TOD Tour 2.0 Day 14 - Barcaldine to Winton

A good angle on the
Wellshot Hotel

Barcaldine to Winton: 341 kms (trip 2315 kms)

We continued west along a new highway - the Landsborough - as far as Longreach, which was only a whistle stop on this tour. Having seen its attractions in a three day stop in 2018, it was just a few groceries and on towards Winton.

Notable on the first leg to Longreach was morning tea in Ilfracombe. This small village, which has been known for many years for its display of farm implements that line the highway as it zips through town, was a curio we encountered on the QOT 2018. Change has hit the place since, with the destruction of the old general store and cafe. It had featured wide verandahs on which to enjoy a cuppa and take in the vista of the farm equipment but since our last visit, it has burned to the ground in a fire caused by an electrical fault in the ceiling cavity. The fire started as they were serving, with customers enjoying the verandah. No one was injured but the loss proved too much and the owners didn't rebuild.

In place of this lost coffee spot, the ever industrious people at the Wellshot Hotel have opened a hole in the wall from which they serve a good cuppa and a mean hot chocolate, among other things. The Wellshot is a place of great character and undoubtedly, greater characters. The bar is a hoot, with its display of hats, funny signs and joke photo opportunities. As was the case the last time we were here, the bar staff were young, Irish and full of fun. On the ceiling, there is currently thousands of dollars, soon to be cleared and given to charity. The deal is, you take a note from your wallet and a two dollar coin. They add a large drawing pin and scrunch it up to a ball shape. They throw it up to the ceiling where it sticks and the note slowly unfurls. If you catch the two dollar coin as it falls from the note, you get a free beer.

There is just so much imagination and dry outback humour at the Wellshot. Its a hackneyed saying but it truly is a must see.

After Longreach, its a 180kms northwest to Winton: pretty much flat, pretty much straight.

We booked in to the Tattersalls Hotel Caravan Park on what had become a warm afternoon. After setting up, it seemed obligatory I should have a Guinness at the bar or yet another colourful pub. Among its features are the flags of many nations attached to the ceiling.

The Royal Cinema

After dinner, we went to the Royal Cinema, the second oldest outdoor cinema in Australia (behind the Sun in Broome). Largely run as a family affair for much of its hundred year plus life, its currently leased by a not for profit who conduct tours and have evenings when they recreate the feel of the cinema in the 1960's. Sling back canvas chairs are arranged over a concrete floor which once doubled as a roller skating rink when times were tough and multi channel free to air TV came to Winton. The back part of the cinema has a brick floor. The bricks were originally the facade of the next door building which burnt down. Winton has a rich history of fire catastrophe. Of course, by outdoor, I mean it has no roof or ceiling, just a blanket of stars. One wall of the cinema is a corrugated iron fence, probably 15 feet high in old terms but for a section, it has a further extension above that. It was put there to stop the cheapskates from the North Gregory Hotel watching the feature from the second story windows!

We were shown old glass advertising slides of Winton business of fifty years ago, projected using a carbon arc projector that was at least 80 years old. It works by bringing two electrified carbon rods together to make an arc between them and a light bright enough to project. The operator is constantly bringing the rods together as the carbon is eroded by the procedure.

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There was a cartoon and some highlights of old slapstick and that was the evening done. We had bought the kids here in 1995 to see The Jungle Book, so it was nice nostalgia.

Tomorrow dinosaurs.