Australia Day 2008 in Muttaburra Queensland

On Australia Day, I went to Aramac Shire in the central of western Queensland.  I was invited by the Premier's Department to be the shire's Australia Day Ambassador and was treated to a real different Aussie experience.  I flew into Longreach and was driven through the flooded areas of the Thompson River to the tiny settlement of Aramac where I had dinner with the Council on Friday night.  

Bright and early on Australia Day, we travelled another 84 kilometres along the straightest road in the universe to the tiny town of Muttaburra where I gave the Australia Day speech and distributed awards to the local prize winners.

I met with Doug Langdon, the fellow who discovered the skeleton of the Muttaburrasaurus dinosaur in 1963.  The Queensland Museum sent its young paleontologist, Alan Bartholomei, to investigate the bones and to crate them up for the QM collection.  Doug and his wife Pearl are upstanding citizens of the Shire and still make a great contribution to civic events and community pride.