This morning went to the Stockman Hall of Fame which is a testament to the pioneers and also the stockmen and the station hands who ran this country and its sheep and cattle from the start of white civilisation. From the aborigines thru to the cattle dogs and the stock there was incredible footage and things to do. There is a stockman show every morning which epitomises the work of the horses, dogs, man and even the bullock teams which tore out the pathways and roads of this country. The guy who did the show was a great entertainer and he had three horses, a camel, 3 dogs and a team of 8 bullocks so with his poetry and yarns made for a good morning.
Was interested in the RFDS - Royal Flying Doctor Service which began in 1928 by John Flynn, with 1 aircraft leased from QANTAS with pilot and flying from 1 base in Cloncurry , Qld. The Flying Doctor Service now operates more than 60 aircraft flying from 21 bases in the country. John Flynn conceived the idea in WW1 but had no aircraft to do the job so the DH50A was chosen for the job. The service now reaches over 7,000,000 sq. miles of the Australian continent serving 275,000 patients a year , one every 2 mins. on average. RFD now has 8 bases and 20 aircraft in QLD.
It was the present queen's visit to the Broken Hill Base in 1954 which gave the FDS the right to become the RFDS and it did in 1955.
In 1926 it was pedal power which connected the outback with the RFDS but today every call can make contact with a doctor in 30 secs. and an aircraft despatched within 45minutes.
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Matilda Ann Waugh: was the inspiration for the song Waltzing Matilda by Banjo Patterson. At 8 yrs old she would sit on his knee and he would play her favourite songs which were mainly waltzes and he made a promise to her and her family that he would write a song for her especially. At 21 she became post mistress of Boonoo Boonoo Post Office which was on her father's property, he was a butcher. She married Gordon Waugh and had 6 children
and ended up on a station in outback Qld where her husband was a head stockman.
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