Rosena made such a fuss this morning because there was a small frog in the shower, which refused to be removed. Taking inspiration from the book that she is reading, Great Pioneer Women of the Outback, she did agree to be a big girl and shower. Either that or she was walking. Another cloudless start to the day so we decided that it was time to break out the Cobbers, seen here modelled by Davide. Our Australian hosts have not had such a good laugh in years.
Our plan this morning was to visit the railway museum but, in line with the entire station, it was locked up and deserted except for the last few hangers on from the locust plague. It must be cushy being the stationmaster here as there are only two trains each week. As we seemed to have exhausted the delights of Longreach we set out for our ultimate destination - Winton. Just as we were leaving town a massive road train pulled onto the highway in front of us. Overtaking it was very exciting indeed.
The countryside is getting more arid and there are fewer trees about. We are really getting into the Outback now. Winton is the home of the Waltzing Matilda Experience which was actually a museum about Outback life as well as a son et lumiere in honour of Banjo Patterson and his song. The town is also the centre of the Australian dinasour industry and there are exhibitions explaining the fossil finds in the area as well as the local opal mining industry. Best of all the main street features several authentic Aussie pubs and Rosena insisted that we try one.
The other main attraction in town is the outdoor cinema, which boasts the largest deck chair in the world and in the past has doubled up as a roller skating rink. After supper Shanine drove us all into town and we sat in deck chairs under the stars to watch aPopeye cartoon, some adverts, a Movietone newsreel, a trailer for "That's Entertainment" and a couple of black and white shorts. Afterwards we had billy tea with the projectionist. What a hoot.
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