One degree of separation to Winton royalty

[bPeteb]

Now that thread title has you all wondering. I'm also sure that some locals might not consider my description of said family as local royalty but gee everyone out there sure knows the Evert's.

I started working with Bill Evert's grandson 27 years ago and my friend Ian's mum Maurs is a bloody legend. Ian has kept saying to us when are you going to Winton, and we had it all planned and paid for when my colon decided it was time to leave the premises in 2023. Three years later, over the same early May weekend, we gave it a second, successful, try.

Bill bought the Royal Theatre back in 1937. He also owned the Central Hotel. The Evert family still owns the pharmac_ and were pioneers in the boulder opal industry. If you've seen Evert jewellery stores in Cairns that's them too. It was time to check this history out.

Four nights. Three in Winton and one in Longreach. Stayed at the North Gregory (of course) and in Longeach at Saltbush Retreat due to it's proximity to the the airport and Qantas Founders Museum. Car hire through Avis. Qantas Founders Museum Premium Economy tickets including wing walk.

I have a love hate with Q400s, and prop planes in general. I love the intimacy of them but hate that big propeller spinning right outside my window.




coming in to Blackall



leaving Blackall. Quite a few people got off and quite a few got on. The get on people were all going back to Brisbane. The plane doesn't stop at Blackall on the way back.



Small wagon booked but upgraded to a Mitsubishi Outlander. A nice car but bigger than we needed or wanted. The cruise control was beyond our capabilities, and we've worked out a lot of them over the years.

On the way from Longreach to Winton



not a roo, or any other wildlife spotted on any of our drives

The North Gregory Hotel is a Winton institution About – North Gregory Hotel. It wasn't cheap but it was pretty basic. Lovely staff. The bed was comfier than it looked. In 1895, in a different iteration of the pub, Waltzing Matilda was performed in public for the first time.



The Royal Theatre wasn't too far away. These from the verandah outisde our room




beer o'clock



they were setting up Banjo's Beer Garden for the Outback Trail The Outback. Sadly, numbers attending were way less than hoped for. I found out the next morning that I had zero degrees of separation from the event.



we thought that this was the entire menu at the hotel



and nothing really appealed so we wandered down the street to Tattersalls

outback sunset



The Royal Theatre



quietly sitting having dinner and we started talking to a lady selling raffle tickets. Said this was our first time in town. Next minute the bloke at the table next to us says "you wouldn't be Pete and Al?" and I looked at him and said "um, yes". Turns out this was the manager of the Royal Theatre and Ian had contacted him and said to look out for us. Scary!

 

[JohnM]

I know what you say about the Outlander cruise control.

We were given one by Avis earlier in the year.

I'm trying to recall just what was weird about it, but I know it was non-standard in operation.

 

[bPeteb]

I know what you say about the Outlander cruise control.

We were given one by Avis earlier in the year.

I'm trying to recall just what was weird about it, but I know it was non-standard in operation.

I'm glad we aren't alone. No matter what either of us tried we could not get it to set

 

[bPeteb]

Day 2 was all about dinosaurs. The hotel doesn't offer breakfast but pretty much straight across the road is the newsagency, something everyone usually considers for breakfast, not. But Winton's has the Coffee Cube and it made a cracking breakfast!



quite the katydid on the base of our table






We had no idea how busy (or quiet) Winton was going to be so we booked our Age of Dinosaurs tickets The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History | Ageofdinosaurs before we arrived. We didn't really have to as it was hardly busy. Someone did say to us when we were at the dark sky observatory that night that May 2 had been the busiest day of the year so far. Poor outback Queensland

We booked the whole deal -

Ultimate Dinosaur tour – 3.5 hours (Australian Age of Dinosaurs)

The most comprehensive tour, covering the Collection Room, Fossil Preparation Laboratory, the March of the Titanosaurs exhibition and a self-guided walk of Dinosaur Canyon.

We found this whole attraction incredibly interesting.

The fossil prep room was incredible and we're not at all surprised that some of the volunteers that we talked to have been coming back for years.

We didn't notice the flies at all



View out across the plains on the walk to fossil prep




the amazing fossil prep lab



and the amazing stuff that was inside



collection room that also included a video



I'd forgotten to bring my hydralyte with me (needed to replace the electrolytes I can no longer absorb with no colon) and by chance at the cafe they had powerade for half price so I bought half a dozen bottles. We had coffee and a bit of cake before it was time to go see the March of the titanosaurs and Dinosaur Canyon.

 

[bPeteb]

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking




the walk up to the covered exhibition. From the website

IN 2018 the Museum team began excavating and uncovering the best-preserved sauropod trackway in Australia – a 54-metre-long site known as the Snake Creek tracksite – and started a multi-year process of relocating it to the Museum to save it from erosion caused by a changing watercourse.​

crazy to think they moved this whole creek bed to here



the recreated dinosaurs are fantastic



and we'd be back here later

 

[bPeteb]

Dinosaur Canyon



we had originally planned to come back to the dark sky observatory the following night. Despite opening was now supposed to be seven nights a week, they had decided there weren't the numbers to justify that so tonight it was. The cloud cover was looking like it might be a bust

 

[bPeteb]

Pizzas at the North Gregory were bloody good, although we hadn't factored in how long they would take to make when knowing we had to drive back out to the Jump-Up. Pork belly pizza. Yum!!



the sun was setting as we drove out and despite our worry of wayward roos none were seen either going out there, or going back to town



The observatory is accessed through the now closed gates of the Age of Dinosaurs site. The person guiding you lets you in once you show your ticket





a really great facility, and on the perfect night it would be amazing, but for us the full moon, and the cloud cover conspired to make it a less than stellar experience, pun intended. The guy who was our guide was excellent, and he did everything that he could to make the most of the night. We both can't remember exactly but think that we saw the rings of Saturn, the stripes on Jupiter and the lunar surface in amazing detail, so all was definitely not lost.



how dark it really was



then it was back to the town for a few more beers as our plans for Monday had now also changed and we now had a late start

 

[Quickstatus]

we thought that this was the entire menu at the hotel

Pizzas at the North Gregory were bloody good,

Im surprised there is no Schnitty or Parmi?

 

[SYD]

How cool. I had no idea that was all there. I might have to plan a solo trip. SYD+1 would probably prefer pins in the eyes…

Ironically, we’ve both booked the odd trip or two to LRE but have never flown them….

 

[cosi]

I'm glad we aren't alone. No matter what either of us tried we could not get it to set

Next time ask Ai for help

 

[bPeteb]

Im surprised there is no Schnitty or Parmi?

There was on the full menu

 

[bPeteb]

Next time ask Ai for help

Is that like bAit?

 

[bPeteb]

The May Day public holiday weekend, and maybe weekends in general might not be the best time to visit outback Queensland. Maybe it was just too early in 'the season' but for whatever reason stuff just wasn't open that Ai aka the interweb said should have been.

No dinosaur stampede for us

Breakfast at the Waltzing Matilda centre (excellent)

across the road from the centre



Famous dinosaur bins



poked our heads into the Royal



sign on the outside of the North Gregory in the lane out to the carpark



then off in search of Arno's Wall that was pretty much directly behind the North Gregory Hotel. Arno's Wall



then we walked out to the edge of town to the Diamantina Heritage Truck and Machinery Museum Diamantina Heritage Truck & Machinery Museum

WE LOVED THIS PLACE. If trucks aren't your thing then don't go but otherwise this place was so cool. Loved the trucks and loved the history that went with them. Gee life in the outback was/is tough.



we were warned to keep our eyes out for snakes when we were wandering around outside

 

[bPeteb]

I'd forgotten to mention my most unexpected catch-up.

When I posted on my Facebook on the first night that we were in Winton at the North Gregory, a guy I went to primary and high school and then started at uni with commented and asked if we were there for the Outback Trail. He said he worked on it. I just said no, it was just a coincidence that we were in town at the same time, but that the music had been great the night before.

Then I got to thinking did he mean he was here now?

When we got back from breakfast I stuck my head over the verandah and a guy who looked vaguely familiar, but 40+ years older, was packing up the gear. bAlt said go down and see if it's Tony and I said no, then thought why on earth not so I went down and as I was walking outside I heard one of the others say Tony to him.

And so, 45 years after we last saw each other one of my best friends from school caught up in Winton. Tony was the stage manager of the actual Trail shows. It was just terrific seeing him after all of these years.

Anyways, back to beautifully restored vehicles and rusty old vehicles



check out the length of this roadtrain



back to the pub for some cooling ales before another beautiful outback sunset



Sunday night is John Wayne night at the Royal Theatre. Not knowing how busy it gets I had of course booked tickets, the only booked tickets for the night. Before we went in one of the locals was giving a tour of the small museum attached to the theatre. Super interesting talk.

I think maybe 20 people turned up to watch a very young and handsome John Wayne in a colourised print of Rainbow Valley https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026908/

Loved it!

Before the movie started there were ads and other things and amongst them this popped up, the mighty Maurs Kelleher nee Evert front and centre

 

[Bundy Bear]

I'm glad we aren't alone. No matter what either of us tried we could not get it to set

Did you consult youtube, when renting a new car and can't figure out how to start it; just go to youtube.

I have seen this technique used.

 

[bPeteb]

If there was somewhere open to have breakfast on Monday morning we did not find it. Instead we ended up at the IGA or whatever it was and bought some yoghurt and bananas and took them back to our room at the hotel.



At least the Waltzing Matilda Centre was open (we'd confirmed that the day before at breakfast) Waltzing Matilda Centre

We hadn't realised how early it opened and left ourselves with not really enough time to take our time looking at everything. The car had to back at 1.30 in Longreach. We'll go back to Winton again and plan it a bit better next time, including another visit to the WMC.

The original centre burnt down in 2015 and three years later it re-opened isnide this amazing piece of architecture. I love the hilariously wanky words used in this piece on Cox architects website Waltzing Matilda Centre — COX I don't know that I could ever have truly fit into this industry



hit the road Jack, no turning back



We stopped at the motel first to see of we could drop our bags off. Of course we could. Then it was fuel up and back to the airport. Lots of signs at the servo limiting fuel to vehicle tanks only.

The guy at the Avis counter couldn't have cared if the car was back late. He just wanted it back by the end of the afternoon. A glimpse of what we'd be seeing the next morning



time for some Five Crowns, a distinctive red kangaroo in the background

 

[bPeteb]

We had nothing planned for our night in Longreach so decided to do the river cruise with show. Drover’s Sunset Cruise – Outback River Adventure

I'm trying to find out how much we paid but I'm pretty sure it wasn't $169 each. Whatever we paid it was great.

A bus came and picked us up at the motel then drove us to Smithy's where we boarded the boat and where dinner and the show would be. Longreach had been hit by serious flooding only a few months before so it was amazing Smithy's was back up and running

Snagged some seats right up front. Bar served cold beers and heaps of nibbles brought around during the interesting cruise. Who knew we'd be out on bAlt's river?




dinner at Smithy's was great. Alternate drop style meal that everyone at our table was very happy with



thoroughly enjoyed our entertainer Corinne, a local who was off to Canberra the next day to support her son who had joined the army





I think we were both genuinely surprised how much we enjoyed the evening.