Chapter 37: Winton & Hughenden

Sunday Week 14

Dave got up relatively early, had breakfast and set off for Winton. He knew the drive would be less than two and a half hours, but wanted to maximise the time in Winton, because from what he had read about the area, there was a lot to see and do.

As soon as he had parked the RV in the caravan park, he set off in his 4WD to the Information Centre at the Waltzing Matilda Centre. Here he was able to buy a ticket called a Shin Plaster that gave him discounted entrance into several of the tourist attractions in Winton. He also booked for tomorrow's midday tour out at the Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackways.

Originally the town had been called Pelican Waterhole, but changed to Winton later. The town's population was around 900, but it had several claims to fame. Supposedly, it was the actual birthplace of Qantas, with the first board meeting held in the Winton Club in 1921, while the North Gregory Hotel claims to be the venue for the first public performance of the quintessential Australian song, 'Waltzing Matilda'.

Dave spent the next hour and a half, being inspired by the mystery and romance of the Waltzing Matilda legend. The Centre was a very modern, hi-tech interactive exhibition with numerous exhibits.

He started his tour of the Centre going through the Outback Regional Art Gallery, which had a number of interesting paintings, some depicting the old outback, while others the new.

Next, he went to the Billabong Theme Court and leaned against the railing around the billabong as he watched the innovative light and sound show that depicted the role 'Waltzing Matilda' played in Australia's history. Dave was amazed as the roof closed, the mist rose from the surface of the water and a ghostly apparition appeared - the swaggie who told his own version of Australia's greatest legend, and its impact on Australian history since 1895.

Then he went through The Home of the Legend Room, enjoying the exciting exhibition gallery packed with interactive and static displays that explored the characters behind Waltzing Matilda and the swaggie way of life, which, unfortunately, thousands of men had been forced to adopt.

After watching the movie in the Sarah Riley Theatre, he wandered through the Qantilda Museum. Dave was overwhelmed by the treasure house of the region's pioneering memorabilia, including old farm vehicles and equipment, ceramics, household items and furnishings, photographs, clothing and much more. There was even an amazing array of bottles, with a whole room dedicated just to that collection.

Next he went through the Christina Macpherson cottage. According to Christina Macpherson, 'Waltzing Matilda' was created in the sitting room of Dagworth Station in January of 1895 with the help of a young solicitor and poet, 'Banjo' Paterson who was on a visit to Winton.

Christina and her brothers apparently went in to Winton for a week or so and one day she played from ear a tune that she had heard played by a band at the Races in Warrnambool, a country town in the Western District of Victoria. Mr Patterson asked what it was but she could not tell him, but he said he thought he could write some lines to it. He wrote the first verse, which she tried and everyone thought it went well, so he then wrote the other verses.

In a short time everyone in the District was singing it. When Mr Patterson returned to Sydney he wrote to Christina and asked her to send him the tune. Later he had sent it on to a musical friend of his who thought it would make a good bush song. It was included in the Student's Song Book and was frequently sung at the Community Singing. Thus Australia's 'Waltzing Matilda' was born.

Dave subsequently remembered reading somewhere that the actual tune originated from Scotland, but couldn't verify this.

Finally, Dave went through the Qantilda and Banjo Paterson Rooms.

The whole complex was the best and most informative tourist attraction Dave had ever seen. He regretted having no one with him to share the pleasure and experience.

His next stop was across the road where the Jolly Swagman sculpture commemorated 'Waltzing Matilda' and the many swagmen who lay in unmarked graves throughout Australia.

Looking along the centre island of the main street, Elderslie Street, Dave was amazed at the numerous sculptural pieces, which were erected to celebrate the centenary of the first public performance of 'Waltzing Matilda'. Some of them were very skilfully made, he thought and certainly added character to the main street.

He then called into the Corfield and Fitzmaurice Store where he saw the skylights and the flying fox from this heritage-listed general store, which opened in 1878. Dave enjoyed looking at the display of opal before viewing the Allosaurus Dinosaur Diorama, which interpreted what he was going to see tomorrow; the world's only known fossilized trackway of dinosaurs in flight. There was also the cast of the fossilised bones of Elliot, Australia's largest dinosaur, the 16 to 21 metre Sauropod.

Next, Dave wandered into the North Gregory Hotel, originally built in 1878, but which burnt down in 1900 and although rebuilt, burned again in 1916 and yet again in 1946. Dangerous pub to be in, Dave thought to himself, hope it's not due for another fire! But he also wondered what it was about hotels that seemed to burn down in the outback.

As this hotel was also on his Shin Plaster pass, he was able to enjoy a discounted glass of draft beer while looking at the beautifully etched-glass panelled doors.

His final stop for the afternoon was at the Royal Theatre, which was established in 1918 and one of the few remaining open air picture theatres. He spent a little time browsing through yet another opal display but spent more time looking at the memories of yesteryear picture memorabilia, which really fascinated him.

It had been a long and very full day of sightseeing, he thought, as he sat down to eat the veal fricassee he had prepared, with pasta noodles, while he sipped on a few glasses of white wine.

After dinner, Dave's phone rang. When he answered it he was surprised to hear a young girl's voice.

"Hello Dave, it's Gail. How's the trip going? Are you missing me?" she asked.

"Hi Gail, yes, the trip is going fine, I keep seeing lots of new and interesting things" he replied, deliberately evading her second question.

"Where are you now?" she enquired.

"I'm in Winton, having spent today on the dinosaur trail and I have just had my dinner."

"Do you have someone with you?" she asked and he could hear the quivering in her voice.

"No, I'm all alone here."

"Maybe I should come and join you then?" she asked hopefully, adding "I've broken up with Sam now."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I thought we had agreed to wait for a month. It's only been three weeks since I last saw you. Look, I'll be arriving in Mt Isa on Tuesday fortnight, which is only two weeks and two days away. Why don't you make contact with me there?"

"OK. I'll just have to wait until then. But I'll be looking forward to when you get to Mount Isa. Bye for now" she said plaintively as she hung up.

Dave sat with his favourite whisky and pondered the phone call. He knew he would have to make a decision soon as it was clear Gail still wanted to be with him. Although he really enjoyed her company, he knew it was Jill he loved and thought it might be unfair on Gail to let her be with him when she was second best, but then he knew he couldn't have Jill, so maybe second best was what he should have. It certainly was better than nothing, although that was not really a good basis for entering a relationship he told himself.

Perhaps when he saw Jill after her birthday party, he would talk it over with her, he thought as he prepared for bed.

Monday Week 15

Dave had an early breakfast, enjoying poached eggs on vegemite toast yet again and a cup of brewed coffee, as he had a lot to do today.

He drove down to the Information Centre and set his trip metre to zero like the brochure instructed, because it listed the various things to see by distance from the Centre on the round trip of some 260 kilometres that he was setting out to do.

He headed south west along the Winton-Jundah road and 11 kilometres later he stopped to look at Surprise Creek, one of the many tributary creeks for the Western River. The diversity of vegetation made these creeks a haven for wildlife and birdlife, especially after rain.

At the 19 kilometre mark he passed the gravel pits, which were holding good clear water. The brochure indicated that the presence of Gypsum in the soil brings the clay and silts out of suspension, making the water good for swimming, but he knew he didn't have time for a swim today.

Around 42 kilometres he passed the 'jump-up', a steep escarpment road to the top of the hard top-rock country.

The Narrow Leafed Wattle grew to about four metres tall and he saw a plethora of them in the forest around the 72 kilometre point.

Dave was astonished at the carpet of iron stone, small reddish/black pebbles that covered the ground some 94 kilometres from the start. Being high in iron oxide, the pebbles absorbed the suns rays, heating them to such a high temperature that few plants were able to survive germination in the area.

At 105.9 kilometres he turned right onto the road leading to the Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackways, the scene of one of the worlds most remarkable scientific detective stories. Just before he got there, he drove past an old runway that his brochure told him could be traced back to 1919, the origin of commercial aviation. This was a typical dirt strip, the brochure read.

The first thing he noticed after he got out of the car at the Trackways was a timeline of the world's history that really put human history into perspective for Dave. A long footbridge had been built from the car park and information bay across a small gully to the shelter shed, which had been built over the footprints to help preserve them. On the left hand side of the bridge was the timeline, showing the major significant events that have occurred since the birth of mankind.