July 27 Longreach

Today’s major stop was at the QANTAS Founders Outback Museum, established here in Longreach because it’s the home of QANTAS. Other than the museum itself the other highlights were the display of a 707, 747 and the original QANTAS hangar. We had a guided tour of the 747 and it was really interesting to be able to see many of the areas you don’t get to access as a passenger. As well the role of all the “little bits” on the outside of the plane was explained. QANTAS donated the 747 to the museum when it had reached the end of its useful life but had major issues to resolve before it could be landed in Longreach. As much weight as possible was removed and it could land using only the two inside of its four engines. The pilot who volunteered to fly it in had to spend 4 months training in a simulator before he was qualified to fly it. Amazing! The 707 was actually restored and flown out to Australia before reaching it resting place here at Longreach.

Both the QANTAS Museum and the Stockman’s Hall of Fame have had a huge impact on the economy of Longreach, just going by the number of visitors while we’ve been here. I imagine they would both be pretty empty during the summer months though when the temperature is regularly over 40⁰. We were invited back for Christmas but I think we’ll pass.

Mum got a load of washing done this afternoon and we paid a visit to the local craft centre and a nursery where she bought another eremophila. We now have our own travelling nursery and between stops the plants reside in a box in the step of the van.

Quite a lot of the older residences in Longreach display the traditional architecture for this climate – high roof cavity, built well above the ground to provide a cool space below and wide verandahs on either 2 or 3 sides. Understandably, ducted air conditioning is almost mandatory.