The drive to Longreach was a short one of 2.5 hours. It was a lot of the same dry countryside . We saw the occasional Emu's and live kangaroo's. A lot of roadkill beside the road. Leaving Winton we seemed to inadvertently got ourselves in a caravan convoy. There seemed to be at least 4 caravans in front of us.
Longreach was hot and dusty the caravan park was just like a big flat dusty parking lot. Not surprising I guess as they have not had rain in 7 years. Pete and I have been craving a blade of green grass or a
green leafy tree, can you imagine how the locals feel.
We had a quick squize up and own the main street and then headed to the Qantas Foundation Museum. This was very good and told the story of Qantas's inception and the early years, all very interesting. There was a flight simulator that Pete and the kids enjoyed. I would recommend wearing a parachute if you are brave enough to get in a plane they are piloting. We hid from the heat inside for as long as we could then headed to local IGA to stock up. Prices are not so bad, but fruit and veg here in the outback does not seem to last in the heat and is already on the turn when you buy it.
We returned to the caravan only to discover 2 things: 1) the cool change had not arrived, 2) James had left his hat behind at the Qantas museum. So back in the car to the museum and then we decided it was too hot to cook so we had a lovely dinner at the RSL and had a round of UNO. We returned to find that it had indeed cooled down ever so slightly.
Up early the next day to go to school, School of the Air that is. Although it is now called School of Long Distance Education. What an eye opener for my children to learn how children in the outback do their schooling and to find out that they only get to spend 1 week twice a year at school with their friends. All of us in the cities should be grateful of the schools we have close to home and the many resources that are available to our children. They truly are lucky and a little spoilt I think.
We then went to the Stockmans Hall of Fame. A great museum not only about stockmen, but all things about Australia's rural history right back from when Australia was first discovered, to the explorers and their expeditions. We then moved on to the early pioneers and they way of life, types of farming and natural disasters and plagues. The kids favourite was the Royal Flying Doctors and then lastly the Stockmen. We also watched a stockman show where we learnt about how he breaks his horses in, mustering, cattle dogs on the job and a few country songs thrown in for good measure. James has since been practising cracking his whip and yelling yee haa.
So we now have a whole new appreciation for the outback and the people who live out here. I must admit and I don't want to offend anyone but I think I am more of a green mountain, tall tree's and waterfall type of gal.