MEDIA INFORMATION 2021 - Outback Pioneers
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Become an outback pioneer as you explore outback Queensland and live this truly iconic part of Australia’s story. Unleash your pioneering spirit!
Unique outback experiences
Entertaining holidays
Traditional hospitality
Heritage-inspired accommodation
For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au
MEDIA INFORMATION 2021 1
CONTENTS
WELCOME 3
Welcome to Longreach and Outback Pioneers
WHAT OUTBACK PIONEERS IS ALL ABOUT 4
The Kinnon family
COMPANY HISTORY AND BACKGROUND 5
Our experiences
Our holidays
Other attractions
Our season
OUTBACK PIONEER EXPERIENCES
Cobb & Co Coach Experience 6
Nogo Station Experience 8
Starlight’s Cruise Experience 10
Winton Discovery Day Tour 12
Harry Redford Old Time Tent Show 14
ACCOMMODATION
The Staging Post 16
KINNON & CO’S OTHER FACILITIES
The Station Store 18
The Welcome Home 20
LONGREACH 22
The best time to come
Climate
What to bring
Other attractions
OUTBACK PIONEERS MEDIA CONTACT DETAILS 23
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 2
WELCOME TO LONGREACH
AND OUTBACK PIONEERS
We hope you find many of the facts and figures Although the business was started to help the TOURISM AWARDS
you need on these fact sheets. You will also find family support their grazing business in times of
contact details if you wish to interview Richard drought, it has grown to become a passion in its Outback Qld Tourism Awards:
Kinnon or need other background information. own right. It’s always about sharing the outback 2019 Visitors Choice Award Best Experience
they love and creating an outstanding outback 2018 Cultural Tourism (Gold)
We have also included a range of our images
experience for guests. 2017 Cultural Tourism (Gold)
if you would like to order any of these for
publication. 2016 Cultural Tourism (Gold)
FAMILY-OWNED AND MANAGED
The Kinnon family are keen to share the pioneering 2012 Heritage & Cultural Tourism
The family continue to be involved in all aspects Tour &/or Transport Operator
outback spirit, outback heritage and present day
of the business – from strategy and innovation 2011 Heritage & Cultural Tourism
insights into outback life with visitors so please let
through to being tour guides and performers. Tour &/or Transport Operator
us know if there are any other ways we can help
The family is Richard Kinnon and Marisse New Tourism Development
you tell our story – the outback pioneer story.
Kinnon and their adult children Abigail, Jeremy, Major Tourist Attraction
and Lane. They are supported by a small team,
COMPANY PHILOSOPHY 2010 Heritage & Cultural Tourism
dedicated to giving visitors a great experience
At the heart of the Outback Pioneers brand is the of outback Queensland. Queensland Tourism Awards:
Kinnon family’s vision: ‘To inspire and educate 2018 Cultural Tourism (Bronze)
current and future generations to experience, 2017 Cultural Tourism (Gold)
value and preserve the real Australian Outback’.
2016 Cultural Tourism (Gold)
The family’s love of their outback lifestyle, 2013 Heritage & Cultural Tourism
bush traditions and heritage, and their respect New Tourism Development
for the early settlers comes through in the detail
2012 Heritage & Cultural Tourism
of every aspect of their operations. Outback
humour shines through and makes every Australian Tourism Awards:
experience warm and entertaining. 2012 Heritage & Cultural Tourism (Bronze)
Queensland Tourism Council Innovation Award 2013 (Inaugural year)
For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 3
WHAT OUTBACK PIONEERS INSPIRING * EDUCATIONAL * QUIRKY
IS ALL ABOUT OUTBACKPIONEERS.COM.AU
Outback Pioneers invites visitors to unleash their
With Outback Pioneers, guests can step into Captain Starlight (Harry Redford or Readford)
own pioneering spirit in outback Queensland. the shoes of pioneers, past and present, and was an infamous cattle duffer (thief) who made
get insights into life lived large in a wide-open an audacious journey from the Longreach
We celebrate the spirit of the early settlers
landscape far from the state’s coastal cities. region to South Australia with over 1000
who made the long and often dangerous
stolen cattle. The ruins of the stockyards
journey west to set up their lives on distant
T raditional methods, crafts, skills and recipes where he kept his cattle before the long
landholdings. Like the Indigenous people feature wherever possible. journey south can still be seen at the Kinnon’s
before them, the early pioneers needed
It’s a visit that can’t help but change Nogo Station and his story is told in the
self-reliance, ingenuity and resilience to
perspectives and get visitors back in touch Starlight’s Spectacular Sound & Light Picture
survive the often harsh conditions.
with simple life pleasures. Show, which is part of the Outback Pioneers
The pioneering spirit lives on in the outback Starlight’s Cruise Experience.
people today who still need tenacity,
The Kinnon family shares traditional outback
hospitality and the outback pioneering Banjo Paterson is even better known and
inventiveness and humour to sustain them in
heritage and lifestyle in everything they do. this is the landscape and lifestyle that
times of drought, flood and diverse challenges.
inspired him. Waltzing Matilda was first
We tell their story too.
performed at the North Gregory Hotel
OUR LOCAL HEROES in Winton. We follow in his footsteps
The outback characters are an iconic part of on the Winton Discovery Day Tour.
remote Queensland’s story. From the pioneers For more, see www.outbackpioneers.com.au/
of flight to bush poets, from stockman to explore/our-local-heroes
shearers and the women of the homestead,
there are so many stories to tell.
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For further information phone Outback Pioneers marketing crew on 07 4847 0648 or email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 4
COMPANY HISTORY AND
BACKGROUND
Based in Longreach, western OUR EXPERIENCES OTHER ATTRACTIONS:
Queensland Cobb & Co Stagecoach Experience The Station Store (traditional outback
Founded by the Kinnon family in Nogo Station Experience emporium, homewares, gifts, souvenirs)
2006 to help offset tough times for the The Welcome Home at 128 Eagle
grazing business Starlight’s Cruise Experience
Street, houses our café, tearoom,
Started with the Cobb & Co coach ride Winton Discovery Day Tour restaurant, booking office and
using a restored Cobb & Co coach Harry Redford Old Time Tent Show accommodation check-in.
along the original Longreach-Windorah (also part of the full Cobb & Co Abigail’s Outback Kitchen products
mail route Experience). (food range and cookery book).
Has continued to add new tours and
now welcomes around 25,000 visitors OUR HOLIDAYS OUR SEASON
a year Unleash Longreach Holiday All holidays and experiences run from
Launched the Outback Pioneers brand Longreach Storytelling Holiday. April to October each year.
in November 2016 for all holidays
and experiences to help define what
people can expect and to build a OUR ACCOMMODATION
world-class brand to promote outback The Staging Post (including The
Queensland. Stables and The Coach Inn)
The company won awards in
Queensland Tourism Awards (Cultural
Tourism) in 2016, 2017, 2018 and
Outback Queensland Awards Visitors’
Choice for best experience in 2019.
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 5
OUTBACK PIONEERS
COBB & CO COACH EXPERIENCE
This is the only place in Australia For 70 years from the 1850s to the
where people can gallop in a Cobb & 1920s, Cobb & Co coaches were a
Co stagecoach. principal means of transport in the
It’s an opportunity to experience what colonies of Queensland, New South
the early pioneers experienced in this Wales and Victoria. Settlers moving
transport that opened up the inland – inland, new immigrants hopeful of
the commentary helps bring the reality success on the gold fields, shearers,
to life. agents, squatters, children and their
parents—everyone used Cobb & Co
The coach, pulled by five trained stagecoaches to move, as efficiently
horses, takes visitors on a gentle tour as was possible, around the colonies.
through Longreach town, then heads Even larger numbers of people, many
out to the dirt track that is part of the of whom lived in remote country
original Longreach-Windorah Cobb & towns, stations or settlements, relied
Co mail route – a gallop through the on Cobb & Co’s mail delivery services.
bush is an exhilarating experience for
all ages. Coaches brought essential supplies,
news from home and a sense of
There are two stagecoaches, which connection to others in what was
make the tour every weekday from perceived as a distant and inhospitable
April to October – bookings essential. land. Cobb & Co routes were seen as
The tours leave from the yard behind a lifeline to isolated communities and
The Station Store in Longreach. a means of taming the vastness of
Australia.1
Visitors who do the full 4-hour
experience will also enjoy the Harry
Redford Old Time Tent Show, smoko
1
http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/cobb-and-co
and an old time movie.
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 6
OUTBACK PIONEERS COBB & CO STAGECOACH EXPERIENCE
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 7
OUTBACK PIONEERS
NOGO STATION EXPERIENCE
Nogo Station is a historic homestead, At Nogo Station visitors go to the Finally enjoy a saddle bag lunch under
which was once part of the famous historic shearing shed to discover the the gum trees with your Kinnon host
Bowen Downs station. The original Merino wool story and learn about and hear a few more yarns.
part of the homestead dates to the importance of sheep and wool in Nogo Station Experience tours run
the 1880s. It is approximately Australia’s development. on Tuesday and Thursday mornings
18 kilometres from the centre of Our station safari is a unique way to from April to October – bookings are
Longreach. explore the land. Guests board our essential.
It is one of the Kinnon family’s two double-decker, open-top, overlander
working cattle and sheep stations, and bus for a trip across the spectacular
is the home of Abigail (née Kinnon), sunlit plains where wedge-tailed
her family. eagles fly and local wildlife mingles
The station is 35,000 acres and would with iconic cattle breeds, stock-horses
normally run about 4,000 sheep and and the famous merino sheep. It’s a
1,000 cattle but has been de-stocked photo opportunity extraordinaire with
due to the current drought. outback desert camels, kangaroos,
emus, wild donkeys and more. There’s
Outback Pioneers Nogo Station lots to learn about the outback
Experience takes visitors around the environment and feral animals too.
heritage highlights of Longreach by
air-conditioned coach and then heads The station safari passes a billabong
out to Nogo Station. used by legendary local cattle thief
Captain Starlight (Harry Redford) to
Your host at Nogo Station is one of water his branded stolen cattle and
the Kinnons who will share their stops at the ruined stockyards
fascinating experiences of surviving on believed to have been where he kept
the land. them before his notorious journey
south.
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 8
OUTBACK PIONEERS NOGO STATION EXPERIENCE
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 9
OUTBACK PIONEERS
STARLIGHT’S CRUISE EXPERIENCE
This was the original Thomson River After dinner there’s the ‘Starlight’s
sunset cruise, which Kinnon & Co Spectacular Sound & Light Picture
introduced in 2010. Show’ – a movie in the open-air
It features the only paddlewheeler west riverbank theatre. This exclusive movie
of the Great Divide and the equally was commissioned by the Kinnons to
charming Thomson Princess Riverboat. celebrate the tale of Captain Starlight.
Watch out for the appearances by
Guests cruise down the splendid Kinnon family members and locals.
Thomson River at sunset with drinks
(BYO alcohol) and nibbles, watch Finally guests enjoy tea and damper by
the birds come home to roost on the the campfire under the stars and your
riverbanks and learn about the local Kinnon host shares his passion for the
flora, fauna and history. outback and all things Australian –
with trademark irreverent humour.
As darkness falls, the boat moors
at the Kinnons’ bush campground The cruise departs daily Monday
for a stockman’s dinner around the to Saturday from April to October.
campfire. Bookings essential.
Local barefoot bush poet, Scotty,
charms the crowd with his bush
ballads.
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 10OUTBACK PIONEERS STARLIGHT’S CRUISE EXPERIENCE
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 11OUTBACK PIONEERS
WINTON DISCOVERY DAY TOUR
Winton is 179 kilometres north west The North Gregory Hotel was originally
of Longreach. built in 1879 and has since been burnt
Outback Pioneers full-day tour is by down and been rebuilt three times.
air-conditioned coach and takes in The tour visits the new Waltzing
the major sights. Matilda Centre. It’s a purpose-designed
A highlight is the award-winning centre, which replaces the Waltzing
Age of Dinosaurs museum which Matilda Museum that burnt down
has displays to excite every dinosaur in 2015.
fanatic including life-size recreations Outback Pioneers Winton Discovery
and fossils from the local area. Experience runs on Saturdays
It includes the new Dinosaur Canyon from April to October, leaving from
exhibit. Longreach.
Lunch is at the legendary North
Gregory Hotel – an outback icon where
Waltzing Matilda was first performed
in public in 1895.
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 12OUTBACK PIONEERS WINTON DISCOVERY EXPERIENCE
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 13OUTBACK PIONEERS
HARRY REDFORD OLD TIME TENT SHOW
This unique one-hour show is available The show takes place in the yard
as part of the Cobb & Co Experience or at the back of The Station Store in
as a separate attraction. Longreach.
It is based on the old time outback Visitors can order a traditional
tent shows and is an extraordinary mix billy-can lunch to eat while they
of animal antics, mayhem, humour enjoy the show.
and improvisation. Performances are Monday to Friday
While purporting to tell the tale of at 12pm from April to October.
Harry Redford (Captain Starlight),
any relationship to the facts is purely
coincidental!
The animals are all trained under
RSPCA guidelines.
Some of the humour is not 100%
politically correct by today’s standards
so visitors need to see the show in the
spirit of the traditional tent show era.
It is meant with goodwill and is not
intended to offend anyone.
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 14OUTBACK PIONEERS HARRY REDFORD OLD TIME TENT SHOW
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 15THE STAGING POST
ACCOMMODATION
This boutique, heritage-themed The Outriders Huts will be added in More details of room configurations at
accommodation in Longreach invites Stage 2 and will bring further unusual www.outbackpioneers.com.au/stay
guests to dream the outback story options for the traveller who wants an
in the heritage heart of town. It is unmistakably outback experience.
inspired by the pioneer era and the The rooms are designed by Marisse
days of stagecoach travel in the region. Kinnon and ‘Auntie Fran’ who were
The unique accommodation has three also responsible for the award-winning
room styles, all with ensuite, air- Kinnon & Co accommodation in
conditioning and TV. Longreach (now the Saltbush Retreat
The distinctive Stables rooms feature under new ownership).
quirky features as well as luxury The accommodation fulfils a long-held
fittings. You will find copper-piped dream for the Kinnon family of having
rain-showers, barbed-wire-and-rose their own accommodation where they
wall art, and bedheads upcycled from can immerse guests in a total outback
old gates. Many of the features are pioneering experience day and night.
repurposed or made using traditional Guests can enjoy the country buffet
local crafts. breakfast, light lunches and evening
The Coach Inn rooms are next door dining options six days a week at The
to the Cobb & Co courtyard, where Welcome Home opposite The Stables
guests may hear the horses in the (April-October season only).
morning and will feel as if they’re The accommodation is open year-
pioneer travellers about to board round, inviting both groups and
the stagecoach. They feature a self- independent travellers to kick off their
catering kitchenette. boots, shower off the outback dust and
become part of the outback story.
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 16THE STAGING POST ACCOMMODATION
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 17KINNON & CO’S
‘THE STATION STORE’
In the heritage heart of Longreach at The Cobb & Co Stagecoach Experience
126 Eagle Street, The Station Store leaves from the yard at the rear of the
is a must-visit emporium of outback store.
treasures, souvenirs, clothing and The Station Store is open Monday
homewares. to Friday from 8.30am – 5pm and
The impressive historic building, which Saturdays from 9am – 1pm during the
dates back to 1880s, is fashioned to season and with more restricted hours
recreate the feel of the old pioneer during the summer.
stores, which stocked just about
everything! The popular store had
further refinements in 2018, conjuring
up even more of the authentic outback
ambience.
Both locals and visitors enjoy the
treasure trove of goodies finding
everything from hats and boots to
teddies and quilting squares...
Some of the products are created by
locals – including a range of jams,
preserves, pickles and baked goods
from Abigail’s Outback Kitchen –
hand-made at Nogo Station.
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 18KINNON & CO’S ‘THE STATION STORE’
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 19THE WELCOME HOME
Next door to The Station Store, In 2014, the Kinnon family bought choose their favourite side and sauce.
at 128 Eagle Street, Longreach, the Welcome Home Hotel and have It’s all followed by an all-you-can-eat
The Welcome Home was renovated painstakingly restored it, using 1920s dessert bars of homestead desserts.
and refurbished in 2016 to create the photographs as a guide to its former BYO alcohol. Vegetarian and gluten-
Outback Pioneers booking office, appearance. free options.
The Welcome Home Café and Tearoom, His Excellency the Honourable Paul The Welcome Home booking office is
and The Welcome Home Restaurant. de Jersey AC, Governor of Queensland open 7 days. For opening hours, please
The Welcome Home booking office in officially opened the renovated building see the Contact page of our website.
has space for tourists to relax and in October 2016. The Welcome Home Café & Tearoom
discover more about the region. The Welcome Home is somewhere is open 9am – 3pm Monday to Friday
The original Welcome Home Hotel locals and visitors alike can enjoy during the March to October season.
was built in 1896 as a single storey a country buffet breakfast, coffee The Welcome Home Restaurant is
building. The name ‘Welcome Home’ and cakes, light lunches and a choice open for breakfast 6.30am – 9.00am
refers to welcoming soldiers home from of dining option six days a week (open Monday to Saturday, and 6.00pm –
the Boer War. during the season only). 9.00pm for dinner during the March to
The hotel was destroyed by fire in Tour groups, community groups, October season.
1898 and again in 1921. The majority school groups, business groups and
of the current building dates from others can meet in the outback-
1922. themed function area.
Always at the heart of Longreach life, The Stonegrill® is a not-to-be
the hotel was owned by one publican, missed dining experience. Groups
Mrs Ivy McNally, for 50 years from and individual travellers can enjoy
1934 to 1984. an outback dinner on Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays in the winter
season. Meat or fish is cooked on the
stone at the table and the guest can
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 20THE WELCOME HOME
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 21LONGREACH
Longreach is a town of approximately Coach tours: Many coach tours
3,000 people, situated on the Tropic include Outback Pioneers experiences.
of Capricorn. It has a range of Air: There are daily flights by
accommodation, shops, banks and Qantaslink from Brisbane and by twice
facilities. weekly flights by Rex Airlines from
eason: Outback Pioneers tour season
S Townsville via Winton.
April to October. Out accommodation Rail: The Spirit of the Outback
is open year-round. themed train travels twice weekly
Driving: Visitors drive to Longreach Brisbane to Longreach and return
from all around Queensland and (via Rockhampton).
Australia – it can be reached on good Other attractions: The Australian
roads – a 4WD is not necessary. Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the
Road distances from major centres: Qantas Founders Museum are
- Brisbane via Roma 1180km additional highlights of a trip to
Longreach.
- Brisbane via Rockhampton 1300km
- Rockhampton via Emerald 690km
-M
ount Isa via Cloncurry and Winton
650km
- Townsville via Hughenden 660km
Coach: Coaches travel daily Brisbane
to Mount Isa via Longreach and twice
weekly Rockhampton to Longreach.
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 22OUTBACK PIONEERS
MEDIA CONTACT DETAILS
We hope you have found the information PUBLIC CONTACT DETAILS IMAGERY
in this pack helpful. Online information and bookings: Outback Pioneers has a range of
For other general enquiries or to arrange www.outbackpioneers.com.au photographs available for media use.
an interview with Richard Kinnon, please This media pack shows some of our
get in touch with our marketing crew: Outback Pioneers Booking Office
popular images. Please let us know if you
marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 128 Eagle Street, Longreach Q 4730 would like copies of these and in what
Ph +61 7 4658 1776 format and resolution.
reservations@outbackpioneers.com.au Please contact our marketing crew:
marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au
The Station Store
126 Eagle Street, Longreach Q 4730
OTHER USEFUL RESOURCES:
Ph +61 7 4658 2006
stationstore@kinnonandco.com.au www.outbackpioneers.com.au
www.outbackqueensland.com.au
outbackheritage.com.au
qfom.com.au
www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/
australian-story/cobb-and-co
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Starlight
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For further information email marketing@outbackpioneers.com.au 23You can also read
