Longreach
is a sizeable town in outback Queensland.
Longreach is one of the most visited towns in outback
Queensland.
It has got two attractions
found nowhere else in Australia:
the Qantas Founders Outback Museum, and
the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame. But there is also an
interesting Powerhouse Museum, the School of Distance
Education, and the enjoyable outback experience in Banjo’s
Pioneer Shed.
Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame and Other Museums
The
central tourist information centre, post office, shops, eateries
and places to stay are in the blocks around the crossroad of Duck and
Eagle Streets. West from the town centre is the Powerhouse Museum – the
town's’s former powerhouse which was in use until 1985. The rest of
tourist attractions are away from the town centre, east along the
Landsborough Highway. About 2km out of the town is the Australian
Stockman’s Hall of Fame & Outback
Heritage Centre - a very popular outback attraction. It’s huge and
it’s full of interesting displays about the history of Australian
Outback, its people, work and play, and the ticket is valid for two
days so you can return the following day for no extra cost.
Qantas Hangar
Longreach’s was the birthplace of Qantas Airlines. The original hangar
is
here, now as a part of the Qantas Museum at the town's
Airport, just north of the Hall of Fame. Inside the hangar are an old
workshop and an airplane, Apollo, which was the first covered aircraft
of Qantas. In the museum next door, there is Avro – the first Qantas
airplane ever. Also in the museum are displays about the history of
Qantas, old photos and different memorabilia.
Qantas Museum
Outside the museum is a new attraction which has only been here since
2002. It’s a modern Qantas 747 Jumbo Jet, which you can discover
up-close on a tour which takes you inside the plane, to engine rooms,
storage room, petrol tanks and even to the cockpit where you can sit in
the pilot’s seat and be taught how to drive a plane! It’s very
interesting, you’ll learn how to start it, how to turn and adjust
speed, and finally you can go out and walk on one of the wings where
you can have a photo taken. And – it’s not any Qantas plane – what’s
special about this particular airplane is that its last trip was to
bring home the victims of Bali Bombings in 2002. It was then decided to
take the plane here and turn it into museum.
School of Distance Education
Another interesting place to visit while in Longreach is the School of
Distance Education. Such schools are
found in many parts of Australia where the isolated cattle stations are
not in a reachable distance to a school, so the kids are taught from
the School of Distance Education where lessons are given over radios
and computers. The one in Longreach teaches about
200 children in the area around the town, and many times a year the
children get together and learn to know each other and their teachers.
Teachers also visit homes and the students are of course welcome to the
school any time they happen to be in town – there are computer rooms in
the school and there are always some students using them. You can go on
a guided tour where you can see teachers in the action and hear the
children in the other end. The walls are covered in children’s drawings
and there is also a mural outside with the pupils’ names.
Banjo's Outback Theatre Longreach Queensland
South of the School of the Distance Education, Outback Hall of Fame and
the Qantas Museum is a unique outback experience – Banjo’s Pioneer Shed
& Outback Theatre. It’s all based on the history of the outback
life with humour, songs and yarns of the outback characters. Banjo, his
wife Robyn, and his friends Andy and Ron put a show on and tell you the
outback stories, sing songs, shear a sheep and press the wool on a 110
year old wool press. Dinner, lunch or breakfast is included in the
price and fresh products come from their own veggie garden. During the
colder winter months they put on a fire and billy tea, and there is
even a book exchange and a gift shop. Good, friendly people and a very
enjoyable experience.
Here's an Australian outback map showing
the town,
where I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web
page. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and
double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places
closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the
satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand
corner.
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What Other Visitors Have Said
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
Longreach is the best ever Longreach is the best i love it the coutry town is bueatiful and the people are so thoughtful and helpful i would love to go back there again and agian …
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This site uses
British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will
find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all
correct in the language used in Australia.
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