Day Six
Today we said farewell to Longreach and headed for Cloncurry. It was during today that we realised the very democratic procedure for sharing the road with large Road Trains. It goes like this, they go as fast as they can without loosing control and you get out of the bloody way!! The further we got into the outback the longer and bigger they got (no wonder the roads are falling apart, these things must weigh more than the Sydney Harbour Bridge). We travelled through Winton and after great consideration decided to go into the Walzting Matilda Museum. What a great decision this was, it was not the tourist trap we thought it might be but rather a great tribute to Banjo Patterson and an opportunity to really understand the true meaning of Waltzing Matilda. For years we have sung it but never stopped to reflect on the spirit of freedom that is so well captured in this tale. The museum also has many other interesting exhibits and AV displays. If you ever get the chance, drop in for a few hours and I’m sure it will make an impact on you. After leaving Winton, we travelled onto a town in the middle of nowhere that has the Walkabout Creek Hotel that was used in Crocadile Dundee. It also had a roadhouse that was decorated with photos of truck crashes (not sure why). It was managed by a lovely lady who had a grand daughter named Isabella, she was very kind to our kids. She was also the first female I had ever encountered that called everyone mate (while I was happy to be considered her mate, I was not used to being addressed that way (Susie perhaps this could be a new office protocol). We then arrived in Cloncurry and selected a park to stay for the night. This park was great and run by lovely couple (she must have been as it was three in the afternoon and she already had a glass of quality red wine complete with an ice cube). After seeing the ice cube I perhaps should not have asked her advice on a venue for an evening meal but I did. So when we went to the pub she recommended, we should have pulled out when we saw the false brick work stuck over this beautiful 100 year old timber Queensland hotel but no we continued. Finally, when I saw the 60 year old barmaid with pink hair, we should have realised but no..... So $100 later and with some of the worst food we had eaten since the Glen Innes RSL, we went home dreaming about toast for breakfast.