Logan to Longreach - Lunch!

During our visit to the QANTAS Founders Museum, we had to eat. (what? us? eat?) So we decided to try out McGinness's - the cafeteria in the museum.

I had (shock, horror!) a Salad Sandwich. It contained fancy lettuce, tomato, capsicum, carrot & cheese. I thought it was also meant to have avocado and beetroot. Delicious all the same. But probably double the price of the same thing in a takeaway. WHo cares - we were on holidays and ate with a view of the planes!

Janet tried the crispy chicken burger. With Chips. It was good after the removal of the fancy lettuce. (iceberg lettuce = ok, other lettuce = bad)

QANTAS Founders Museum, Longreach

The main reason for our road trip to Longreach was this. A visit to the QANTAS FOunders Museum where we could walk on the wing of a 747.

THe 747 is an imposing sight as you drive into Longreach. That distinctive red tail really stands out.

We were booked to do the whole package of tours at the museum, so got there at 9am to begin our plane-filled day.

We did a tour of the 747, a tour of the 707, watched a film, sat in the cockpit of the 747, climbed down into the computer bank under the floor of the 747, and finally did our wing walk.

You may think that if you have been on a plane, there is no reason to do a tour of one, but it really did show you a lot of things you wouldn't see, as well as letting you get very close to the plane.

One suggestion - they should take a photo of the people on the wing walk. They could then sell it to you and make more money! We were suprised that we had to take our own photo while we were up there. A photo from a platform near the plane would work better!

THe 747

One of the old planes in the museum

Its a big plane!

Flying the plane?

Janet & Ali on the Wing

Janet on the Wing

Janet under the floor

Janet in the cockpit

side of the plane

Tail of the 707

One of the 747 engines

Janet under the 747

Janet walking down from inspecting the luggage compartment

Hall of Fame in the background

THE 707

Out to Dinner May (#2) - Longreach RSL

We tried to go to the Outback Restaurant at the Longreach Motor Inn, but being the Labor Day holiday, it was shut. So we walked back to the Longreach RSL. And had the hugest meals ever.









Janet had Whiting with Vegetables & Chips ($22)

I had a Tortilla Vegie Stack with Salad (and chips). Biggest salad ever.It included potato salad and rice salad. And lots of chips.

Neither of us could finish the whole plate. Delicious Dinner!

Longreach Sunset

On our first day in Longreach, I drove us across the river to a truck parking area, where we watched the sunset. There are a million more photos on my Flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeybird88/sets/72157617843701561/

The Tree of Knowledge Memorial - Barcaldine

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25419926-5006786,00.html

Tree of Knowledge memorial opened
May 02, 2009
Article from: Australian Associated Press
IT'S an emblem of Australia's labour movement and a holy grail to the Labor Party.
It's also been poisoned and died.
A tree in outback Queensland, seen as the birthplace of workers' solidarity since striking shearers were said to have gathered there in 1891, has been given a new lease on life after it was poisoned three years ago.
The dead tree is part of a controversial $6 million memorial officially opened today in front of solemn dignitaries and hundreds of locals.
But the question on everyone's lips was, whodunnit?
The poisoning of the tree remains a mystery. No charges have been laid.
Popular suspects include disgruntled political opponents of the Labor Party, drunken pranksters or incompetent gardeners.
Whoever it was, there was every chance the culprit was blending in with the crowd at the opening gala.
Queensland Liberal National Party MP Vaughan Johnston, despite being a Labor opponent, attacked the anonymous poisoner when he took to the podium.
I hope you're proud of what you've done, because you haven't killed us off,'' an impassioned Mr Johnston said.
"You may have poisoned the Tree of Knowledge, you may have killed the Tree of Knowledge, but you didn't kill the spirit of western Queensland.''
Mr Johnston vehemently denied that any conservative political force could have been behind the tree's death.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh was more restrained, saying the controversy added to the allure of the tree memorial.
"Like all legends, it has mystery attached to it. I don't know if we'll ever know who poisoned the tree,'' Ms Bligh said at the launch.
Elderly Barcaldine resident "Wacka'', who was observing the launch from outside the Railway Hotel, said local gossip had not solved the riddle.
"It's a mystery, they'll never find out who did it,'' he said.
It's not just the premature death of the tree that has locals talking - the new memorial has been criticised for being too large, too ugly and too expensive for the sleepy outback town.
The dead tree, chemically preserved, sits at the centre of a massive square frame.
Logs of wood dangle from the ceiling, creating the impression of walking underneath a live tree, according to the architects.
Liberal Senator Julian McGauran described the memorial as "ugly'', and said taxpayers' money should not have been wasted on a shrine to the Labor Party.
But federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett said it was entirely appropriate to build a memorial at the birthplace of so many political traditions.
"Some people may not like it straight away, I invite them to come up and spend a bit of time here,'' he said after the launch.
The tree memorial has been listed on the national heritage register.


My Mum asked for photos of the new Tree of Knowledge Memorial in Barcaldine. So on our way to Longreach, we stopped and took a few snaps. Its quite a difficult thing to photograph. I thonk you really have to go and see it for yourself to get the full effect. (BArcaldine is about 106 k's outside of Longreach, so roughly 1100k's from Brisbane).

Logan to Longreach - Lunch!

The first of several Salad Sandwiches I consumed on our travels. This one was from the BP Servo in Blackall. Nice full sandwich - which included cheese, beetroot, tomato, carrot, cucumber (which I took off) and lettuce. YUM!





Janet had a bacon & egg burger, which also was very well filled with salad, which she removed. (I wasn't quick enough to get a photo)

Out to Dinner May (#1) - The Golden Dragon, Roma

We were in need of dinner and Chinese sounded like a good idea. So it was off to The Golden Dragon in Roma. (the name did draw us in, since its the same name as a Chinese restaurant we go to in Caloundra)

We began with some vegie Spring Rolls. They looked good. Unfortunately they were cold in the middle. So we sent them back and they made us some hot ones.

Janet had Sweet & Sour King Prawns.

And I had tofu & vegie hot pot. Which was tasty, but nothing spectacular.

Possibly the sign should say "Finest Chinese Cuisine in Roma"

On our return trip, we will be looking for somewhere else to try.

Sunday Afternoon in Roma

We arrived in Roma on Sunday afternoon. First stop was to find somewhere for lunch. We ended up at "The Blue Shed" for some food. Because it was open. Unlike the rest of Roma!



After checking in to the Motel, we headed off for an obligatory visit to "The Big Rig". We only went into the shop, not into the actual attraction, because we couldn't see how the entry fee would be worth it.



Outside the Big Rig is the Slab Hut Museum. Which is free :-) And basically an old house with old things inside.










Next on our agenda was a walk along the Agunadoo Pathway. Along the way, we were amazed to see the number of sprinklers on this field. Apparently no water restrictions in Roma.









On our walk, we managed to find Romas largest Bottle Tree

Logan to Longreach - pit stop - McDonalds Dalby

The tv adds made us do it. You kow the one where the little girl unscrolls her caramel scroll? We made a pitstop at the McCafe in Dalby to try the "freshly baked" delicacies for ourselves.








A chocolate Croissant. mmmmmmmm. Massive thumbs up for this one from Janet.

And a mini caramel scroll. They only had mini ones. Which made it less satisfying to unscroll. But it tasted delicious all the same!

Accompanied by a mug of tea and a coke zero. And then back on the road!

Logan to Longreach - Road Trip May 2009

We left on Sunday and drove the first leg of 485 Km's to Roma where we stayed at the Starlight Motor Inn. This was a nice clean and neat motel. Thumbs up!

We entertained ourselves in Roma for the afternoon (Roma post to follow). The next day it was back on the road and off to Longreach

We paused in Tambo to fill up with petrol at the slowest petrol pump in the universe, and to have a brief look at the Tambo Teddy shop. Which they really need to do a bit of an upgrade on.

A long drive later and we were in Longreach.

Whilst in Longreach, we stayed at the Longreach Motel, in Eagle St. Not as neat and clean as Roma, but not too bad.

After a few days in Longreach (posts to follow), we reversed the process and travelled home! Stopping once more in Roma at the Starlight Motor Inn.

In total, we travelled 2417km's, bought 148.12L of petrol, saw some great sunsets, walked on the wing of a 747, ate way too much food, and had a lovely time!