Once upon a time 95 million odd years ago a bunch of small vegetarian dinosaurs were quietly wandering around on a mud flat in Queensland looking for a bit of a drink when they were attacked by big meat munching predator. The predator was of course another dinosaur. I know this shit because I am at Lark Quarry in the Queensland interior, not that far by aeroplane from Longreach. I have flown here for a peek at the past, uncovered and then preserved by archaeologists. The site is within walking distance of a 1000 metre airstrip and it is the only known site in the whole world of a fossilised dinosaur stampede. It’s cool and after a guided tour of the site we have settled back amongst the Spinifex near the airstrip to camp the night.

I left you last at The Dig Tree. We couldn’t stay there forever so we moved on to Longreach with a lunch stopover at Windorah on the way. As we were leaving The Dig Tree a Bonanza approached to land. We chatted on air for a while. The Bonanza pilot deemed the airstrip, neatly halved by a largish puddle (see picture in part 1) unsuited for his machine, much to the disappointment of his passengers. It seems there are advantages to touring in a 172 ...

We met the Bonanza pilot and his disappointed passengers at Windorah and were soon joined by a couple of blokes in a neat looking Zenith en route to Birdsville. After talking pilot talk for a while and making a coffee we were away again for Longreach. Longreach is great, there is a choice of accommodation right outside the airport gate and the centre of town is a lovely 2 kilometre walk along a botanical garden walkway.

The QANTAS museum complete with a 707 and 747 and a few relics is on the airport and The Stockman’s Hall of Fame is adjacent. Avgas was by swipe card and we met a Tasmanian LAME apprentice at the nearby maintenance facility where I picked up an air filter to fit somewhere along the way as I have noticed that the continual dirt airstrips are making my filter look ordinary. Mental note made: Carry spare filter when touring ... but perhaps not, it was only 17 bucks and we met the said Tasmanian lad and chatted to a few other friendly aircraft mechanics for a while. Neat hanger with some good toys inside too!

Which brings me back to the camp amongst the Spinifex; I must look a little odd, sitting in the middle of nowhere under an aircraft wing tapping away on a laptop and it’s time to gather a bit of wood for a fire and consider what’s for dinner ...

Taco time so far:

Launceston to Port Fairy with a stop at Wynyard: 3.3
Port Fairy to Broken Hill via Hopetown: 4.9
Broken Hill to The Dig Tree via Cameron Corner: 2.8
The Dig Tree to Longreach via Windorah: 2.9
Longreach to Lark Quarry: 1.2

I have always said my 172 has a built in tailwind ... I think this trip it has averaged around 10 + knots. Fuel burn is averaging around 29 litres per hour.