thadocta

Like I said, catch the Spirit of the Outback in one direction, a little bit more exxy compared to flying, BUT you will be on the train one night, with a sleeping berth (so saving on a hotel room for that night) and the food is great and reasonably priced too, as well as being a great way of seeing Outback Australia from air-conditioned comfort.

Dave

oscietra

Many thanks for taking the time to put together such a comprehensive report, and accompanied by such thoughtful description and excellent photos.

Really interesting to hear about your trip to somewhere not so easy to reach - your TR has certainly piqued my interest!

It's great to see how enthusiastic you were about visiting the museum, and how your dream to wing walk and have your photo taken inside an engine cowling was realised.

Kiwi Flyer

Thanks for the well written report matthandy ^. Makes me want to go back. Hard to believe it has been 4 years since my trip to Longreach (and other flights around regional Queensland).

tycosiao

Your words made me want to visit Longreach and see the 747 upclose.

Thank you for sharing and this made my day. ^

HIDDY

Interesting report Matt. ^

It wouldn't be my cup of tea but it certainly looks as if you really enjoyed the visit. Great pictures by the way.

NYBanker

Thanks for sharing. These take a lot of time to put together.

I really enjoyed reading the balance of the report...this was clearly a truly memorable trip!

nightkhan

This is awesome! Great post. As I've started flying more and more over the past 2 years I find myself more interested in planes everyday, especially the 747.

Thanks!!

PETER01

Just read the last part then read it all over again. A really great report Matt. ^

Undoubtedly the best part of FT (for me anyhow) is the TR forum. Having done two TR's myself now (with your guidance/tips I know how much time they can take to write up etc so thanks

Pete

janehoya

Thanks for posting. In the first installment I was so impressed with your fantastic aerial photos but the installment on the 747--both images and words--blew it away.

Happy New Year to you.

matthandy

Haha, I hope not (the stowaway thing), although it is pressurised, so it would be better than trying to hide in the nose gear! Fireworks were great. I had some friends who set themselves up at about 11am, so I just wandered down at about 22.45, perfect ^.

Thanks radar98 for the fantastic clips! Very interesting.

Go for it kered! It'd be great to see you down here.

Glad that you enjoyed the report thomastuyaerts! There is still a little bit more to come, including the return journey. I've been in New Zealand for the past few days, a TR for this trip will follow.

Not sure that I would agree that it's tacky, but I do agree that it could be a little more aesthetically pleasing. It's not really an adventure activity though. I was a bit disappointed that you weren't able to walk out to the tip. It did all feel very safe and relaxed though, but an enjoyable experience however.

Thanks econometrics, it took quite a while to put everything together, so I'm pleased that people have found it interesting.

^^ Thank you Seat 2A, an honour to hear your comments as always! I wouldn't expect you to visit via aircraft if there is a train option

I have to agree hilltopper, the 200 is very classy, the lines are smoother, although that does result in a rather cramped upper deck for passengers unfortunately.

Great feedback! Thank you!

Absolutely travelingsalesgal, I think that everyone should have this on their list!

Thank you SFflyer123! I agree, a total feat of engineering. Get yourself over here and you can take that trip over to LRE. The flights were pretty expensive. I paid $680 return from Sydney. Qantas have a bit of a monopoly.

Thanks for the railway tips Dave.

Thank you oscietra. Yep, it's easy to tell how excited I was! Bit of a kid really. I think that my mate was kind of the same, but perhaps a little more restrained. The tour group must have got a bit tired of me holding everyone up by taking endless photos though!

Great to hear that it bought back some memories Kiwi Flyer, and I like the way that you managed to plug one of your previous trip reports too . If it was anyone else, I'd have to lodge a formal complaint....

Glad to hear that I was able to put a smile on your face tycosiao.

Thanks HIDDY. I can see that it could be too geeky for some, but I enjoyed it of course!

They really do take a long time NYBanker so it's great to get positive feedback from people like yourself.

Thanks nightkhan. Next time you are on a 747 you'll perhaps be able to spot a number of 'secret' things that you didn't see before.

Have to agree, I love this forum! The best part is, there's very little disagreement, just a bit of joy, fun and photos.

Thank you for your fantastic comments janehoya. Happy New Year to you too.


Just to let everyone know, there is more to come, as I need to write up the return journey.

Padmeister

Your a Very Talented Man matthandy you get my vote! ^

I always enjoy your TR's.

matthandy

Where was I?

Well, we’d just completed the 747 Wing Walk tour and I was a bit excitable. We headed back into the museum to grab some lunch at the café there. The food was ok, passable, but I wouldn’t rush back I have to say. Anyway, after lunch we spent a little bit longer in the museum and then made our way back to the hotel/motel.

We’d planned to head into town to eat in the evening so I booked a taxi for 6.30pm. Prior to that we headed down to the pool to enjoy a bottle of wine and a quick dip. The heat was a bit of a problem with the wine but we got around this by borrowing the ice cream freezer to store the wine between servings

At 6.30 our taxi arrived and we took the rather short journey into town. On the hotel’s advice, we headed to ‘Eagles Nest’ for dinner. It seemed to be quite a popular restaurant (mostly because it looked like it was the only one open!). The menu was Australian, with a mix of steaks, meat dishes and pastas. There was a rather extensive choice and a large wine list. The waitress was very friendly. I ordered a pasta dish whilst my friend’s had steaks. The quality of the food was excellent, as was the potion size. We finished our meal after a couple of hours and decided to walk back to the hotel. This actually took a little while and we got more acquainted with the wildlife was we did so!

The next morning, we all checked out and then made our way to the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame which is also the Outback Heritage Centre. This museum charts the history of life in the outback, from the early beginnings to the modern day. There are various displays and during certain months, live shows, although, not when we were there.

I found the museum really interesting, with a good mix of fixed displays and artefacts as well as larger exhibits.


Welcome to the hall of fame…


Early travelling merchant carts


The role of the blacksmith


One of the huge bullock carts

Working our way through the museum we found that there was an outdoors section. I was very surprised to see a stream of birds flying out from near the museum building and back again. It was quite fascinating. These birds had managed to build nests in the corners of the building and were presumably heading out to fetch food.


Bird life!


Nests

We left the museum at about 12 and made our way back to the hotel to collect our cases before going to the airport terminal to check in. The plan was to do this and then go to the museum for lunch again (for lack of better options).


The view of the big bird as we head back

matthandy

Longreach Airport is easily the smallest airport that I have ever been to. There is at least a small terminal building (room) with a number of seats and a couple of check in desks. We arrived at the terminal building at about 12.30, which was around two hours before the flight was scheduled to depart. There was a friendly check in agent on hand to receive our bags. We were the first and only people in the terminal. We’d all previously checked in online earlier, just to select our seats. Again, we weren’t seated together, but that wasn’t an issue. As it turns out, I probably should have sat closer to the back of the aircraft.

All of our boarding passes were already printed out and the agent knew where we were all travelling to. My bag was tagged to Sydney, she also gave me my boarding pass for my Brisbane to Sydney flight. There was no security of course, which was a little odd for someone used to travelling through large airports. I did wonder what would happen in Brisbane, whether we would have to be scanned.


Longreach Airport


Check in, just one Qantas desk


Waiting area

After our really quick check in, we headed over to the museum again for lunch. It was ok. Anyway, I had mine very quickly and couldn’t resist my last opportunity to take even more photos! So I apologise, but this is the last lot of the 747.


Looking up at the cockpit


Looking up at the cockpit


Looking forward


Looking up


Under the wing


Under the tail


Door 5


Close up of door 2


Looking back to the tail


Through the engines


Model


Flying kangaroo


Undercarriage


Nose gear doors

That’s the last lot, I promise!

kpc

Nice report Matt about a place that I would love to visit^. I have just looked at the QF schedule. If I arrive on a Sat at 1120am, and leave on Sun at 1610pm, is that enough time to do the Qantas Founders Musueum (747 tour) and visit the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame? Probably would book the 747 tour on the Sun am in case my inbound was delayed. The reason for the rushed trip is to avoid taking a day off work. For a w/e in March, ex Syd it is $590 return in economy or 24000 QF pts + $116 in taxes...I'm so tempted to book

Jinxy

I def want to do this after this amazing report!