Winton

Mt Isa - Winton:  13 August [478 km]

We had a quiet morning, with some shopping and other preparations for our time away from larger towns over the next few days.  After a stop at the lookout to see how mining takes place almost in the centre of Mt Isa, we were back on the Overlanders’ Way [the Overlanders’ Way describes the drive from Tennant Creek to Townsville] for the short run to Cloncurry. 

 

This leg of our journey continues through hilly – even rugged – country to Cloncurry.  Just past Cloncurry, we turned onto the Landsborough Highway [in fact, we were now on the Matilda Highway – which describes the drive from Bourke to Karumba on the Gulf] and, almost immediately, the country became very flat as far as we could see.  Occasionally, striking mesa formations interrupt the flat grassy downs.

As an aside:  we were now completing our drive along the Matilda Highway:  we covered the southern section in 2007 and the northern section in 2011.

After an hour or so, we stopped at the tiny settlement of McKinlay.  The main attraction of this very small town is the Walkabout Creek Hotel:  this is the pub which featured in the film Crocodile Dundee and there were lots of people stopping to take photos of what has become an icon of Australian films. [Question:  Who starred in Crocodile Dundee?]

A further hour along the Matilda Way, we arrived at another tiny settlement called Kynuna.  It was near here in 1895 that Banjo Patterson wrote the words for Waltzing Matilda.  Banjo was staying at Dagworth Station – just outside Kynuna – at the time and Christina Macpherson, the daughter of the owners of Dagworth, played an old Scottish tune.  Banjo heard this tune and, at the same time, he was told about altercations between pastoralists and shearers.  Banjo used the tune and the story as the basis for writing Waltzing Matilda.  Combo Waterhole, which is also on Dagworth Station, also gave Banjo the idea for the billabong in the song.  Banjo used to have a beer at the Blue Heeler Hotel in Kynuna. 

We were driving through the water catchment of Lake Eyre, even though Lake Eyre is many kilometres from where we were.  We crossed or travelled near such rivers – or, actually, water courses at present – as the Diamantina, Georgina, Barcoo and Thomson:  in the wet season, these and other rivers and many creeks comprise the Channel Country of western Queensland, draining water into the Diamantina River and Cooper Creek and, ultimately, into Lake Eyre.

At this time of year, the flat country looks in reasonable condition – with quite extensive coverage of Mitchell and other grasses and an increasing number of cattle and sheep grazing.  We arrived in Winton by mid-afternoon and booked into our cabin.  We enjoyed a swim and then had a delicious al fresco meal in the balmy evening at the Hotel Winton.

Winton: 14 August 
 

The following day was quite hot.  First up, we drove to what is called the Music Wall (located on the edge of Winton, on the road to Hughendon).  This is a crazy spot, where a number of metal objects – cans, pieces of metal, fencing wire, hub caps and many other pieces of metal – have been assembled around a fence constructed of strands of fencing wire.  The objective is to make music using wood or metal ‘hammers’:  Tim delighted the neighbourhood (fortunately a long way from this spot.) with some musical items.  Even the birds were scared off!

Then we drove into the town and spent some time at the Waltzing Matilda Centre.  This is a great place to learn all about the facts (as well as we know them) and the myths surrounding the history of Waltzing Matilda. 

 

After morning tea, we wandered along Winton’s extremely wide main street, looking at various historic sites and gain an appreciation of the history of Winton:  the North Gregory Hotel, where the first public performance of Waltzing Matilda was given in 1895;  the Winton Royal Open Air Theatre (the only other long-standing open air cinema is in Broome);  the Winton Club, where the first board meeting of the newly formed airline – QANTAS – was held in 1921.   The Open Air Theatre boasts the largest canvas chair in Australia.  [Question:  What do the letters ‘QANTAS’ stand for?] 

 

We took a short self-guided tour of the opal mining history of the Winton region and saw some beautiful examples of opals which had been mined.

In the cool of the late afternoon, we headed off to ‘the Tatts’ (Tattersall’s Hotel) for an al fresco evening meal.  It was good that we went a bit early as all tables were taken soon after we arrived.  Then, we walked across the main street to the Royal Open Air Theatre for a Nostalgia Night.  We sat in canvas seats and watched a variety of pre-decimal advertisements, very old cartoons and a Three Stooges short film;  we then enjoyed a mug of tea to end a fascinating evening.