The Outback

Today is a rest day in the sparsely populated town of Longreach known as the birthplace of Quantas, Australia's first airline. I eagerly sign up for the " secrets of the 747" tour held at the Quantas museum grounds and airport. As we tour the mammoth plane I jump at the chance to have my picture standing inside one of the massive, 6.5 million dollar Rolls Royce engines. Inside the double decker passenger liner im able to survey the innermost most workings of the complicated looking cockpit including the "black box" which is actually orange making it easier to locate amongst charred ruins.
After a quick lunch im off to the "Australian Stockmans hall of fame and Outback heritage center" A first class museum with detailed displays and two air conditioned theaters depicting outback history and exploration. There are many accounts of ill equipped explorers attemping to map and explore this vast and unforgiving country usually met with failure and sometimes death!
Tomorrow, I begin the journey into the "real outback", unwavering heat, unmarked roads and roaming animals are just a few of the possible dangers I will face on the road!