On the road again...
Up bright and early, we headed out of Charleville via a little bakery for coffee and snacks and were on the road by 7 am. We were pretty impressed by this, given our late night at the Cosmos Centre on day two, but we had a goal - a booking in Longreach mid-afternoon. We also knew we had five-and-a-half hours of driving ahead of us.
Morning Tea in Tambo
We thought we had learnt our lesson about planning ahead for food stops, but morning tea in Tambo was another non-event, unfortunately. Tip: Don't rely on the information published online about opening hours, or even about which businesses are operating in small towns - we learnt the hard way that this information isn't kept up-to-date. Our tip is to stock up when you can (eg. the morning bakery) and stop at scenic spots, rather than being limited to whatever is open in a town when you arrive. There's a nice park outside Tambo that has good facilities and would make a great spot for morning tea, if packed beforehand.
Beyond the Black Stump
There's a saying in Queensland: "Beyond the Black Stump", which refers to anything west of the town of Blackall. The saying came from a time when surveyors were creating maps of Queensland and used a blackened stump as a landmark for their observations. It now sits in the town of Blackall, behind the Blackall State School. Given our time pressures, we didn't stop to see the stump, but we did get video footage of the cool entry sign as we passed through town.
Lunch in Barcaldine
Barcaldine is a beautiful town. One side of the main street is mostly parkland that overlooks the train line. We sat in the park and ate our lunch from one of the local bakeries. We were able to watch a train come in and we certainly felt the true 'bustling outback town' vibe while we were there.
Outside the train station is what is, perhaps, the most famous landmark in Barcaldine: The Tree of Knowledge. The tree was named after its claim to fame as the founding site of the Australian political movement of the Labor Party back in 1891, when it was the gathering point for shearers on strike. After that, it became an iconic representation of the Labor Party and Trade Unions. The tree was heritage listed in 2006 and was, sadly, fatally poisoned in the same year. The remains of the tree were preserved in a world-first process and then placed back outside the Barcaldine train station under the timber structure which stands on the site today. The current structure is made up of 4,913 individual timbers, 3,449 of which hang around the trunk to give the illusion of a canopy. It is a breathtaking and memorable site.
We really enjoyed Barcaldine and would recommend it as a must-see destination on any Outback Queensland road trip. After this stop, we fueled up the cars and then we were on the road again.
QANTAS Founders Museum, Longreach
Driving into Longreach from Barcaldine, the QANTAS Founders Museum is unmissable, with several aeroplanes gathered under a large shade structure that makes the museum an impressively imposing sight. We had bookings for museum entry and an airpark tour, and reported at our assigned time to be told, somewhat hilariously, that our booking numbers had been assigned to other names. They were happy to let us in, but the two matriarchs of our travel party were referred to as 'Mrs Leggett' and 'Mrs Wallace' for the afternoon (not our real names - not even close!). It's shared moments like these that make travelling with friends fun. In-jokes for years!
Since it was school holidays, our airpark tour group was mostly families, with a small number of couples and singles: Perfect for us, because nobody expected the children to behave like adults (and that was certainly a good thing, because the tour was 1.5 hours long). Our tour guide adjusted the tour to include the children and made it very interesting. We were able to get up-close to all of the planes, including a DC-3, Boeing 747, Boeing 707 and a Super Constellation. Our kids had been on planes before, but not UNDER planes - we learnt all about the different hatches and the engines and it was truly an engaging experience for all ages. The internal plane tour was fun as well, with the kids allowed to sit in the cockpit and 'operate' the controls. One of the older planes was decked out in retro style and included displays with photos from the time the plane was in use.
The indoor museum included displays of air host and pilot uniforms and that sort of thing, but also included interactive displays for the children to enjoy. The highlight inside was the light plane that was set up facing a screen, which changed according to how the children moved a lever. They felt like they were really flying the plane and had an absolute ball in this part of the museum.
Everything on offer in the museum gallery part of the QANTAS Founders Museum and the airpark was really interesting and unique to this type of museum - making it a true must-do experience in Longreach. We went back later (see below) for a light show at night, which was fabulous as well!
Accommodation in Longreach
If you read my original post about our trip planning, you'll remember that we wanted to stay in really nice accommodation at least once. Nights one and two of our trip were spent in perfectly nice motels, but we had seen advertising for Saltbush Retreat Longreach, offering 'boutique outback lodging' and we fell in love with the look of the place.
It has always been important to me that the information provided in this blog be honest. I wish I could say that Saltbush was everything we had hoped for, but that just wasn't the case. In fairness, the place was jam-packed when we were there and the staff were clearly stretched. However, we paid a premium for a 'boutique' experience and we were left feeling quite disappointed.
The first thing for larger families to know is that there is only one accommodation option that fits six people, and that is the two-bedroom house. We looked at the house online and it didn't have the 'boutique outback' vibe that many of the other options seemed to have. It was more like a standard cabin, so we opted not to book the house. This was a mistake. In retrospect, I wish we had just gone for convenience and price rather than luxury, because I think we would have felt less let down if we'd gone in with lower expectations.
The other family we were traveling with were a family of four. They were able to fit into one of the Homestead Stables rooms, which are considered 4.5 star luxury accommodation. Some of the Homestead Stables are smaller, but several accommodate four people, with a queen bed and a bunk in each room. A single Homestead Stables room had a higher per-night rate than the whole two-bedroom house, but the pictures online looked beautiful and the stables rooms offered something unique for our Outback adventure, so our family decided to split up for the three nights and book two Homestead Stables rooms to fit the six of us - one adult and two children in each room. These rooms came with exclusive access to an outdoor bath terrace, shared between the Homestead Stables and another luxury option offered at Saltbush (another thing we would have missed if we'd booked the two-bedroom house), as well as dedicated laundry facilities.
It's probably easiest for me to summarise our experience at Saltbush in terms of positives and negatives:
Positives
- The rooms themselves were very nicely furnished and delivered the promised 'boutique outback' vibe;
- We had some lovely photo opportunities;
- Two of our three rooms were clean and fresh;
- Saltbush is well-located across the road from the QANTAS Museum, within walking distance of the Stockman's Hall of Fame and within a short drive of town.
Negatives
- The check-in process was very slow - reception was unattended when we arrived (as I said above, the staff was clearly swamped);
- One of the three rooms (my room) smelt strongly of fish or something similar. It hit me when I opened the door and didn't dissipate during our stay, despite spraying the whole room with Glen 20 and keeping the windows open. We suspected it may have been coming from a drain;
- The bunk bed ladders were very noisy - the metal clanged every time a child moved;
- Our rooms were not alongside each other, despite the fact that I booked and paid for all three together. This was particularly hard for our family because we were split over two rooms and had to share toiletries, etc.;
- The rooms' furnishings included a lampshade made of barbed wire. These lamps protruded out beyond a small desk against the wall, which meant that anyone standing at the desk was at risk of injury (see photos below). I nicked my forehead within a couple of minutes of arrival and had to get a staff member to come and confirm that the 'rusty' look of the barbed wire was fake - I was panicking about getting a tetanus infection! There was no apology from the staff, just a bit of a shrug and some bemusement. The staff member's 'solution' to minimise the risk of further injury was to cover my lampshade with a towel for the entire stay. Not exactly a 'boutique' solution. We ended up covering the lamps in all three of our rooms once we realised that the design was the same in all the rooms. The lamps were at eye-level and the risk of injury was real;
- The laundry that was apparently dedicated to the Homestead Stables guests was also used by staff to wash the retreat's linen. We had allocated an afternoon to do washing and found ourselves waiting around for machines to be free because they were in constant use by the staff;
- The bath terrace had a view of a nearby caravan park and each bath had to be disinfected before and after use - the whole vibe of the bath terrace area was a bit yucky (see photos below) and we didn't even use them in the end (despite this being one of the main reasons we opted for the higher cost accommodation);
- For this experience, we paid $1500 for three nights.
We had really looked forward to Saltbush Retreat as the accommodation highlight of our trip. Unfortunately it wasn't what we had hoped for. It was a nice place to stay, but we wouldn't recommend paying extra to stay in the Homestead Stables. For families looking for a good base from which to explore Longreach, the cabins are probably both a more practical and a more cost-effective option. Outback Queensland was experiencing a tourist influx when we stayed, so I think it's worth noting that we probably didn't get the normal level of Saltbush service because the staff was run off its feet. Don't write off this accommodation option completely, but please, learn from our experience!
Dinner and a show
We were booked in to see the Luminescent Longreach light show at the QANTAS Museum in the evening of day three, so we ordered takeaway Indian for dinner. The town was super busy, so dinner was delayed and we ended up rushing in to our show as one of the last groups to arrive (dinner had to wait).
There are strict rules around recording and photography during the Luminescent Longreach show, so I can't share anything with you, but it is most definitely a must-do activity in Longreach. The music and atmosphere were fantastic. The projections on to the side of the largest plane at the museum were extremely cleverly done. It was mesmerising, educational and entertaining. Be warned that you do have to stand up 'in the round' for the show (which goes for around 20 minutes, from memory), so this attraction might not be suitable for very young children.
To end our big day, we picked up our delayed dinner on the way back to Saltbush, and enjoyed a bit of down-time on the shared verandah of the Homestead Stables rooms before splitting off into our three rooms to get some rest ahead of day four!
Day 3 Outback Queensland Family Road Trip Summary
Start:
Charleville
End:
Longreach
Driving:
5 hrs 30 mins (515 km)
Accommodation:
Saltbush Retreat, Longreach
Notable stops:
Tambo main street;
Tree of Knowledge, Barcaldine;
Barcaldine main street;
QANTAS Founders Museum, Longreach;
Luminescent Longreach presentation, QANTAS Founders Museum, Longreach;
Little Star Indian restaurant, Longreach.
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