Day 5 - Longreach to Ayrshire Hills
Short ride today to explore Longreach and Winton a bit.
Quick Stats
- 2.5 hours on bike
- 273 km
- 1762 km total
Starting the day nice and late after a sleep in in my cozy cabin, I pack up the bike and get ready to leave.
Before leaving, though, I walk across to road to the Q.A.N.T.A.S. Founders Museum.
Before being Qantas, it started life as the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services in 1920. A couple of ex-WW1 pilots, a sheep station owner and an engineer noticed the value of air travel as a means to shorten the gaps (the gaps I'm finding tomorrow) for people in the outback.
They got themselves an Avro 504K and moved their headquarters to Longreach to meet the rail terminus for easy parts.
The museum was a pretty interesting look at the evolution of the outback. Its surprising to learn just how quickly the West spread across the top of Australia and the feats they undertook to get there. Planes were transporting people and mail across the red centre before most had traded in camels and carts for cars.
The trip from Longreach to central NT in a Ford Model T to chart airstrips was eye opening.
Anyway the day was passing by, so I left Longreach behind into easily the flattest and dullest section of scrublands and heading for a place called "The Jump-Up".
An elevation jump of 40 metres may not sound like much, but boy does it stand out on the flat plains of Central QLD. A few fun twists to the summit, I'm lucky I remembered how to turn.
The Jump-Up is the new home of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs. Half an hour from Winton, it's basically the centre for Australian archeological studies. Home of the holotypes (the standard that other fossils are compared to) for a number of dinosaurs and ancient reptiles.
I unfortunately only had a couple hours before they closed, so I signed up for a couple of shorter tours and got shown around where and how they dig and preserve fossils. You could easily spend two days here (or even more if you volunteer for their dig or prep programs).
The Jump-Up is also home to Australias first Dark Sky Observatory. I was eager to stay into the evening, but alas tonight is the brightest full moon of the year and they don't bother opening during them.
So back on the road, a quick refuel in Winton and on to my camp for the night about 50 clicks North.
The Ayrshire Hills wouldnt really stand out much anywhere else, but everything is relative. I pulled into a free camp behind some twin hills and setup the tent quickly so I could catch the sunset from the summit. See for yourself.
Tomorrow a whole big day of nothing.