Spirit of the Outback

Outback Adventure – QANTAS Founders’ Museum

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After an over 24 hour train ride on the Spirit of the Outback, I was now in a very hot Longreach.

No Tours on Offer
On the morning of my first day, I walked into town. My task was to find out how I could get to Winton to see the dinosaurs and the Banjo Patterson Centre.

The woman in the Visitor’s Centre was very helpful, but she gave me some disturbing news:

“The local tour company normally runs a bus out to Winton and the dinosaur centre every Wednesday. They take people that have arrived by the train. Unfortunately, this week there have been not enough bookings to make the tour viable.

Apparently, most of the people on the train are on a tour organised by a company called ‘Fun Over Fifty’. They have their own bus out here and are apparently doing a trip out to Winton”.

She did make some comments about the impact of ‘big city’ businesses, but I won’t go here.

The upshot of all this was that I called the headquarters of ‘Fun over Fifty’ and was able negotiate to join their trip to Winton which was to take place on Wednesday.

Walking in a Cloud of Flies
After sorting out the Winton trip, I walked to the QANTAS Founders’ Museum.

By this time the time, the temperature was well over 40 centigrade. It was a relatively short walk but it seemed to take forever in that heat.

As I walked along, I was surrounded by a cloud of flies. I can remember flies when I was growing up in Canberra before the days of the ‘dung beetle’. However, I cannot recall seeing flies on this scale.

QANTAS Founders’ Museum
I think every Australian knows that its best-known airline began its life in Longreach. The Queensland and Northern Territories Air Services company is of course known by its acronym QANTAS.

The airline is famous for all sorts of reasons. It was the was one of the first, if not the first, ‘International’ airline company. The Dutch KLM and British Airways also make that claim. It is also famous for its safety record – remember that line in the film ‘Rain Man’.

I, like many Australians, have had many QANTAS experiences. These were brought to mind when I visited the museum. More about that later.
The museum consists of an exhibition area that explains the formation of the airline by men that served in the ‘air wing’ of the forces who fought in World War One.

When they returned to Australia, they saw the benefit that aeroplanes would bring to the country, the ‘outback’.

At that time Longreach was at the end of the rail line that extended from Brisbane. There was ‘market’ for a transport service beyond Longreach. Aeroplanes could provide that service.

Initially, the main business was carrying mail and ‘barn storming’, however overtime carrying passengers became a significant part of the business.
After the Second World War commercial air travel took off. QANTAS under government ownership was at the forefront of that development.

My Memories of QANTAS and TAA
Many people will know that when government became involved in the airline industry, they owned QANTAS and Trans Australian Airline (TAA).

There was also the privately-owned Ansett Airlines.

I recall what was probably my first flight. It was on a Viscount Electra operated by TAA. The flight was from Canberra to Brisbane from around 1962 or 63.

Moving on, my first overseas flight was on a QANTAS 707 flight from Rome to Singapore in 1967. I had travelled to the UK with my parents on the P&O liner the Canberra. Our return trip included the flight from Rome. I recalled that flight involved stops in Cairo, Karachi, Calcutta before landing in Singapore. We stopped in Singapore for a few days before flying back Sydney. This involved a refuelling stop in Darwin.

There is a Boeing 707 at the QANTAS Founders Museum. Seeing it brought back memories of that trip to the UK.

As was noted by the museum guide, the Boeing 707 was a truly transformative aeroplane. It enabled many people to fly long distances for the first time.

Another aeroplane on display is Boeing 747, another truly transformative machine.

My first experience of a Boeing 747 was flying with QANTAS from Sydney to London in July 1977. This was followed another flight on 747, this time on Cathay Pacific, from Sydney to London via Hong Kong in 1982. There was another 747 flight on my return via the USA the next year. That flight was with QANTAS from San Francisco with a stopover in Honolulu.

In 1984, I joined the Department of Foreign Affairs. This meant I was flying most months of the year for next 4 and half years. Many of these flights were on QANTAS 747s. I can also recall flying on an Air India 707 from Lagos to Nairobi.

One of the pleasures for flying for ‘Foreign’ was traveling Business Class. QANTAS was the first airline to introduce ‘Business Class’. Of course this was copied by other airlines.

After I left the Department of Foreign Affairs, I joined Caltex. That job also involved overseas travel. Most of that on a QANTAS 747. I was often able to use frequent flyer points to upgrade to first class.

Extra’s on the Tour
The Museum offers a number of versions of their tour. I took the one that included being able to sit in the cockpit of the 747, going into the ‘hold’ and a walk on the wing. It is a little bit expensive, but worth the extra cost.  You also get more time with the guides who are very informative.

Lockheed Constellation
As well as the Boeings, the museum also has a Douglas DC3 on display. They have also have Lockheed Constellation which is in the process of being restored. The Constellation was the most popular aeroplanes for long distance air travel before the arrival of the Boeing 707.

One of my uncles was a medical scientist. In the 1950’s he did a lot of work with the World Health Organisation (WHO). This involved a lot of international travel to Europe and the USA. These trips were on a QANTAS Constellation. I have memories of my mother being very impressed by the fact that her brother ‘could get all the way to New York in a matter of days’.

Other Stuff
As well as the above mentioned aeroplanes, the museum also has pre-war planes that QANTAS used. These are stored on the original QANTAS hanger.

There are also other exhibits in the main museum building. These include audio visual displays with information on the founders of the company and other notable men and women in the early days of the aviation industry in Australia.

There is also a theatre which shows a short film about the history of QANTAS.

Flickr Link
QANTAS Founders’ Museum
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmzqfqHn

Outback Adventure – The Train Out

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QR Train Collage
I have travelled quite a bit in Queensland, however, I have never been into the true ‘outback’. For some time, I have wanted to go to Longreach. This year I decided to do it.

Booking the Train
I had prior experience with Queensland Rail when booking a trip to Hervey Bay after Christmas.

This was an interesting experience to say the least. Curiously, the QR ‘Travel Centres’ were closed on every day from Xmas until after the new year. That meant dealing with the telephone ‘service’ which was undermanned. It was not possible to use the on-line service because it does not do ‘seniors’.

This time the issue was the bike. QR does recognise that there is such a thing as a folding bicycle. For them a ‘bicycle is a bicycle’. This also means that it has to put and a ‘bike box’ with its peddles and handle bar removed. Of course, this is completely unnecessary if it is a folding bicycle.

I won’t bore with the details of the discussions I had with QR over this issue. The discussions went on for several days. The upshot was that a comment was put on my reservation stating, “Brisbane Customer Service has given permission for a folding bicycle to be carried in a bag”.

On the Train
I boarded the train around one o’clock. As I made  my way to my compartment, the first thing I noticed was the ‘curvy’ corridor. Check out the Flickr photo.

The first ‘Eating Event’
Once away, train headed north out of Brisbane.

It wasn’t long before we were offered ‘afternoon tea’. This was to be the first of a seemingly endless series of ‘eating events’ they were to be offered on the journey.

Fun over Fifty
The afternoon tea was served in the dining car. I noticed that the people at my table were wearing ‘name tags’. It turned out that they were part of an organised tour run by a company called ‘Fun over Fifty.

It seemed that many on the tour had joined the tour ‘unknowingly’.  They had booked the trip in response to an advertisement in the Royal Queensland Automobile Club (RACQ)  magazine without looking at the ‘small print’. Anyway, this tour accounted for most of the people in the ‘sleeping class’ on the train.

Move into the Club Car
After afternoon tea, most of the passengers moved into the ‘Club Car’. This a bit ‘old world’ with  leather lounge type seats. It is no wonder that the train is so long. The passengers spent time in their compartments, in the dining room and in the club car.

That is a lot of ‘moving real estate’ for relatively few passengers.

Chatting with English Couple over Dinner
It didn’t seem long before we all back in the dinning car for dinner.

The meal was excellent.

Over dinner I chatted with an English couple. They were also part of the ‘Fun over Fifty’ tour. They told me that they had been booked on another tour that was cancelled.  They were offered this tour as a replacement. I was yet to meet anyone who had ‘actively’ booked on the tour.

The English couple told me that they lived near Maidstone in Kent in the South East of England.. I told them that I knew Maidstone and other parts of Kent quite well. I wont bore you with all the details, but we found that we had some ‘connections’.

In summary those connections are:

I told the couple that In September 1983 I met a girl in the nightclub in Maidstone.   The club was called  called the ‘Warehouse’. This caused the wife to laugh. It appeared that they could have been in that nightclub that night.

The girl I met came out to Australia in 1985, however our relationship didn’t last.

I told that couple that girl lived in a village called Upchurch which is near to Maidstone.

The husband told me that he knew Upchurch well. He had played at private golf club in Upchurch for some years in 1990’s before they temporarily moved to Spain.

That golf club was owned by the above-mentioned girl’s father. The husband  knew the owner, the girl’s father, quite well when he played at the club.

I told the couple that I had gone to the nightclub with some people who were living in Maidstone at the time. This included a couple who later moved to Tunbridge Wells. I am still in contact with the wife of that couple.

The daughter of that family has married a local musician called Fred Clark. The English couple told me that they are Fred Clark fans and often go to his gigs.

I guess all that is an example of ‘six degrees of separation’.

Good Night’s Sleep
After dinner and few drinks in the club car, I headed to my compartment. The seat was quickly converted into a bed by the attendant.

I was soon asleep as the train rattled on into the night.

Heading West
During the night the trained passed through Rockhampton and then turned west.

We were well inland by the time I woke up.

Breakfast was served not long later. It was very good.

Barcaldine
The train stopped for a sometime at Barcalbine. This is famous for its ‘Tree  of Knowledge’. This commemorates the ‘shearers strike’ of 1861. That strike led to the formation of the Australian Labor Party.

As we rattled along we had lunch – another good meal.

Due to the heat, speed restrictions came into play. This meant we arrived into Longreach a couple of hours late.  This is not a big issue on a train journey that takes over 24 hours when it is ‘on time’.

Short Ride to Accommodation
It was a short ride to my accommodation. Even though it was almost dark, it was still very hot – around 35 centigrade.

As well as the heat, the other thing that was obvious were the flies. These were going to t a constant companion for the next few days.

Mosman Resident
Two of the other quests where I was staying had also travelled out on the train. They were an Englishwomen and her German girlfriend.

It turned out that the Englishwomen lived in Mosman. They were very interesting to talk to.

Flickr Link

Train to Longreach
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmBR1VHS

Barcaldine Link
https://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/tree