little park next door to the Wellshot hotel and has a great little kamp kitchen and clean large toilets and showers.
Tuesday we went to the Qantas founders museum which was definitely a highlight for us. We did the guided tour which we went through 4 different aircraft, a 747, 707, DC3 and a Super Constellation. The 747 showed how they were set up for economy, business and 1st class in the early years of the 747. You can check out the upstairs, cockpit and galleys. The DC3 is actually a converted C47 which is the military version. The main difference between the 2 types is the C47 has a much larger door in the back.
The Super Constellation has a great display all along the inside, showing the routes they flew all over the world and the 707 was actually setup by a previous owner as a high end private aircraft aimed at being sold to arab nations. This was however unsuccessful and it was used briefly as a charter plane to people like the Jackson 5. It was almost bought by Michael Jackson until the noise limitations on aircraft changed making the 707 not usable.
After the tour we went through the museum. There is so much great information and displays there and the kids loved the simulator.
The next morning it was into Longreach again and this time to the Stockmans Hall of Fame. This is another amazing experience full of history and unique stories. The display has been changed a lot in the last few years. Now, each person gets an Ipod with headphones and as you walk into each section, the ipod plays an intro to that section. There is also lots of additional audio clips you can select for each section that relate to the displays in that section. The kids also get an Ipod and headphone but they have a different app that allows them to listen to clues for each area and find different items on display. When they find it, they hold the camera of the Ipod up and if correct they get a digital sticker on the ipod. The aim of course is to collect all the stickers.
Thursday was a quieter day. Had to have the car looked at again as it appears the last mechanic didn’t do a very good job as one of the parts when put back on, was not done correctly and was leaking. Organised to get it repaired next week and thankfully we are still able to use the car until then. In the afternoon we went to the pool in Ilfracombe to cool off. We also got a great light show from a storm to the south of us in the evening.
Friday 21st October we moved on to winton to see the dinosaurs. Here we camped at Long waterhole which is a free camp just outside Winton. A nice spot right by a waterhole with no facilities so we set up our shower and toilet at camp. We found a nice spot near some trees so we had good shade in the afternoons. The only bad point is that we did have to keep an eye out for some of the smaller locals, we found a couple of redbacks and a huntsman in the shower one morning.
Saturday we did the Age of the Dinosaurs museum. We did the full tour encompassing the canyon walk and footprints area, the collection room and the fossil prep laboratory.
The Canyon has information on the different types of dinosaurs found in the area and statues of them in the canyon. The footprints are an area where you can see Sauropod prints as well as other smaller dinosaurs.
The collection room has an awesome display of both Banjo and Matilda’s bones as well as a video on how they were found. Matilda or Diamantinasaurus Matildae was a very large sauropod that was up to 30m long and Banjo was a Australovenator wintonensis or very big Raptor far bigger than a velociraptor.
The Prep lab as the name suggested is where they prepare the bones that are recovered from the dig sites. It was really interesting to see people actually working on the fossils and how they use the tiny tools to slowly dig away the dirt and rock around the bones.
Sunday there were more fossils to see, this time to Lark Quarry which is 110km south of Winton. Lark Quarry houses the world’s largest collection of dinosaur prints in one place with over 3000 prints. It is called a stampede as that’s exactly what happened. There were lots of smaller dinosaurs of 2 types all hanging around a waterhole, one was the Skartopus australis which is a small meat eating Theropod and the other, the Wintonopus latomorum which is a slightly bigger plant eating Ornithopod. A large Raptor Dinosaur like Banjo came through this area causing all the other smaller ones to stampede. You can see where the raptor has come through and even where it started to run after the smaller ones as well as the thousands of small prints from the others trying to escape. This site has been really well preserved as they have built a building around the stampede site to protect it as well as make it available for everyone to visit.
That night we had dinner at the North Gregory Hotel. Very yummy large meals.
Monday 24th October, it was time to pack up again and head towards Muttaburra but 1st we stopped at the Waltzing Matilda centre which shows the history of Banjo Patterson, the famous poem and the Winton. This is a really good exhibit with loads of information on life at the turn of the 20th century, a video on how the poem has woven its way into our culture as well as some equipment from a steam train to old farming and medical equipment from the same era. There was even an iron lung.
We left Winton about lunch time and arrived in Muttaburra about 2.30pm. We had intended to camp there for a couple of nights however arriving at the campgrounds we decided to have a quick look at the Muttaburrasaurus and go straight back to Longreach. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the campgrounds which have a pay 2 stay 5 deal and nice clean toilets and showers (even had its own resident frog), but like a lot the area there is very little shade and at the time we were there it was 42 degrees and the ground was so hard we would not have gotten the pegs into the ground for the awning.
The Muttaburrasaurus display is a small display but really well done and free. well worth the visit.
A bit over an hour back to Longreach and this time we stayed at the the Longreach tourist park as the car was going back to the mechanic on Thursday.
The park did not review well however we thought it was a good place. The sites and road ways were all compacted redish stone and dirt, good clean facilities and even a pool (although this was starting to look a little green).
Tuesday was a quiet day just relaxing around camp and had a swim. So far on our trip we have done approximately 5600km.
Wednesday was another relaxing day until a massive storm came through at around 9pm and we had to stand outside and hold the awning down so that it did not take off over the camper. The kids were a bit scared but we all came through just fine and no damage.
Thursday morning we took the car to be fixed again so just hung around camp again. now it’s starting to get boring and we want to get going again.
We got the car back about 10am on friday morning and while I walked into town to pick it up and get some supplies, the rest of the family packed the camper and we headed off at lunch time for Quilpie.
A bigger drive today and we arrived in Quilpie at 6.20pm, quickly set up and had dinner at the bowls club. Go have dinner at this club if you are in Quilpie, it’s a small place but has great huge meals, cheap drinks and a kids playroom. We had Chicken Parmi and salmon with a creamy caper sauce while the kids had fish and chips and pasta.
Saturday 29th October it was off to Eromanga to see Cooper, Australia’s largest dinosaur at the Natural history museum.
Cooper or Australotitan cooperensis is a Titanosaur and a 4 legged plant eating sauropod. The Tour includes a video on the area and the dinosaur finds and a tour through the research area and lab where they prepare the fossils.
They have decades of work ahead of them to prepare all the fossils just in the ones they have already dug up and stored here. There are bones from a number of different dinosaurs and a huge replica of coopers legs to get an idea of the size of him.
This region of central western QLD is an amazing area, full of so many great attractions and things to do and see. From Longreach and the Qantas museum and stockman’s hall of fame, to Winton and the dinosaur centres and the waltzing matilda centre and Quilpie and eromanga with the natural history museum. It is we worth visiting the area and spending time checking them all out. There is so much more out there too that we didn’t get to for those who have time like north to Richmond and Hughenden for more dinosaur history and many national parks to explore.
All these attractions do cost money and yes it does add up but it has been an experience that we will remember forever for us and the kids and worth every cent.
Sunday was a bit quieter and we went fossicking for opals and founds a number of thin lines of opal in the small rocks before heading to the local pool for a swim in the afternoon and up to a nearby lookout for sunset.
Monday 31th October we packed and headed east towards charleville. Our original plan was to stay a couple of nights in charleville and do a night tour at the cosmos centre, however the forecast was for storms monday night and cloudy tuesday night as well so wouldn’t see much on a star tour. Because of this we decided to stop at the cosmos centre and check out the other displays there which were really great and very informative, before stopping in the little town of Wallumbilla and staying at the showgrounds for the night. Thankfully we were able to find an area that was solid and grassy as the expected storms arrived about 7pm and lasted on and off most of the night.
Tuesday morning we grabbed breakfast from the local store and made an early start on our way back to Hervey bay. While the ground where we camped was very wet, at least it was still solid so no problems getting out again.
After a quick stop in Wondai for lunch, we arrived in Hervey Bay just after 3pm.
This concludes part 3 of our big adventure. From here we will start heading south through NSW with lots of hikes and national parks to explore.
A Love of Adventures 