Royals hop into it, with smiles and a roo-ful eye

IT was a case of hello again, Prince Charles, and g'day Camilla, as the heir to the British throne and his future queen arrived in Longreach.

WE'VE had a quite a bit to do with the fellow who stepped off the plane yesterday, blinking in the white light of a blistering outback afternoon. So most eyes were on the woman at his side, the Duchess of Cornwall.

It was a case of hello again, Prince Charles, and g'day Camilla, as the heir to the British throne and his future queen arrived in Longreach, central-west Queensland, to kick off their first tour of Australia together. A big, hot but otherwise happy crowd turned out when their plane touched down from Port Moresby at 4.47pm AEST, as the thermometer nudged 38C, over the old century mark.

The Prince of Wales, of course, took it all in his stride. This is his 14th trip to Australia, including the two terms he spent as a boy boarding at the Timbertop annex of Geelong Grammar. At 63, there's not much he hasn't seen or heard on the rope line. No sweat, one might say.

GALLERY: Charles and Camilla

For the 65-year-old duchess, it was a loud and exuberant introduction to the bush complete with cracking stockwhips, happy kids, injured joeys and posh rissoles on the barbie. While they have been married since 2005, her integration into the royal firm, post-Diana, has been a measured process.

The whirlwind tour taking in the Melbourne Cup, Adelaide, Hobart, Sydney and Canberra will be watched closely both here and at home in wintry Britain.

Camilla, looking fresh in a patterned sundress after the short hop from Papua New Guinea, seemed to be as curious about the locals of Longreach as they were about her. Only 4300 people live in the district, 1200km northwest of Brisbane, and more than a quarter of them turned out to welcome the royal couple.

Touring the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame, which was opened by the Queen in 1988, the duchess broke one of the cardinal rules of showbiz, the one that cautions against working with animals. In this case, it was Rooby Blue, an injured three-month-old joey that had been nursed back to health by locals, Carley and Nicholas Walker, with their daughters Saxony and Elsa.

Despite Ms Walker's concerns that the baby kangaroo might play up, the duchess leaned forward and scooped up the animal. Just about everyone, including Charles, held their breath. Rooby Blue nestled back in her arms. "There is a first time for everything," Camilla joked.

The prince was in fine form during the traditional walk-about. Dispensing with his tie and donning a stockman's Akubra, he approached local nurse Ann Peacey, 52, as she cradled four-week-old William Nunn.

"Have you been left holding the baby," he inquired.

"Oh no," Ms Peacey said, "this one belongs to her," pointing to her friend, Claire Nunn.

The Duchess of Cornwall did not let the heat go unremarked. "It's very hot for me compared to England," she told 11-year-old Kealey Griffiths, after complimenting the little girl on her dress.

Baby Ethan Hanlon, seven months old, caught her eye on the rope line.

"He looks very happy under that hat," she told the infant's mother, Clare Hanlon, 34.

Hazel Wilson, 66, travelled more than 800km from Hervey Bay in southern Queensland and was rewarded with a handshake and word with the prince.

"How long did it take you to get here?" he asked.

"Two plane rides," she replied.

After viewing a stockwhip demonstration at the Hall of Fame, and being presented with one of their own to take home, they went on to a community barbecue for rissole of chicken and coriander, along with Queensland king prawns.

Charles, acknowledging the warmth of their welcome, said he and Camilla were touched, despite the jetlag that had left him a "few sausages short of a barbecue".