About Longreach
Longreach is the largest town in central Queensland and, as such, is an important rural service centre for one of the state’s most prosperous wool and beef areas. Located on the Tropic of Capricorn it services an ever-growing tourism industry which has been driven by the success of the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the Qantas Founders Outback Museum (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
Getting there
It was a fairly short 134km drive from Lara Wetlands northwards to our new destination, so no stops along the way.
Accommodation
We pulled into the Longreach Tourist Park and found our site among the other 300+ sites in the park. This place is absolutely huge and tends to fill-up and empty out on a pretty regular basis. We have 4 nights here.
It was pretty amazing when, in the morning at least 50% of the park empties out and later in the afternoon it was full again. That would mean that every day there would be over 150 caravans going from or coming into Longreach!
Stockmans Hall of Fame
The Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre is Australia’s premier outback heritage institution. The centre provides visitors with a spectacular outback experience.The outback is as prosperous, tough and unforgiving as it ever was. It’s where hard yakka, guts and resilience built our nation’s identity and why the great Australian stockman – the legend of the bush – became our national hero.
The enduring journey of the stockman, the challenges and demands, and the evolution of this epic industry continue to this day. The museum will awaken you to the hardships, passion, bush comradery and industry changes that have shaped the industry that has made our country great.
The Cinema Experience and Live Show
We booked into the Stockmans Experience Tour ($68ph) which begins with a 30 minute movie showcasing virtual and real footage across a 16m screen featuring the birth of a nation through the eyes of the Australian stockman.
Then it was outside to be seated under a massive roof (out of the hot sun) to experience a brilliant display of horsemanship by Lachie Cossor who runs the live show. He’s an experienced stockman, horseman, rodeo rider, entertainer, and now singer as well. This was so entertaining and we all learned a lot about the stockman and their life on the land. Plenty of laughs were had when Lachie showed the crowd how to groom his horse called Ernie. Ernie was the perfect showman/horse upstaging Lachie many times – a real hoot!
The show also included his working dogs (also plenty of laughs) rounding up the sheep and concluded with an introduction to this massive 1000kg bull named Jigsaw, who Lachie rides out to meet the crowd.
We rate the show a 10 out of 10 – a must see when in Longreach.
The Museum
The museum experience is simply icing on the cake to what was one of the best experiences we have had on this trip so far.
Cracking the whip
While we were exploring the museum we met Anthony Rennick who was creating another of his beautiful stockman whips. The Wagga Wagga whipmaker has been wintering in Longreach for over a decade now, moving his operation to the Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre where he is a living exhibit.
Our friend Jackie was so impressed that she purchased one of Anthony’s whips and it included a free training session out the back of the Hall of Fame, which we all participated in.
Here’s a couple of examples of Merrisa attempting to crack the newly created whip and absolutely nailing it on 1st attempt at two whipping styles…
And then it was Neil’s turn…
Around the town
Longreach has so much to offer the visitor. Even a stroll through the town centre throws up some unexpected delights such as “The Drovers”, which were part of “The Human Factor” sculptures by John Underwood, created for the Brisbane World Expo ’88.
Starlight’s River Cruise
We were picked up at our caravan park a 4:45pm and then bused out to the Thomson River to participate in Starlight’s Cruise Experience run by the Kinnon family.
We took a gentle cruise at sunset east down the Thomson River on the Thomson Belle, a very old paddle wheeler, following their recently introduced Pride of the Murray paddle wheeler. As the sun sets of the trees in the west we return to to the jetty.
After the cruise we disembarked to enjoy a traditional stockman’s campfire dinner followed by bush poetry with a local outback storyteller, Scotty reciting bush poetry and a few funny yarns. Scotty was an ageless old soul, who when about 16 years old seriously injured both feet and cannot wear shoes (they make him fall over) so goes everywhere barefooted. The legend has it that he was banned from doing his lawn mowing rounds by Work Cover and so his mate mate him a pair of boots with no soles so he could trick the inspector 😂.
Afterwards, we moved down to the seated area on the riverbank to watch the Starlight’s Spectacular Sound & Light Show – a unique big-screen presentation featuring the Kinnon & Co family and locals in the amazing adventures of the notorious local cattle thief known as ‘Captain Starlight’.
Finally, in the atmospheric surroundings of the bush at night, we enjoyed the timeless favourite – billy tea and damper. Then it was back to our accommodation after wonderful 4.5 hours of mesmerising dinner and shows.
Cost of experience was $125pp, including pick-up at accom, river cruise, dinner & show, movie, tea & damper and return to accom. 4.5 hours of total enjoyment!
We also rate the show a 10 out of 10 – a must see when in Longreach.
The Cruise
The Dinner & Show
Dinner consists of bush stew and mashed spuds with bread to mop up the gravy. Dessert was an apple cake with custard. Then the show begins with Jeremy Kinnon providing an insight into the stockman’s travels and gear they use. Pretty funny, especially the many items he says are “available at me mum’s shop in town“. Then out comes Scotty to tell us his bush poetry and some funny yarns.
After dinner the crowd moves down to be seated for an after-dark Captain Starlight movie in outdoor riverbank theater and brothers Jeremy and Lane Kinnon begin the movie with an introduction which is an absolute scream. Please enjoy the video below, which is only part of the intro…
QANTAS Museum
They’ve gone all out at the QANTAS Museum in Longreach. You just cannot miss the place as you drive into town from the Barcaldine direction. There’s now a massive carport style roof built over the 4 planes, including a Jumbo Jet.
The Tour
We began our tour under the massive roof as our guide spoke about each of these amazing aircraft in great detail, about their life and how they arrived at the museum. We then were taken through
DC3
Starting its life as a C-47 with the United States Army Air Force in 1944, it was given to the Royal Australian Air Force in 1944 before becoming a QANTAS Empire Airways aircraft and being converted to civilian DC -3 standard as VH -EAP in 1948. The aircraft still has the large double C-47 style doors.
Developed from the earlier DC1 and DC2, the DC3 revolutionised air travel in the 1930s. It was relatively fast, reliable and able to carry up to 28 passengers in comfort. Despite its success, QANTAS did not begin to operate the DC3/C47 until 1945 when military C47s became available in large numbers. After service with QANTAS in New Guinea, VH-EAP was sold in 1960 but continued to fly in New Guinea. In 1982 it returned to Australia and was flown by Bush Pilots Airways (later Air Queensland). There were a number of other owners and last flew in January 1993. VH-EAP was later donated to QANTAS Founders Museum by John Williams, with the aircraft being dismantled, transported to Longreach and repainted in its original QANTAS Empire Airways colours by retired and serving QANTAS staff.
When I was 5 years old we moved to Madang in Papua New Guinea for 3 years as my father took over as the head Met Officer (Meteorologist) and we flew from Port Moresby to Madang in a DC3 just like the one at the museum.
707
This particular Boeing 707 – 138 – originally VH-EBA – was the first jet of thirteen 138 purchased by QANTAS from Boeing and the very first civilian jet aircraft registered in Australia. The 707 replaced the propeller driven Super Constellations and practically halved the flying time on QANTAS overseas routes. The new Boeing 707s were so fast they also introduced Australians to “jet lag” for the first time. After serving with QANTAS, the aircraft was operated by other airlines and private operators. After several years lying derelict at Southend Airport in the United Kingdom and about to be scrapped, it was purchased by QANTAS Founders Museum and restored and flown to Longreach in June 2007 by a dedicated group of volunteers, mostly retired QANTAS engineers.
747
VH-EBQ, “City of Bunbury”, was the first QANTAS aircraft named after a West Australian provincial town to mark the 150th Anniversary of Western Australia and Bunbury being declared a city. VH-EBQ was accepted from Boeing by QANTAS on 10th December 1979. During its working life with QANTAS it is estimated the aircraft carried over 5.4 million passengers and flew over 82.54 million kilometres – equivalent to more than 2000 trips around the world or ten round trips to the moon or ten years continuous flying.
VH-EBQ is unique in being the only surviving Boeing 747 – 200 with Rolls Royce engines. VH-EBQ was donated to QANTAS Founders Museum by Qantas Airways and landed at Longreach on 16th November 2002.
Super Constellation
QANTAS operated Constellations on the Kangaroo Route between Sydney and London from 1947 -1955 before the Super Constellation operated the route from 1954-1962. The Constellation was the first aircraft that enabled QANTAS to establish and sustain long-range overseas air service in its own right and it was the longest air service in the world using the same aircraft all the way.
Constellations were the first QANTAS aircraft to feature flight hostesses (female cabin crew) and be pressurised. QANTAS Super Constellations operated the first ever regular round-the-world air service via both hemispheres in 1958. The Museum’s Super Constellation was built for the US Navy in 1953 before being used as a cargo aircraft. The aircraft has been repainted to resemble the QANTAS Super Constellation “Southern Spray” VH-EAM.
A stroll through the Museum
The museum tells the story of Australia’s national airline, from its early days in Outback Queensland to present day. Characters of the early QANTAS days and their pioneering spirit contributing to the impact the airline had for all Australians is brought to life through life size exhibits, historical artefacts and interactive displays including the National Heritage Listed QANTAS hangar.
We found a full replica of the Avro 504K which was the first QANTAS aircraft and was used by the airline for five years. Powered by a 100 h.p. Sunbeam Dyak engine, it was modified to carry up to two passengers as well as the pilot.
A real, full sized, Catalina flying Fortress is also parked behind the museum. Catalina flying boats played important roles for QANTAS in two eras. During the 1950s, they enabled air services to be provided to remote villages in New Guinea and around the South Pacific where aerodromes hadn’t yet been built. But, it was in the last two years of World War Two that they became the lifeline which helped keep QANTAS alive and maintained communications between Australia and the United Kingdom.
And that concludes our 3 day Longreach visit.
Summing up…
- Accommodation– Longreach Tourist Park (07) 4658 1781
- Cost per night – $40.50 (@ 1-Aug-2022)
- Stayed for – 4 nights
- Facilities – Not too shabby but a bit of a walk
- CP Location – 12 Thrush Rd, Longreach – in a good location & a short drive into town
- Our rating/score – 8/10
- Was it a nice town to visit? – Yes – a great town!
- Activities & places of interest – plenty to do – 4 nights was good for us
- Tourist info centre? – 99A Eagle St, Longreach (07) 4658 4141
- Would we return? – probably
- We rate the town – 8/10
- Overall thoughts – We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. There’s plenty to do and the 3 main attractions we attended were absolutely fantastic.