Winton

Introduction

The Aussie Hotel

© slamrs

Winton is a town in Central West Queensland, Australia, 177 kilometres northwest of Longreach.

Sights and Activities

Waltzing Matilda

Winton is intimately involved in the story of the popular Australian folk song, "Waltzing Matilda", which had its first performance in the North Gregory Hotel in the town. The Waltzing Matilda Centre opened in 1998 and is the first museum dedicated to a song. The song was written by 'Banjo' Paterson whilst holidaying at a local property Dagworth Station. The North Gregory Hotel has been ravaged by fire three times. In 2012, to remind Australians of the song's significance, Winton organised the inaugural Waltzing Matilda Day to be held on 6 April, the anniversary of its first performance.

Weather

Winton has a hot climate with generally dry conditions from March until November, but somewhat wetter conditions from December to March, when nearly all of the annual 300-400 mm of rain falls. Temperatures range from around 24 °C during the day in July to 38 °C in December and January, with nights averaging between 8 °C and 23 °C respectively.

Getting There

By Plane

Winton Airport (WIN) has flights with Regional Express Lines to/from Longreach and Townsville.

By Train

The http://www.queenslandrail.com.au/RailServices/Travelnetwork/Pages/SpiritoftheOutback.aspx|Spirit of the Outback]] between Brisbane and Longreach has coach connections to Winton.

By Bus

There is a coach connection from the Spirit of the Outback to Longreach, servicing Winton.

By Car

Winton is located along the A2 between Longreach (2 hours) and Cloncurry (3 hours and 45 minutes). Just north of Winton, the main road branches off to the west connecting to/from Boulia (4 hours), a one-lane road, which means that traffic has to slow down a bit and drive with the right side wheels on the gravel. The road is well maintained though and the gravel is pretty smooth as well.

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafés are very common in the larger Australian cities and popular tourist destinations. However, once you leave the major population centres, you might have trouble finding somewhere to log on. Free wifi is getting more and more common (either with or without a code) in places like restaurants, some bars and coffee places and hotels. Sometimes a fee is required.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Australia is on a GSM 900/1800 network, so if you have an unlocked phone that works on those frequencies, you will be able to buy a prepaid SIM-card and stick into your phone when you're in Australia. You will receive a new Australian phone number with the SIM-card.

To dial out of Australia use the prefix 0011, followed by the calling code of the country you are trying to reach, followed by the area code of the city/town (without the 0!) and finally the phone number.

Within Australia, it is necessary to add an area code to the phone numbers if you are calling from outside the area. Below are Australia's area codes:

• 02 - New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory (Sydney, Canberra)
• 03 - Victoria & Tasmania (Melbourne, Hobart)
• 07 - Queensland (Brisbane)
• 08 - Western Australia, South Australia & Northern Territory (Perth, Adelaide, Darwin)

000 is the emergency telephone number in Australia, but the international GSM mobile emergency telephone number 112 also works on mobile phones.

Post

Australia Post is the government's postal service. Most suburbs will have at least one post office. Opening times are mostly from around 8:00 or 9:00am to 5:00pm though larger ones keep longer hours sometimes. A standard letter or postcard sent within Australia will cost $0.60. Internationally, it costs $1.70 to send postcards anywhere in the world. Letters cost $1.85 to send within the Asia Pacific region and $2.60 to anywhere else in the world.^[1]. It is also possible to send things as parcels or by express mail. You can also use use private courier companies like TNT, UPS or DHL as they are competitive and reliable.

External Links