Central Western Queensland
"Where the sunbaked earth was gasping like a creature in its pain. You would find the grasses waving like a field of summer grain..." In defence of the bush by A.B. (Banjo) Patterson
We boarded our plane in Brisbane early on Saturday the 23rd of August. Our destination was Longreach about 1,170 kilometres west, which is close to 14 hours of driving.
Visiting this area of Central Western Queensland had been on our bucket list for a long time. It was a place we wanted to take our children when they were younger, but never got around to it.
We picked up our hire car and drove two hours to the small town of Winton, passing emu’s and a vast, flat landscape full of Mitchell grass and a few trees.
Winton is known as the Dinosaur capital of Australia and the birth place to “Waltzing Matilda” by Banjo Patterson. Waltzing Matilda is Australia’s unofficial national anthem, you may recognise it.
Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,
Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,
Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?Along came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
You'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me.Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,
Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers, one, two, three,
Whose is that jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?
You'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me.Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,
Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?Up jumped the swagman, leapt into the billabong,
You'll never catch me alive, said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by the billabong,
Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,
Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?
Winton is also famous for its sunsets, which meant a visit to the famous sign to catch the sunset and our silhouettes. Unfortunately our photo opportunity and the other people who were patiently waiting, was spoiled by a family who turned up last minute and hogged the sign and sunset photo opportunity.
We woke up on Sunday to some visitors walking through our accommodation site.
We had seen Brolgas flying the night before but this was the first time we had ever seen them up close. Being able to watch them wander around the driveway from our verandah was an amazing experience.
After breakfast we visited the ‘Waltzing Matilda Centre’. This centre doesn’t just explain the history of the poem Waltzing Matilda and the meaning of the phrases, but also takes you through the rich history of Winton and this outback area of Queensland.
Our next point of call was the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, which has the largest collection of Australia’s largest dinosaur fossils. (For context in 1999 a farmer near Winton found a fossilised bone whilst mustering his sheep, which led to further investigative digs in the area which discovered even more bones and evidence of a Dinosaur stampeded. )The museum is located on top of Mt Landsborough just outside Winton. For a vast flat area, it was amazing seeing this mountain range pop up out of no where. The views from the centre were amazing.
After lunch we made our way back to Longreach, passing a herd of camels wandering around the grasslands.
Longreach was named after the long reach of the Thompson River which is situated outside the town. When we were exploring the town we discovered that all the street names were birds. The streets running east- west are water birds as that is the direction the Thompson river runs. Streets running north-south are land birds.
Monday morning was a quiet morning which included a walk through the Iningai Native Flora and Fauna Park, where we saw a lot of different flora of the area as well as kangaroos and various birds.
That night we joined a bus tour out to the Thomson River and hopped on a paddle boat that explored the river. The boat tour ended with a beautiful sunset over the river. We enjoyed a traditional stockman’s meal around a fire, with stories and poems about the area.
QANTAS stands for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service which was founded in the 1920’s, which makes it one of the world’s oldest airlines. QANTAS was originally founded in Winton and moved to Longreach a year later. The QANTAS founders museum is dedicated to the history of this Australian icon as well as the history of aircraft as a whole. Part of our package included an Airpark tour, where our guide walked us around the various aircraft from the start of QANTAS to present day. We also purchased a 747 wing walk, which allowed us to walk out on the wing of the 747 as well exploring the plane and areas that you usually don’t get to see. Definitely a must see if you are an airplane fanatic.
Wednesday was our last full day so we thought we would spend the day driving and exploring. Our first stop was Starlight’s lookout where we climbed a small hill and that provided us with the most amazing 360 degree views of the countryside. Starlight’s lookout is named after the notorious Captain Starlight aka Harry Redford who was a famous stockman, drover, cattle thief and in the book “Robbery under arms” by Rolf Bolrewood a bushranger. This area is full of references to Harry’s big cattle thieving, where he stole cattle from Bowen Downs near Longreach and drove them through the channel country down to South Australia in order to sell them. Harry almost got away with it but the give away was a prized white bull that was part of the herd he stole.
From the lookout we could view the channel country. This area suffered from significant flooding in February this year, with levels higher than the 1974 flood. You wouldn’t know it with all the Mitchell grass plains and the dry creek beds. Up high though you could see the channels of green where the water had run and flying over you could take in the channel country on a larger scale.
What happened to all the floodwater? I found this image by Kate Doyle at ABC weather, that explains where the water goes. This part of Central Western Queensland is part of the Lake Eyre basin. The majority of the water in this area of Queensland, slowly makes it way down Central Queensland, Northern Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. The water eventually reached Lake Eyre, Australia’s largest salt lake late May, June.
After our lookout visit we hopped back in the car and drove along dirt roads that were arid and dry. Areas of green crossed these arid areas, where there was a tiny bit of water left in the creek beds. We past more Emus, wild horses, plenty of Eagles and we saw some Broglas walking and then watched them take off. (so amazing)
After a while we drove into a small town called Muttuburra which was where the Muttaburrasaurus, one of Australia’s most famous dinosaurs was found. Our next small town was called Aramac, which is one of the oldest towns in the Central West and the home of the white bull mentioned in Starlight’s story. We had lunch at Starlight’s cafe in Aramac and then drove to Barcaldine. Barcaldine’s main attraction is the Tree of Knowledge, which is a replica of the Ghost gum that stands outside the railway station. In 1891, there was a big shearers strike, which led to this tree becoming known as the birthplace of the Australian Labour’s Party. You may remember my Artist residency #11, I mentioned the leaders of the strike being imprisioned on St Helena Island off the coast of Brisbane.
Unfortunately the Tree of Knowledge was fenced off and we were unable to get close to it for me to be able to draw it. We explored the lovely township of Barcaldine and then hopped back in the car and found our back to the Matilda Highway, (which is the highway that runs from New South Wales up to the top of Queenland, a about 1,800 kilometres long) and back to Longreach. We stopped for a drink at the Wellshot Hotel, a quaint and interesting pub in Ilfracombe.
Our flight was leaving Thursday afternoon which allowed us to spend our morning at The Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame.Our time at the museum was spent learning more about the pioneers who built Australia in this harsh landscape, the stockman, the early settlers, the cattle kings, the wives and inspirational women, the royal flying doctors, the artisans etc. We also watched the live outback stockman’s performance, which included highly trained horses and dogs.
Visiting this diverse area of Queensland did not disappoint. I loved exploring its history, but also its unique landscape. Spending a whole week with my husband was an added bonus. We are lucky living in Australia and being able to explore this vast country.
Until next time,
Take Care,
I hope you enjoyed exploring this part of Queensland, Australia with me. Please leave a heart of comment as I love interacting with the substack community.