Winton - July 09

Well this is the last of the catch up posts and hopefully we can keep this updated more regularly; we did have a great few days at Winton which you will read later on but lets start with the van park and other options available.

The caravan park at Winton is the Matilda Country Tourist Park and comes under the Top Tourist banner (you definitely need to book); site fees were $27 per night and they do have everyone by the nuts as it is the only park in town. They tend to cram as many in as possible with some parking on the roadways within the park and a mass of extension leads running all over the place. One of the mornings was quite cool and the amount of heaters tuned on based on the power load available tripped every power head in the park on 2 occasions.

The amenities consisted of about 3 demountable buildings for male and the same for female; the mens had the standard trough, 4 loo's and 3 showers. The showers were the fibreglass base with a shower curtain and then another shower curtain where you got dried; I personally hate these curtains, as soon as you get in the shower it seems the bloody thing wants to eat your legs and part of your arse and they are an absolute mongrel to keep off your body.

The park had a camp kitchen which had some form of entertainment each night (bush poets, solo singers etc); you could also have a roast meal each evening which was as much as you like for about $12; every night you had a choice of beef or beef (it never changes).

Other option are you can free camp at the rear of the Gregory Hotel in town but you have to be quick and lucky to get a spot in here, no power available but water can be obtained by bucket only, you are not allowed to connect your hose for direct supply. There also is a free camp 4km South of Winton called the Long Waterhole, it does take big rigs and phone service is available and dogs are allowed. The other option is a farm stay about 15km West of Winton but they only have 4 powered sites.

Above is the Winton caravan park; plenty of dust here.

Winton boasts a population of approximately 1000 and is part of the dinosaur trail as it has the most concentrated areas of dinosaur finds. If you are keen enough you can trip out to Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackway where they do have the world’s only recorded evidence of a dinosaur stampede; the drive is 110km from Winton so you will need to be keen on the subject. 

More to the things I like – PUBS; there is what is known as the “Greatest Outback Queensland Pubs” (30 in total) and Winton has 3 of them. These are North Gregory Hotel, Winton Hotel and Tattersalls Hotel; above is one of many unique parts of the hotel walls, they all are adorned with all types of memorabilia.

Above is the old dining room at the Tattersalls Hotel; this is small and cosy, there is plenty of other eating areas in and outside the pub and the food at all the hotels is very good.

 

Above is what is known as Arno’s Wall; this is an architectural marvel (or disaster) either way it is very unique, it stands 2m tall and runs a total of 10m and it has every sort of object built into the concrete. As you can see it has everything from motor bikes, hub caps, sinks and dunny’s; very interesting to look at but it makes you wonder about the mental capacity of the builder who maybe has the IQ of a Wombat (my apologies to the Wombat's).

Above is another free attraction at Winton; yes it is true and yes you can play a tune on it; one section is tensioned between 2 timber posts and in tune should you be musical inclined. There is a bin close by with various sticks and metal objects that can be used to play the fence. 

With me not being that good on the strings close by was a drum set; I bashed the shit out of these whilst Lin struck up a tune on the fence. It’s a good job this attraction is nowhere near any residential properties. 

We found Banjo Paterson situated outside The Waltzing Matilda Centre; this is the only museum in the world dedicated to a song. This is a great place to visit and you can purchase a ticket for here and it also gives you access to other paid town attractions as a package.

All in all Winton was great for a visit and if you wanted to take in all the sites at a relaxed pace it would be best to allow 4 days to a week.

Will try to be a little more regular once we leave Tweed Heads which will be 12th October; the only firm commitment we have is from the 14^th December 2009 to the end of Jan 2010 we will be at Scarborough in Brisbane for the Christmas period.

As always we wish you all well and hope you stay safe.

Will post again soon

Regards – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig

 

Ilfracombe - Longreach July 09

We decided to stay at Ilfracombe rather than going on to Longreach; we had been told by several other travellers that if we were heading west stay at the Ilfracombe park based on their experience and we are so glad we did. Longreach is further west by 27km so it is no big deal in getting to the tourist attractions but my recommendation would be to stay at this family owned park, not just for the great rates ($22 per night during our stay) but for the whole atmosphere of the place, friendliness, and great entertainment late afternoon and evening. The park facilities were spotless and a pleasure to use.

Jesse & Cathryn are the owners and involve themselves in every happy hour; fantastic humorous bush poetry and yarns by Jesse makes the place so welcoming and the family hospitality shown by Cath and the kids tops it off. We also met up with Dennis & Shirley at the park (along with many others), they were great long time friends of Jesse & Cathryn and were helping out on there travels as they often do; in all we had a great time and would stay for longer on our next visit.

The town has a population (according to my research) of approximately 300; if I have got it wrong my apologies to the more knowledgeable, apologies also for any names spelled incorrectly.

Above shows part of the park and our location, the grounds are a typical “welcome to the west” environment; this for us was well received as it was the first slab site we had been on since Gayndah.

Happy hour in the shed; this shot was taken late afternoon (based on my normal bedtime) but it kicked on well into the early evening with heaps of fun for all. 

The pub above sits proudly on the main highway through to Longreach and my understanding is the whole area was originally the Wellshot Station property; the beer was cold and the hospitality was great. 

Ilfracombe boasts several points of interest all of which are free but it is appreciated if a gold coin donation is made to assist in the maintenance and upkeep of some of the displays. The above is what is called the “Machinery Mile” which displays along the main highway some of the oldest and most extensive equipment displays. Most have been donated and moved to site at no charge to maintain the history of the region. 

Above is the “Hiltons Bottles” display; the photo does not really do justice as this would be only 5% of the total collection; there is also a lot of other memorabilia to look at and on entering the gate a small steel container is there if you wish to donate to the upkeep and cleaning of the bottles.

There is a lot of other historical places and must do’s in Ilfracombe (Langenbaker House, Romani Hall, Wellshot Centre, Memorial Park etc) and we would certainly go back for another bash, by the way the cafe and store on the highway is well worth the stop for coffee and food (full on espressos,cappuccinos etc).

Summarising this is a great place to stay for a few days or longer (we would have loved a week or so); the park, staff and management are first class and you would need your head read if you bypass this for Longreach, ring ahead to book as you could be disappointed in just rolling up as the park is well patronised.

ON TO LONGREACH

Headed in to Longreach for the day to take in some of the sights; the town is quite substantial in services and has a population of around 4000, plenty of pups along with an IGA and a Crazy Clarks for those that have the “$2 items” withdrawal syndrome.  We only did the one main tourist venture and we (Linda) decided on the “Hall of Fame”; my choice would have been Qantas but thats for the next trip when we roll back in from Townsville. 

You know what they say about a woman being a perfect height (somewhere to place your stubbie etc) well Linda is just at that right height for the “Ringer” which stands just outside the Hall of Fame. Not sure what she found behind his leg but he seemed to have a smile on his dial. 

The sign is just in front of the ringer. 

One of the exhibits inside the hall of fame; it is a great place to visit but it is fairly dark inside and there is a lot of reading involved. In talking to other visitors it seems to be divided opinions on this tourist venue and Qantas in “bang for your buck”. Entry into the hall of fame is $22.50 each and for an extra $5 each includes a 1 hour show with cattle dogs (highly recommended). Not sure what the Qantas venue was charging but I believe it was a similar amount.

Will post again soon. Regards – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig.