The jet lag caught up with Prince Charles as he and the Duchess of Cornwall touched down in Australia for the second leg of their 13-day Diamond Jubilee tour of Australasia.As he donned an Australian Akubra hat to greet hundreds of locals who had gathered to welcome the couple at Longreach, the Queen's son admitted he felt "a few sausages short of a barbecue" because of tiredness. Meanwhile Camilla said she was really feeling the heat – with temperatures hitting 38C degrees.
Despite this, the husband-and-wife team were on top form as they arrived Down Under. Camilla - who looked thrilled to meet a little joey - and her husband were touched by the warm welcome and said they wished they could stay longer than the two-and-a-half hours they spent at Longreach.
After their welcome they visited the headquarters of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. There they saw a demonstration of retrieval techniques and met a patient who had been picked up with a broken leg. Then the pair moved on to the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame, a museum which pays tribute to pioneers of the Australian outback and is dedicated to Australian stockmen – a person who looks after livestock – and Aborigines who have shown bravery or courage.
The centre was opened by the Queen nearly a quarter of a century ago.
The activities in Longreach concluded with an outdoor barbecue, where the couple dined on lamb kofta, Queensland prawns and chicken and coriander rissoles.
The pair had arrived in Oz after three days in Papua New Guinea, where Charles impressed by addressing attendees at an open air church service in the capital Port Moresby in one of the island country's 800 languages, Pidgin English.
He introduced himself as the "nambawan pikinini biltong miss kwin" – the number one child belonging to Mrs Queen and continued: "Mi bringim bikpela tok hamamas bilong mejesti kwin Papua Niugini na olgeta haus lain bilong mi lon dispela taim bilong Diamon Jubili misis kwin. Mi tokpisin olrite?" This translated roughly as: "I bring you greetings from Her Majesty the Queen of Papua New Guinea and from all my family members during this celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen. Was my Pidgin English correct?"
He followed in the footsteps of Prince Harry, who won over locals in Jamaica when he quoted national hero Bob Marley, apologising for the Queen's absence at a State dinner but telling attendees not to worry because: "Every little thing gonna be alright."
