Longreach, Qld

Thomson River, Longreach

Longreach 2013

Our next stop on our trip north from Adelaide  was Longreach about 120 km from Isisford

.

Our first sighting of a Brolga

Our first trip to Longreach, in 2013, we decided to stay in the caravan park so we could top up our water tanks and recharge our various batteries and also do some laundry.
The Stockman's Hall of Fame was on the top of our sightseeing list.

Entrance to the Stockamn's Hall of Fame

Stockman's Hall of Fame, Longreach

Blacksmith's display 

More from the Blacksmith display

Another display of a hut

Covered waggon on display, probably a travelling salesman

We spent a few hours at the Stockman's Hall of Fame as there was a lot to see, but we couldn't see it all before we were too tired to keep going.  Our entrance fee allowed us to go back the next day so we did see a bit more then.

QANTAS  FOUNDERS MUSEUM, LONGREACH 2013

The next day we looked around the Qantas museum and again it was full of information and displays, too many to show here but again we were very tired by the end of our visit.

Me on the Bristol Fighter simulator

And Ron too

Part of the inside area full of interesting displays

Ron

Inside a DC3

Jumbo 747 in the car park

We also drove around Longreach and snapped a few photos.

The Longreach Railway Station

The Thomson River just out of Longreach

Memorial Park, Longreach

Memorial Park,Longreach

Cute little caravan in the caravan park

Longreach 2019

On our trip last year we again stopped in Longreach but this time didn't do the Museums, but just decided to have a rest as well as getting my computer repaired as it had a major breakdown and I was afraid I would lose all my photos etc. but thankfully there was a great repair shop who were able to recover everything!  I was so relieved.

Bush camping in Longreach

Very dry here in 2019

Main street in Longreach

 Longreach is a really good town with plenty of shops to either browse, buy or to have a coffee, and we did all three!  As we spent quite a few hours here waiting for my computer to be repaired, we got to know the town quite well.  The main street has some interesting sculptures, but unfortunately I lost those photos,  and there is a really nice Memorial park where we spent some time sitting in the shade while waiting for the computer.  Each time we returned to the repair shop they were still downloading/uploading the data and we were told to come back in an hour, and this we did every hour from 10 am,  so we did have a bit of time to kill as the computer was finally ready to pick up at 5 pm.

Interesting vehicles in main street

Longreach main street and my favourite store where I bought my hat (photo below)

Brolgas near our campsite

Brolgas near our campsite at Longreach

The free camping area out of Longreach near the Thomson River

Isisford, Qld

Our next town to visit was Isisford.

We left Blackall after a couple of days there and headed to Isisford about 120 km away.  The road was a narrow bitumen road and we had to pull off the road onto the dirt when any large B-double trucks approached as there was not room for both of us and they are HUGE. We always let them have right of way as they are working for their living and have deadlines to meet whereas we are on holidays. 

We arrived in Isisford and looked around for a camping spot as there is no caravan park and everyone was set up along the dry riverbed of the Barcoo River.  We found a spot with a bit of shade and set ourselves up.
There were some showers and toilets in another area but we have our own in our van and we also have about 140 litres of water in our tanks so we are able to camp comfortably for about 2-3 days or longer if we are careful with our water use.

The dry Barcoo Riverbed

Next morning we drove out to Oma Waterhole, about 15km.  Every year there is a fishing competition held here and the whole camping area is filled with campers.  We are not fishers and the competition had been held the week before so there were no campers here.  If we had known this we would have camped here as it was a lovely area.

Oma Waterhole

Large bird nest, perhaps an eagle's nest

Sign at Oma waterhole

A large truck on road to Oma

The next day we wandered around Isisford and were surprised to find a really great museum and coffee shop which had many displays of dinosaurs found in the local area.

The Outer Barcoo Interpretive Centre, a museum depicting the evolution of nature from 100 million years ago to the present. The feature attraction is a life-sized replica model of Isisfordia Duncani, who lived around 98 million years ago and was the evolutionary ancestor of all crocodilians that live on earth today.

 There are displays of local fauna, flora, reptiles, birds and fossils that have lived in this region, as well as formation of the Great Artesian Basin and general history of the Isisford area. An audio-visual presentation portrays life in the Isisford area since settlement. The film depicts Isisford as being ‘the middle of everywhere’. The building also houses 60 seat theatrette, cafeteria, local arts and craft displays
https://www.outbackqueensland.com.au/

Isisfordia duncani

The Isisford bulldog fish, which surfaced from a 100 million year slumber

The large display area in the Outer Barcoo Interpretation Centre in Isisford

Old Bakery in Isisford

Exterior of old Bakery in Isisford

O

Car Wash in Isisford

Washing down the car

We had a great couple of days here in Isisford, a small town but a lot to see and definitely worth a visit.