Longreach at last!

The next day was thankfully clear of rain and we were off to do what we had planned to do the day before. We started with a 9am tour of the Longreach School of the Air and were fortunate enough to catch the last one for the year. There were no classes running that day, as they were all rehearsing for their musical production that night, but we got to have a tour of the facility. It was quite different to the Alice Springs one, as this has accommodation onsite for ‘mini school’ events when the entire grade comes to school for a week. It was really interesting and I’m glad we made it in time to do this tour.

Then we were off to Dunc’s highlight – the QANTAS Founders Museum. There was a (blissfully air-conditioned) building full of memorabilia and displays and we spent an easy hour or two pottering around in there. We also got to have a tour of a 747 and a 707, which were outside on the tarmac. We learnt all sorts of interesting tidbits (do you know the flashing red light under a plane is there to let gound-staff know the engine is running?) and got to go up into the top deck and the cockpit too.

After our tour, Dunc got to have his special tour and wing walk, where he got to go right into the tail and then walk along the top of the wing of the 747. He had a ball!

With the highlight ticked off, we cruised through town and checked out the Kinnon and Co. store and museum before heading back to Bertha to prepare for a long drive back East the next day.