LRE (Longreach) weekend - 26-27 Sep 2026

[Katie]

BKQ terminal

Huh? Oh, that's right, you're doing the two legs separately!

 

[Flyfrequently]

Accor Gold welcome drink plus snack in room. Ibis styles. The cookie is good.

View attachment 522456

You fared quite well as Gold @Ade
Am Platinum and we stay at Novotel/Ibis about 8-10 times year


Though when front desk realised it was Mr Flyfrequently's birthday, were gifted these

and the one I was permitted was delicious!


Enjoy Longreach!

 

[Dantas]

 

[Dantas]

 

[Big John]

Just noticed that I have the same pose in both photos .

Thanks for a great weekend. It was so hard to come back to work!

 

[jswong]

Thanks all for making this a great Do. Special thanks of course to Dantas for putting this all together. Learnt so much. Had never even heard of road trains before and this was the first time I had seen Kangaroos in the wild in a township. Also amazed that they have so many drinking establishments for such a small place but they all seemed to be doing well (and we did our best to support the local businesses)

 

[Dantas]

It was a jam-packed weekend, so there was no time for daily updates. So here’s a quick run-down.

Our arrival on Friday on QF2544 BNE-BKQ-LRE was relatively uneventful and comfortable enough for 2.5 hours on a Dash-8. Whilst the Saltbush Retreat has a shuttle bus, the 800m walk wasn’t too bad in the Queensland sun. The Longreach Tavern was the hangout for the afternoon before venturing to The Italian further up Eagle Street. The food was good; plenty of choice with a reasonable wine list. We initially sat at a table on the footpath at the front but after further exploration, self-upgraded to the section out the back. It is a surprisingly big restaurant!

Breakfast on Saturday was at the Qantas Founders Museum, in time for our 9am tour. This was followed by the 747 wing walk which is a must-do. The 747 is largely intact, complete with most seats, galleys, trolleys and drawers. A few photos are attached…

 

[Dantas]

Breakfast on Saturday was at the Qantas Founders Museum, in time for our 9am tour. This was followed by the 747 wing walk which is a must-do. The 747 is largely intact, complete with most seats, galleys, trolleys and drawers. A few photos are attached…



It was then time to eat again, so we used the local taxi service ($19 per ride) for the 1.5km trip to the Birdcage Tavern. It is much the same fare as the Longreach Tavern; good pub grub with the odd special. The afternoon was filled in here before walking back to the Saltbush (@Ade was nearby at the Jumbuck Motel).

We then caught the luminescent light and sound show at 7pm, back at the Qantas Founders Museum. Another must-see when in town; it’s a 25 minute show that uses the 747 as a projector screen. Dinner was then at the nearby Woolshed Bar and Grill which is in the Discovery Holiday (caravan) Park. I had three steaks whilst in LRE and this was the best. Their wine list could be improved though; only a few budget options available.

 

[Dantas]

Sunday was spent at the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame, where we checked out the museum and the hour-long live show afterwards. This was followed by lunch back at the Tavern before taxiing back to LRE airport for QF2543 back to BNE. A minor engineering issue had us departing late, leaving very tight connection times for some of us in BNE. @Ade’s A220 to CBR was boarding as we were taxiing to the gate and upon arrival in the (yes) VA terminal, we discovered we were not air-side, which is perfectly understandable given there are no security scanners in LRE. @Ade was re-booked the following day and @Big John managed to make his flight to SYD after a mad dash through security and to the gate. @jswong tucked into a rack of lamb at the nearby Pullman, whilst us three HBA paxs connected onto QF1257 to MEL which was an hour late. A quick overnight stop at the Novotel Melbourne Airport before the final and seventh flight for the weekend, back to HBA. Thanks to the AFFers for coming; it was a great weekend!

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Looks like a great time had by all. I've been back to LRE a few times and done QF more than once, it's worth returning to now and then. I highly recommend taking the Spirit of The Outback sleeper train from Brisbane, fabulous experience.

 

[Ade]

it's worth returning to now and then. I highly recommend taking the Spirit of The Outback sleeper train from Brisbane, fabulous experience.

Thanks for the tip about the Spirit of The Outback train from BNE. There is a Slim Dusty 100 concert (or similar) at LRE May 2027 - may be this is my sign to take the train to that event ...