Day 126-127 - Long stretch in Longreach

Ilfracombe - Longreach 28km + 10km around town

After yesterday's note with a touch of cyclist misery, we dial into a much more uplifting tune today. With the morning sun putting a big smile on our faces, it was easy to hop onto the bike and take on the final 28km to reach the pioneering outback town. And the closer we got, even the National Highway A2 (Landsborough) showed welcoming signs to the rare cyclist who gets here by bicycle.

Friendly sign and blue sky

We made it!

Our first stop is The Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre

I wasn't quite sure what to expect and before we go in, I quiz Louise over lunch to make sure that I have my expectations in the right place. The building is impressive and promises the whole grandeur of... well, anything to do with moving cattle across the continent. We spend more than two hours in the place and would have maybe stayed longer if it wasn't freezing in there. It not only blew our expectations but also our minds. The self guided audio tour (via iPhone on a R.M. Williams laynard and excellent headphones) is packed with amazing stories about the various exhibits. The welcome message spoken by an Iningai women gives you goosebumps. And it primes you for the wealth of characters and most extraordinary stories that have shaped the nation's outback history. Compared to what these women and men have achieved and endured, we are wimpy girls on bicycles. It is an absolute eye opener and it reshaped our appreciation for the part of the country we are currently exploring.

Across the road is the Qantas Founders Museum, which we maybe didn't do justice by visiting after a very absorbing couple of hours in the above. It may also require a strong affinity with all things aviation to fully appreciate the extensive display of Qantas' history. But regardless of the absence of airplane nerdiness, we gasp at the pioneering spirit of the founding gentlemen McGiness, Fysh and McMaster, including their nifty employee and engineer extraordinary Baird, who started what has become one of the world's most successful airlines. While I always shared a fascination for airplanes and fondly remember regular visits with dad to the viewing platform at Zurich airport as a child, I prefer the more grounded and simplistic option to travel on two wheels. The science and engineering behind airplanes quickly does my head in. 

Unexpectedly we get a camping spot in the Longreach Tourist Park and decide to celebrate the arrival in the 'West' with a dinner at the local RSL. 

Day two in LR starts with a guided tour of the Longreach School of long-distance Education. We get a lively insight into what they call the world's largest classroom. Our tour guide, a lady who brought up two children who were students at the school, peppers her tellings with funny anecdotes from her on experience. Of course, the arrival of the internet (via satellite) has changed the effectiveness of the school dramatically and allows for much better student-teacher relations and interactions. But still, the amount of teacherly responsibilities that remain with (mostly) the mums at home, is huge. After seeing this, I lift my hat even more to all the parents we know who had to step into home-schooling duties during the COVID pandemic. Here, the teachers sit in little studios (they look like recording studios), with big interactive screens and headphones like pilots. On the other side of the line are kids whose day most likely started hours earlier and by the time they sit down with pencil and paper (and computer mouse) in front of the screen, they may already have helped mum and dad on the station feeding the animals or driving the ute to check the water pumps. 

With so much inspirational learning we better get to work ourselves. We spend the rest of the day conquering a mountain of laundry and preparing ourselves, our gear and our minds for the possibly more remote days to come. It has been a long stretch to Longreach, but it feels fabulous to have reached this outback destination by bicycle. Something we didn't always believe to be achievable, but we are here. We absorbed a fair amount of the outback pioneering spirit and are ready to make our next commitment to the road ahead - which will hopefully lead us to Winton, looking for dinosaurs.

But before, we stretch the joy of getting here just a little further...

Big stretch to Longreach!