Sunday 28 May 2023
We woke early this morning so quickly got to the laundry to do our last load of the trip and hang it in our room to dry while we were out. We then went for a walk along the main street to the billabong while the washing load was working.
Back out after breakfast to the billabong again before meeting the others at the Visitor Centre where we watched a movie about the history and development of Birdsville and the expansive areas around the town. Then we had to buy our own lunch but as it is Sunday and everything is closed we went to the roadhouse and I bought a Weiss Bar and a banana which was enough for me. We have really been overfed everywhere we've stopped.
Back to the coach where we met our local guide Alex who took us on a tour of the town. One interesting point was a stop at the artesian bore where water rises at extremely high temperatures. The population sign for the town says 317 +/- 7000 as that many visitors come to town for the big events. The town is only 46m above sea level.
Then out west to Big Red - a very high (40m) sand dune. The amazing thing was the cleared area ready for the Big Red Bash in July - a huge country music festival.
Next we headed north to an area of Waddi trees - significant to the local indigenous people and apparently quite rare.
After dropping Alex in town we went to the Burke & Wills Tree (not actually the real one) on the other side of the Diamantina River. There we sat under a Coolibah tree for our Sunday Service.
Back for a coffee at the pub and a peaceful sit in the sun with Wendy and Kerrie.
Monday 29 May 2023
We left Birdsville before 8am today as we had such a long driving day (over 600km). The road started as well formed dirt road but later in the day was sealed but mainly just one vehicle wide. We had a few toilet stops at roadsides in the middle of nowhere.
We stopped at the Dreamtime Serpent, a snake artwork made from rocks in the side of a hill.
At morning tea time we did a short diversion to Betoota Hotel, a renovated building in a ghost town. It was a comfortable stop and the couple had a collection of old cars and other paraphenalia around the outside and inside of the building.
Another detour took us up to Deon's Lookout where we could get amazing views of the meandering creek lines in the Channel Country.
Three times there were air strips on the road for use in emergencies.
Lunch was in a lovely airy dining room that was part of the Windorah Hotel on the Cooper Creek.
We saw an amazing variety of animals as we drove along...emus, kangaroos, goats, sheep, cattel, pigs (two large dead ones and two live piglets). The variety of road surfaces and colours was also worth noting. There were patches of roadworks and pockets of green but after Windorah there were less sand dunes and just a few sandhills.
We arrived in Quilpie at about 5:30 and soon made ourselves at home.
Dinner was cooked by the Motel owner and was delicious - chicken stew and a beef stew and plain vegetables.
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