Saturday, June 02, 2007
Stage 2 - Hughenden to Longreach
This has been the stage of entertainment! Almost every night has been something different. In Hughenden, it was the country singing postie who entertained us at the caravan park along with putting on a bit of a barbie. In Stamford, we were joined for dinner by the local school principal for a lovely evening. In Winton, we were treated to one of the top bush poets and yarnspinners, and there was another bush poet in Longreach.
Leaving Hughenden, we headed down the track for a little place called Stamford. We knew there was a roadhouse there but that was about all. It's not often that you meet the entire population of a town, but we did (two or three times over!), it's not that hard when there's only 4 people living there. Plus 3 dogs! There is a tiny school of 11 students from surrounding stations, and the principal was a young woman, Kate, who came to join us for tea that night. A little tiny place with a lot of character!
Next night was Corfield, and we weren't sure whether the pub would open or not after rumours of their irregular trading hours (i.e. when they felt like opening, they opened). We were in luck though, as we arrived at lunchtime on Sunday and the pub was opening 5pm-9pm. Camping was in a yard next door alongside the tennis court. That was about all there was to Corfield, beside the racecourse - which is the town's big event each year with a prizemoney of $47,000.
Winton (or 'Winin') is home to the musical fence and the Matilda Centre. It's a cosy little town, with a couple of nice pubs and a great atmosphere. We were treated to hear bush poet Milton Taylor, one of the best, as he entertained a full house at the caravan park that night. He really put on a show and had everyone in stitches. We had a great lunch at the Tattersalls Hotel and a look around the Matilda Centre which had lots of interesting displays and collections.
From Winton, we had planned to take 2 days to get to Longreach. It was going to be a pretty long day, just over 100km to get to our camping spot at Morella, which used to be a rail siding. Getting there in the heat of the afternoon, however, with the sun scorching down and very little shade, we decided to chuck the bikes (and riders!) in the bus and head into Longreach a day early.
Longreach is a town pretty geared up for tourists, and there were countless campervans (besides all the hundreds of Winnebagos we'd seen the previous few days!) around the town. Longreach is home to the Qantas museum (being its birthplace), and also the Stockman's Hall of Fame. We had plenty of time to look around and check out the shops, a few of the guys visited the Barber, and we had a meal in the RSL one night.
We've just started Stage 3 of the ride, from Longreach to Quilpie, and have been to Ilfracombe and Isisford, and will spend tonight at Russleigh Station. We'll give a bit more of an update of Stage 3 when we get to Quilpie, so in the meantime, stay tuned...
Leaving Hughenden, we headed down the track for a little place called Stamford. We knew there was a roadhouse there but that was about all. It's not often that you meet the entire population of a town, but we did (two or three times over!), it's not that hard when there's only 4 people living there. Plus 3 dogs! There is a tiny school of 11 students from surrounding stations, and the principal was a young woman, Kate, who came to join us for tea that night. A little tiny place with a lot of character!
Next night was Corfield, and we weren't sure whether the pub would open or not after rumours of their irregular trading hours (i.e. when they felt like opening, they opened). We were in luck though, as we arrived at lunchtime on Sunday and the pub was opening 5pm-9pm. Camping was in a yard next door alongside the tennis court. That was about all there was to Corfield, beside the racecourse - which is the town's big event each year with a prizemoney of $47,000.
Winton (or 'Winin') is home to the musical fence and the Matilda Centre. It's a cosy little town, with a couple of nice pubs and a great atmosphere. We were treated to hear bush poet Milton Taylor, one of the best, as he entertained a full house at the caravan park that night. He really put on a show and had everyone in stitches. We had a great lunch at the Tattersalls Hotel and a look around the Matilda Centre which had lots of interesting displays and collections.
From Winton, we had planned to take 2 days to get to Longreach. It was going to be a pretty long day, just over 100km to get to our camping spot at Morella, which used to be a rail siding. Getting there in the heat of the afternoon, however, with the sun scorching down and very little shade, we decided to chuck the bikes (and riders!) in the bus and head into Longreach a day early.
Longreach is a town pretty geared up for tourists, and there were countless campervans (besides all the hundreds of Winnebagos we'd seen the previous few days!) around the town. Longreach is home to the Qantas museum (being its birthplace), and also the Stockman's Hall of Fame. We had plenty of time to look around and check out the shops, a few of the guys visited the Barber, and we had a meal in the RSL one night.
We've just started Stage 3 of the ride, from Longreach to Quilpie, and have been to Ilfracombe and Isisford, and will spend tonight at Russleigh Station. We'll give a bit more of an update of Stage 3 when we get to Quilpie, so in the meantime, stay tuned...
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