Longreach

Muddies

One of the things we love about being in the Outback is that often there is nothing at all except miles and miles of sweeping dry grasslands rolling out to the horizon in every direction.
The vastness is thoroughly intoxicating, but once sunset rolls around, it’s like the outback waited all day just to show off…

We had booked to stay at the Muddy Duck Tourist Park, after being recommended it numerous times from various people, so wanted to check it out and see what we thought; but first we decided to go for a drive in to Longreach to check in with the Vet, whom we had emailed earlier in the week to see if they could fill a script for Mabi.

We weren’t in urgent need, but always like to have spares onboard of medications we each take, and this includes those for the dogs.

Unfortunately the plane with the medication on it hadn’t arrived at the anticipated time, so we arranged to go back the following day to see if the stock had come in.

We ducked into the local IGA to grab some groceries, and then headed off to Muddy Duck, which is about 5km out of Longreach, just off the Landsborough Highway

The Park runs along the banks of the Thomson River, and the sites are lovely and large with well tended grass, and all of them are drive-through.

Social Time

Each evening Happy Hour is held around the fire pit, and you can either BYO or purchase drinks at the bar.
Basic canned drinks (beer & spirits+mixer) are available and are reasonably priced.
Andrew – one of the camp Hosts, is usually around to help keep the conversation flowing until people relax.

The river is a big draw card, with resident ducks, a few pelicans, and the Park also has kayaks available for use.

The camp kitchen is more of an open-air cooking facility as there is no fridge, which for us was disappointing.

No thanks

The wash machines are $7, which we find too expensive, although this does include detergent; however we find the inclusion of wash-powder to be quite an issue as so many folks have sensitivities to things like particular wash-powders, so we don’t feel that this is a great idea.

The following day we went back in to town to check with the Vet, and the medication had arrived.
We definitely paid a premium!

After picking up the medications, we parked behind the Info Centre and after calling in there (not much to see!) we went for walk around town.

We also called in to a local op shop and managed to get a cushion to add to our saggy mattress, to give it a bit more padding where its sunk, until we can get a new mattress put in.

Icons of the Outback

After that we headed to the QANTAS Founders Museum and the nearby Stockmans Hall of Fame.

For those of us old enough to remember having traveled in one, it’s amazing to be up close to the old Boeing 747 and recalling how very big it was for its time.

The Stockmans Hall of Fame is an impressive building, with beautiful architecture, and amazing displays that can be accessed for free.

We again chose not to do a paid tour, and were very happy with what we were able to access, and found the displays informative and eye-catching.

There is also lots of really good parking available at the Centre, which makes accessing it with a large motorhome or with a van in tow, an easy stress-free event.

Until next time – happy travels, and make the moments matter.