experience of theWaltzing MatildaCentre, whichopened inApril 1998. national songin 1995providedthebasisfor development of thewritingofour‘unofficial’ since 1995.The Centenary hasbeenheldeachyear competition of performedpoetry verse hasbeenheldinWinton since1972.Anannual competitionforwritten The BronzeSwagmanBushPoetry irrigation system. Carisbrooke isalsohometo anaward-winningKeyline L.B. Johnson,GeneralRoyce andotherofficers.Colourful Carisbrooke Station.On board were Lieutenant Commander In 1942,aUSAirForce b17(the‘Swoose’)force landedat Winton 1921. Clubonthe10thofFebruary Winton. Thecompany’s firstBoardmeeting washeldatthe (QANTAS)Service asa company on 16th November1920in registered theQueenslandandNorthernTerritory Aerial HudsonFyshand PaulMcGinness Queensland toDarwin, ofanaerial routefrom Following thegroundsurvey Hotel. the NorthGregory performed inpublicforthefirsttimeon6thApril1895 at was Waltzing Matilda.Legendhasitthatthesongwas Christina MacphersonplayedatuneforBanjoandtheresult shearing shedatDagworthStation.Hisfriend’s sister strike, thedeathofaswagmanandburning friends atDagworthStationfollowingthesecondshearers’ under martiallaw. In1895,A.B.‘Banjo’Patersonvisited During the Shearers’ Strikes of 1891 and 1894, the town was England. changed thenametoWinton, asuburbofhishometownin initially knownasPelicanWaterhole, butRobertAllen present siteoftheNationalAustralianBank.Thetownwas settler wasRobertAllen,whoestablishedahotel/storeonthe Vindex, BladensburgandOondooroo.In1876thefirsttown with theestablishmentofruralpropertiesElderslie, The Winton districtwasfirstsettledbyEuropeansin1873 The Winton Story Dinosaur Trackways. hunting, orre-livetheageofdinosaursatLarkQuarry Aboriginal rockartatCarisbrookeStation.Tryopal bird lifeattheBladensburgNationalParkandrich ‘Waltzing Matilda’,experiencethediverselandscapeand day trips? Discover the intriguing story behind the song Why nottakeatour?Orfollowoneofourself-guided Stay a couple of days and enjoy our country hospitality. a richcombinationofoutbacklife,landscapeandlegend. Take timetoexperienceWINTONandMatildaCountry; WINTON dinosaur bones in their laboratory orjoinanannualdinosaurdig! dinosaur bonesintheirlaboratory southern hemisphere.Take atour, sign-uptohelppreparereal inthe Australian dinosaursandthebiggestdinosaurlaboratory Australian AgeofDinosaurshousestheworld’s largestcollectionof a borethatis1,379mdeep,withtemperatureof99°Celsius. artesian boreatCastleHillStation,wherethewatercomesfrom emerges at83°CelsiusandtheshirehasAustralia’s hottest bores ofapproximately1.2kilometresindepth.Thewater Winton isfamousforitswatersupplywhichcomesfromfour Ranger on UHFchannel 1Duplicate. Depending ondistances youmaybeabletocontact the The RangerBladensburg NationalPark:(07)4657 1192 Longreach Districtoffice:Phone(07) 4650 1990 Queensland ParksandWildlife: www.epa.qld.gov.au Website: www.experiencewinton.com.au Email: [email protected] Toll free:1300655115Facsimile: (07)46571886 Winton VisitorInformationCentre Key contactdetails your notes were workingdiggingsinthearea. ofopalbyastockmanin1893.Atonetime,600miners discovery permitted. This area has been mined intermittently since the first of Queensland’s boulder opal mining. Fossicking for opalsis Opalton, 120kilometressouthwestofWinton isamajorcentre National Monumentnottobemissed. on displayinsideahugeprotectivebuilding.Itisaniconic 95 million years old, 3,300 stampeding fossilized footprints are DinosaurTrackways.stampede onEarth;LarkQuarry Morethan Winton isalsohometotheonlyrecordedevidenceofadinosaur
Front Cover: Banjo Paterson Sculpture. Photo Peter Knowles
experience WINTON ‘Waltzing Matilda’ Waltzing MatildaCentre and Winton Town The Homeof Half daywalk
N 15 16 Hughenden Services 100 200 300 400 500 1000 1 Police H6 Vindex St 4657 1200 A 2 Ambulance G5 Werna St 4657 1100 metres 3 Fire Station H5 Vindex St 4657 1592 1:1000 Wilson Street 4 Hospital C6 Oondooroo St 4657 2700 Australian Age 5 Doctor’s Surgery D6 Blomfield St 4657 1337 of Dinosaurs 6 RACQ I4 Elderslie St 4657 1256 B Turn off 12km 7 Pharmacy I5 Elderslie St 4657 1340 Chirnside Street 8 Public Toilets J6 Oondooroo St Matilda Highway 9 Post Office J6 Elderslie St 4657 1547 10 Public Pool I6 Elderslie St 4657 1560 DIRECTORY C Tourist Information and Services Bostock Street Visitor Information Centre /
service Waltzing Matilda Centre Elderslie St 4657 1466 4 Travel Agent Elderslie St 4657 1296 Longreach D 14 Winton Accommodation 5 Blomfield Street Australian Hotel Elderslie St 4657 1214 Banjo’s Overnight and 12 Holiday Units Manuka St 4657 1213 Boulder Opal Motor Inn Elderslie St 4657 1211 E 13 Dagworth Street Carisbrooke Station Cork Mail Rd 4657 0084 Matilda Country Tourist Park Chirnside St 4657 1607 Matilda Motel Oondooroo St 4657 1433 North Gregory Hotel/Motel Elderslie St 4657 1375 Werna Street Werna Nesbit Street Manifold Street Manuka Street Outback Motel Elderslie St 4657 1422 F Pelican Fuel Stop and 2 Cork Street Caravan Park Elderslie St 4657 1478 Tattersalls Hotel Elderslie St 4657 1309 Windermere Station Stay Jundah Rd 4657 0359 Winton Hotel Werna St 4657 1519
G Street Oondooroo Banks 11 3 1 Westpac In-Store Bank Elderslie St 4657 1466 National Australian Bank Elderslie St 4657 2100 Vindex Street Commonwealth Bank 9 10 H (Post Office Agent) Elderslie St 4657 1547
Sesbania Street Sesbania *Eftpos services are available at advertised retailers
5 6 7 4 Restaurants and Meals 10 Boulder Opal Motor Inn Elderslie St 4657 1211 6 8 Coolibah Café Elderslie St 4657 1466 I Matilda Highway Elderslie Street (Main Street) North Gregory Hotel Elderslie St 4657 1375 2 3 1 Royal Coffee Shop Elderslie St 4657 1296
Cloncurry, Boulia Cloncurry, Tattersalls Hotel Elderslie St 4657 1309 18 7 8 9 Twilight Café Elderslie St 4657 1301 Winton Hotel Werna St 4657 1519 J 1.5km Riley Street Winton RSL Oondooroo St 4657 1811 Jundah Winton - Jundah Road 17 2km 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Waltzing Matilda Centre and 1 5 Waltzing Matilda Centre – Royal Open Air Theatre Historic Winton Town Walk Qantilda Museum, Outback Regional Gallery Established in 1918, the Royal Theatre in Cobb lane is one of Winton is the home of one of Australia’s most The Waltzing Matilda Centre tells the story of the song ‘Waltzing the few open air picture theatres remaining in operation in enduring icons, the song ‘Waltzing Matilda’. Matilda’ through interactive exhibits and audio visual displays. Australia. It still operates with original projection equipment from 1938, when it was rebuilt following a fire. Enjoy a night Considered by many to be Australia’s unofficial Entry to the Centre also gives you access to the Outback Regional Gallery, with regularly changing exhibitions and access to the of nostalgia on a canvas chair under the stars every national anthem, there have been over 500 Qantilda Pioneer Place, which contains a large collection of Wednesday night at 8pm, April through to September. You different recordings of ‘Waltzing Matilda’. artifacts and outback memorabilia from the town’s original are welcome to take a look during the day to see Memories of Discover the intriguing story of this special song telephone exchange to railway carriages. Yesteryear Picture Show Museum, with entry via Wookatook and the people and romance behind it through Trading Hours 9am – 5pm, 7 days (Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Gift and Gem Centre. Take time to enjoy the opal walk and interactive displays and unique high tech audio Day and New Years Day) with reduced hours on Public Holidays and fascinating opal displays. visual presentations; it is the perfect place to weekends from October to March. Contact: 1300 665 115. begin your discovery of the Winton Experience. 6 1 North Gregory Hotel Visitor Information Centre, Westpac In-store Bank – The original North Gregory Hotel was built in 1878, but was Coolibah Café and Station Store pulled down in 1900. It was re-built, but burned to the The Waltzing Matilda Centre is also the location of an accredited ground in 1916. It was again devastated by fire in 1946. The Visitor Information Centre. It’s free to browse, or ask our friendly building you see here today was built in 1955 by the Winton staff about things to see and do around Winton and the region. Shire Council and was the first hotel owned by any council. POINTS OF INTEREST POINTS Enjoy a cool drink inside and admire the beautiful etched- Enjoy a damper, tasty sandwich or coffee at the Coolibah Café and glass panelled doors in the lounge. The doors, by artist take the opportunity to find a special gift or book in the Station Daphne Mayo, depict pastoral scenes, as well as scenes from Store. You can even do your banking at the local branch of Westpac the Qantas, and ‘Waltzing Matilda’ stories. in-store. After you visit the Centre, enjoy a leisurely walk through town to 7 Arno’s Wall sample Winton’s interesting buildings and sites. There are Corfield and Fitzmaurice Store interpretive signs with further stories along the way. Head across the key attractions Come in and see the skylights and ‘flying fox’ of Winton’s road to the Jolly Swagman sculpture for the start of the town walk. magnificent heritage-listed general store, opened by partners Corfield and Fitzmaurice in 1878. For a small entry fee, visitors 2 can view the Dinosaur Diorama, interpreting the world’s only Waltzing Matilda Centenary and Pelican Waterhole Sculptures known fossilised Trackways of dinosaurs in flight, at Lark Banjo Paterson wrote ‘Waltzing Matilda’ in 1895 while visiting Quarry Dinosaur Trackways. The store also contains a display nearby Dagworth Station. 1995 marked the Centenary of Waltzing of boulder opal from the Queensland Boulder Opal Matilda’s writing and first performance at the North Gregory Hotel, Association, and a heritage building display. Casts of fossilised and these sculptures were erected as part of the celebrations. bones, and fossilised plant material, from the Australian Age of Dinosaurs collection are also housed here. Don’t forget to 3 pick up a Winton gift from Combo Crafts. Elderslie Street Qantas Cairn Royal Open Air Theatre The Qantas Cairn, commemorating a registration of Qantas in Winton on 16th November 1920, was officially unveiled by Sir Hudson Fysh in July 1965.
4 The site of the first building in Winton In 1876, Robert Allen built a hotel/store on the site of what is now the National Australian Bank. Allen also gave Winton its name. The town was originally called Pelican Waterhole, but Allen (who was the first Postmaster) found the name too cumbersome to write on postage stamps, so he called the town Truck Museum after Winton, the suburb in Bournemouth, England where he Corfield and Fitzmaurice Store was born. 14 Stock Trucking Yards Pastoral leases were taken up in 1873 and the first holdings in Winton Shire were Elderslie, Vindex, Bladensburg and Oondooroo. The Winton Shire covers 53,820 sq kms and the low rainfall (400mm pa) is ideal for sheep grazing in the district – in a good season up to 100 thousand merino sheep graze the area. Recently cattle production has increased due to the international demand for high quality Australian beef. Cattle are trucked by road train to the yards for further transfers.
15 Qantas Cairn and Musical Fence The Winton Shire Council became the first local authority in the world to support an airline, contributing to the acquisition in 1920 for Qantas’ first landing field. A memorial cairn marks the site of the first plane landing here on the 7th of February 1921. In 2003 the nearby musical fence was created as part of the Queensland Biennial Festival of Music and is open to public use for your enjoyment. POINTS OF INTEREST POINTS attractions
Elderslie Street Pelican Waterhole sculpture
8 11 The Jolly Swagman Winton Shire Council Chambers Musical Fence The Jolly Swagman was commissioned to commemorate Local Government was established in Winton in 1887. The ‘Waltzing Matilda’ and was sculpted by celebrated Australian chambers and offices were built in 1959, with extensions in 1987, 16 artist, Daphne Mayo in 1959. It is dedicated to ‘Banjo’ Paterson and the Shire Hall was opened in 1964. The Hall houses the Rolls Winton’s Diamantina Heritage Truck & Machinery Museum who wrote ‘Waltzing Matilda’, and the many swagman who lie of Honour of the First and Second World Wars. The cenotaph Take a trip into Transport history and visit Winton’s newest in unmarked graves throughout Australia. This Swagman is a opposite the Hall contains three pieces of Rockhampton granite tourist attraction, officially opened in September 2007. View bronze replica of the original fibreglass statue, which now has a and weighs over 12 tonnes. the restored heritage trucks, tractors, machinery and permanent home in the foyer of the Outback Regional Gallery. memorabilia. The Museum is situated just over the railway 12 line on the Hughenden road. 9 Artesian Bores Arno’s Wall Winton is famous for its water supply, four bores, all around 1.2 17 This modern wonder of art and architecture contains almost every kilometres deep, emerging at a temperature of 83˚C, cooled to Long Waterhole household item you could imagine! There’s everything from 44°C before being reticulated into the town supply. You might Long Waterhole is man-made and is a popular camping and motorbikes to the kitchen sink! Arno has everyone guessing about notice a strong odour from the water which comes rich in minerals picnic spot and is great for bird watching and fishing. A bike what will be incorporated next into this unusual landmark. and hydrogen sulphide gas. Once the gas is allowed to escape, track designed for motorbikes runs around the waterhole. either by letting it stand or boiling, then it is magnificent. 10 18 The Winton Club 13 Pelican Waterhole On February 10th, 1921 the first Qantas Board meeting was Winton Cemetery Winton was first known as Pelican Waterhole, and this is the held here at the Winton Club. Access to view the range of The Cemetery is at the western end of Cork Street. Wander site of the first camp, settled by pioneer Robert Allen. The Qantas memorabilia on display is by arrangement. The original through the interesting and historical markers and monuments incidence of flooding brought about the relocation of the building has been extended over years, and repair work was of some of the Outback’s early pioneers. A self-guided walk town to its present position. Turn left along the Landsborough carried out after a fire in 1943. brochure is available from the Winton Visitor Information Highway west of the town at the sign (just after the Eric Centre or the Cemetery gate. Lenton Memorial Recreational Grounds).