27th May: Had a more relaxed start to the day seeing the sights of Barcaldine. We started with the Barcaldine historical museum full of collections of stuff, the more recent versions of which were certainly within my memory of being used in my childhood! The only thing really to capture my attention was a beautiful set of wooden Tools made by a Barcaldine cabinet maker Johann Blase who was in Barcaldine 2 years after the town was established.

We then visited the AustralianWorkers Heritage Centre, celebrating the lives of Australian workers, starting with the Shearer’s strike of 1891 in Barcaldine. This strike, although ultimately unsuccessful, is credited with being the event which started the Australian Labor movement. The strikers met under the Tree of Knowledge, eventually poisoned more than 100 years later and a young tree propagated from the old one is thriving in the Hertitage Centre precinct! We spent several hours wandering around the many exhibitions celebrating police workers, emergency workers, power workers, railway workers, teachers, women workers, postal workers and shearers- all with their own historical tributes! 

We then set off for Longreach, only 100km away. We set up our van at the Longreach Caravan Park, bought a few groceries at the Food works store, checked out the museums we will visit tomorrow and drive around Longreach getting the vibes of the place.

We then had biscuits and cheese followed by a Vegie and cheese omelette and salad flowed by matcha tea and bed.


   Johann Blase’s tools and an example of his work circa 1888
Tradition of the slouch hat with Emu feathers started in Barcaldine during Shearer’s strike
  Young ghost gum propagated from the original Tree of Knowledge
Birth of the Australian Workers Union with shearer’s strike of 1891
Birth of the Australian Labor movement politically
  Tree of Knowledge under which striking shearers met to plan their next strike moves 












Comments

  1. NicMay 31, 2026 at 9:07 PM

    FUN FACT: Australian Light Horse soldiers famously had emu plumes attached to their slouch hats during the Great War. Its successor, the Royal Australian Armoured Corps still sports them. What is less well known is that this tradition would arouse howls of protest if they emerged in today’s allegedly more enlightened times, in which we are told we should be ‘humane,’ in our engagement with our native fauna.

    During the 1891 shearer’s strike, which was centred around Longreach, the Queensland Mounted Infantry were despatched to Longreach to keep the peace. To break the monotony of their long patrols, they entertained themselves by riding up to, then alongside, emus and plucking their feathers. Plucking feathers from sprinting and almost certainly panicking emus travelling at up to 50 mph demanded very skilful horsemanship and the plumes were worn as trophies. They were adopted by the Light Horse soldiers as a symbol of their horsemanship.

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