Day 9 -- Cloncurry to Winton

Left Cloncurry at 9am and swing South off the Barkly Highway onto the Landsborough Highway which heads towards Longreach, my goal being Winton, a four hour drive.  Out of the hills now and back onto the endless plains, broken now by a variety of trees and scrub, not just the Prickly Acacia weed.

Was glad to be heading south, as what seemed like half the Australian Army was heading north. Presumably returning to Darwin from the recent war games at Shoalwater Bay.  Had to give plenty of room to the tanks on low loaders as they passed, as they took up well over half the road width.

First stop was McKinlay, a small village that was original centre of the shakes that takes in Julia Creek etc.  it is named for the explorer Robert McKinlay who came through on way from Adelaide searching for the missing Burke and Wills expedition.  It has the smallest public library I have ever seen, but does have free internet! (See in the pics). Next along the road is Kynuna, even smaller, but made famous in the movie "Crocodile Dundee" where the local pub was featured.

Hit Winton at 1pm, booked in to motel, had a nap and then did the mandatory historic walk that all the towns feature ... Which usually means walking up and down the Main Street past shops and pubs and banks, half of which are now closed.  However Winton has 2 major historic features that are commemorated variously.  Banjo Paterson and his lady friend were guests at a nearby station, and there he composed Waltzing Matilda.  It's first performance was in Winton at the North Gregory Hotel in 1895.  The major museum with all sorts of Matilda memorabilia was recently burnt down and is just a mass of twisted iron now.  The other historic memory is that Qantas was established here as a company, even though Cloncurry was to be its operational base and Longreach now has the museum.

The North Gregory Hotel dominates the main street.  It was first opened in 1879 and has been burnt down three times.  The current incarnation is a two story brick building that was constructed by the local council in 1946 in an attempt to generate tourism.  Daphne Mayo, the renowned sculptress who created the frieze on front of Brisbane City Hall, made 4 glass doors with etchings depicting Matilda themes for the North Gregory Hotel, and these still adorn entrance to the dining room.  She also did a bronze sculpture of the Jolly Swagman which is somewhere in town here.  The NG pub also boasts t at Lyndon Johnson stayed there in 1942 as an army officer.  Of course this whole region was crawling with Yanks then, as it was a staging area for the Battle of Coral Sea and first line of defence if the Japanese overran Darwin.

At 4.30 I joined a 4WD tour out to Rangelands Station where there is a "jumpup" or Mesa.  This is a long flat-topped rock formation, about 50 metres above the grasslands.  At the top, along the edges, erosion has formed a web of gullies and caves that our guide took us through.  Some fascinating rifts there, the huge boulders creating interesting patterns.  After exploring the rifts, we moved to the western edge of the Mesa with an unbroken view across the plains to the setting sun.  Wine and nibbles while we watched the sun set and the sky gradually chnage colour and darken.  A very nice experience, only possible by joining the tour as it is on private property where the gates are all locked!

Had dinner at the NG hotel .. Lousy menu there so I will look for somewhere else tomorrow night.  Am a bit "historied out" tonight, so will be off to bed as soon as I get this online

Your photographic fare can be found here.