QANTAS Founders Museum - Longreach - Queensland - Australia

 

While travelling in Queensland few years ago, I visited the QANTAS Founders Museum in Longreach. If you are driving here, it will take about 12 hours and 50 minutes to travel the 1177 kilometers from Brisbane.

101 years ago QANTAS or else Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Services limited was actually started here in Longreach when it was registered on 16^th of November 1920. This museum was started on June 1996.

Site offers plenty of free parking, there is a gift shop and a café available and all the facilities are wheelchair accessible.

There are several tours you can do to explore the different aircrafts available like Boeing 707, 747, DC3, etc. Some of the tours will give you access to areas of the plane where you normally would not see in an airport. This is the Boeing 747-238B with the registration number VH-EBQ City of Bunbury. This used to fly for Qantas and Air Pacific from 10^th December 1979 to 2002.

Do you know what is the longest non stop airborne commercial passenger flight is, is it the Singapore Airlines flight 23 from New York to Singapore using Airbus A350-900ULR aircraft which takes 18 hours and 50 minutes?

No, it is something you will not believe, the longest flight airborne time is 32 hours and 9 minutes and was the Double Sunrise Service operated by Qantas which got the name because the passengers saw sunrise twice while airborne. It was the only regular air service to Australia across the Indian ocean. These flew between Koggala lake in Ceylon now Sri Lanka and Swan River in Perth Australia and used a plane called Catalina flying boats. The record holder longest flight took place on 30^th of August in 1943, I feel this flight which flew from Sri Lanka to Australia will hold the record for many years to come until we start inter planet commercial passenger flights. I am proud that this record is between my motherland and my homeland. Let this video be a tribute to Qantas for their 101 years of service.

			Score out of 5
1	Parking Availability	Adequate	4
2	Wheelchair Access	Easy	4
3	Accessibility	Sealed roads and easy walks.	5
4	Facilities	Toilets – Yes Barbecue – No Restaurant - Yes	4
5	Scenery	NA	-

For more details and pricing visit the Museum Web Site.

Hope you enjoy the video.

Map

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Little Crystal Creek Falls, Crystal Creek, Queensland, Australia

Another interesting waterfall in Queensland is the Little Crystal Creek falls in Crystal Creek. This is made out of 2 to 3 small cascades of water and a pool of water.

This waterfall is located about 75 kilometres North West of Townsville and is reachable in a hour of driving. The road is bit winding after turning from Bruce highway. But it is sealed all the way so a two wheel drive small car would take you there without any problems. When driving from Townsville there is a big car park about 200 metres before the bridge to the left. It can easily accommodate 15 cars so you do not have to worry about finding parking.

At the park there will be 2 boards with maps and details about the area. To reach the waterfall, you need to walk about 150 metres towards the arch bridge from the car park. The bridge is a 18.3 metre long bridge constructed in 1932. There is no separate path but can walk on the left side of the road so be careful if you are travelling with children. You can reach the bridge with a pram or a wheelchair and have a look at the waterfall. But to go anywhere near the water you need to walk down the stairs and some walking on the rocks depending on the side you start walking down. I would say it is an easy 15 minutes walk from the car park. Also you can reach the waterfall starting from any side of the bridge giving you different views of the nature, so you can start from one side and come up from another.

Once you walk down you will be able to see the creek. In the dry season there will be not much water so it will be safe to walk besides the water. Near the bridge there is a table and a bench to sit and relax and have a picnic near the water. Near the car park there are barbecue, toilet and waste disposal facilities as well as a park for children to run around so I would recommend enjoying some food over there.

			Score out of 5
1	Parking Availability	Adequate	5
2	Wheelchair Access	Main Viewpoint – No        Secondary Viewpoint – No Picnic Areas – Yes	1
3	Accessibility	Easy walk till the bridge and then stairs, total walk for about 15 minutes from car park.	3
4	Facilities	Covered Sitting Areas – No Toilets – Yes Barbecue – Yes Garbage Bins – Yes	4
5	Scenery	Waterfall          Stream Bridge	3

Hope you will enjoy the video.

Map