The Stockman’s Hall of Fame is very large and very interesting. While there are lots of displays, there is also a lot of reading to do. The show put on by one man, his dogs, horses, a camel and a bullock team was the highlight for me. He puts on a very entertaining show telling story about the bush through song, poetry, and yarns. The man has excellent control over his animals and the bullock team was good where he collects a log and after towing it into the stadium, loads it onto a dray in a couple of minutes.
Stockmans Hall of Fame
Outdoor Stockmans Show
Garry gets friendly with 2 bullocks
Next day we tackled the Qantas Founders Museum. This is an excellent display of all things to
do with the airline. They have a good
collection of planes from the old timber and cloth biplanes that can carry only
2 passengers, DC3, 707, and a 747.
Unfortunately the 747 was not open as the nose wheel has sunk into the
ground. Apparently they have parked it
on top of old fuel tanks and the spilt fuel has softened the ground. Repairs are under way. A Catalina flying boat has recently been
added to the display. Qantas flew a
fleet of these planes during WW2 from Perth to India and Africa. The missions were a secret and the Japanese,
who control large chunks of the Indian Ocean at the time, never uncovered the
flights.
Garry in the DC3
and in the 4 seater - the pilot sat in an open cockpit above and behind the passengers - cosy!!
Before we left we decided to go on a Cobb and Co stagecoach
ride. It was that or the River Cruise at
sunset. We heard some good things about
the cruises and bush dinners but thought that the coach ride sounded
different. It was great. The ride starts in town but goes out of town into
the bush and onto the original Thargomindah to Longreach Coach Road. It was very interesting and gave you a good
idea of what travels was like in the old days – dusty, rough, and cramped. The ride is run by the Station Store which is
a tourist business set up by a grazing family during the last drought as an
extra source of income. It has grown
very successfully. While on the coach
ride, the driver pointed out the masses of Gidyea bugs travelling west on the
ground. This indicated rain coming and sure
enough several days later it rained.
The staged photo
Carol ready for the ride
Heading further west we stopped at Winton for a couple of
nights. A few towns are on bore water
but Winton was the place where you cannot mistake it. The water tastes fine but it stinks. Sticking your face into a bowl of running
water first thing in the morning to clean your teeth sure, establishes if there
is anything loose in the top of your stomach!!
Once boiled it is fine and we drank plenty of it. Winton is the start of the Dinosaur Country
and we visited two really interesting places.
Lark Quarry is about 110 kms south of Winton and is a really good
display of dinosaur footprints in mud that has turned to stone and been
preserved perfectly for millions of years.
There are 3 distinct types of dinosaur – a small ‘chook’ sized one, a
middle 2 metre high one, and a large 10 tonne sized one. The ‘proper’ names are Coelurosaurs,
Ornithopods, and a much larger carnosaur Australovenator wintonensis. The display is really worth the drive and the
other fossils on display are excellent.
The Age of Dinosaurs is another good display and is located just east of
town on a hill that enables views to the horizon of the flat country around
us. This display is based on collections
of dinosaur bones (fossilised) found in the surrounding countryside by
graziers. The bones are forced up
through the black soil and eventually sit on the surface amongst the
grass. However, by the time they reach
the surface they have shattered and are found in many hundreds or thousands of
pieces which then have to be put back together like a 3D jigsaw. The work is amazing and they have collected the
most complete skeletons of 4 different dinosaurs which are now used as the
standard to identify dinosaur finds around the world. Very interesting but this display is a little
expensive as it is privately run.
Lark Quarry dinosaur footprints. The large ones are in the bright light spots. The smaller ones are evrywhere but harder to see.
Fossilised dinosaur bone at Age of Dinosaurs. The white bone beside it is the same thigh bone from a bullock.
Pelvis, thigh, leg and toe bones from a large dinosaur. The most compete skeleton in the world.
Garry beside a mid-size herbivore model.
Winton contained a few surprises. Arno’s Wall is a tourist
attraction and is the side fence of an opal miners house block. The wall is made of concrete and has all
kinds of metal household objects built into it.
There are motor bikes, concrete mixers, typewriters, washing machines,
steel wheels, etc. Arno is obviously
very eccentric. There are several Opal
Stores in town selling Opal and one cutter still working.
Arno's wall Winton
Two T-model Fords in the Truck and Heritage Museum Winton. The one on the right is the 'Camper' model. It has twin single beds in the back and not many other conveniences.
I called and saw the grave of our grandfather, Franklin
Charles Miles who is in the RSL section of the cemetry having served in the Boer
War. Diesel is up to $1.63 / litre and
tomatoes have hit $10 a kilo. The
Pelican Van Park is busy and has outdoor fake grass matting on most sites for
the annex. It is a good clean idea.
Moving on to Mt Isa we passed through McKinlay where the pub
was built for the Croc Dundee movie and also Cloncurry. Mining is evident in the region by the 4
trailer road trains and the expanding township with full motels and donga camps
throughout town. We pulled up for lunch
at the Chinaman’s Creek Dam which is a very nice lake in the middle of dry
rocky hilly countryside. It has a good
picnic area but camping overnight is not allowed.
Pretty empty scenary between Winton and Cloncurry.
Chinaman's Creek Dam outside Cloncurry
Mt Isa has about 30,000 residents and has all the services
and shops you need. It is an outback
town with views dominated by the mine and processing facilities. Gardening is not high on the list out
here. Garry went on a tour of a small
underground mine in town which has been built for training and inducting
employees for the real mine. Carol
visited an underground hospital built in WW2.
The display also included a lot of old medical equipment. Lake Moondarra is full and is larger than we
expected. Water is not a problem after
the last couple of wet years and the bush appears lush. The dam wall was built in 1956/7 and was a
rock wall covered on the water side by concrete. Construction was commenced by Utah
Construction Co. but 18 months in there was a large flood which damaged the
partly constructed wall significantly.
After the clean up, Utah left and the dam was finished by Thiess
Brothers. The dam was funded by Mt Isa Mines and was the largest privately
funded water storage in Queensland. The
grass has died after the last couple of dry months but there is more cattle
feed than I remember from my last two trips out here.
Survey Theoolite in mine tour Mt Isa
Main mine and facilities beside town centre
Underground Hospital ward
X-ray machine from the 50's - note the lead curtain for the nurse to stand behind
Lake Moondarra
Very inquisitive peacocks in park at the lake
The main mine here produces silver, lead, zinc and copper
and has markets for as much as they can produce. There are 27 other mines in the
district. Apparently China is buying all
the lead produced and is stockpiling it for the future??
On our last night we went to the Irish Club which is the
largest club in Mt Isa. The food was
good and the coffee shop was interesting.
It is a full sized Melbourne tram that has been refurbished and sits
indoors decked out as a dining car – very impressive.
On our first night in Mt Isa we sat through our first
thunder storm. It rained all night and
the wind was strong. The temperature
dropped and by the time the rain stopped it was windy and very cold. No damage to the gear so we are off to the
Territory tomorrow with a strong wind at our backs.
