We'd like you to
sign in and click "submit"whenever you visit
We'd like you to
sign in and click "submit"whenever you visit
* * * * * * * * * *
< Index & map page >
< another year >
< Part 1 >
< Part 2 >
< Part 3 >
< Part 4 >
< Part 5 >
< Part 6 >
< Part 7 >
< Part 8 >
< Part 9 >
< Part 10 >
< Part 11 >
This quaint bakery appears to be one of the busiest
shops in Birdsville. It is quite versatile with a range of groceries and general supplies AND IT IS LICENSED!
The water supply is a boiling hot spring. The problem is that it has to be stored in cooling ponds before being pumped up high into the tanks to provide water pressure.
The birdsville race track is very open and I wonder how many people bother to go through the entrance. Maybe the money comes from betting and not from the entrance fees?
The existing pub looks a lot better than I expected. They serve plenty of very good meals and everybody wants to know where you're from and where you're going. It is the only other "sort of busy" place in town.
Like most outback pubs, the licensee seems to have a fetish for HATS - there are scores of them hanging from the roof. I see that anything left behind by slightly intoxicated patrons gets hung from the roof. I saw boots, high heeled shoes, jackets, BRA! , teddy bears and more.
The flies are very friendly. They ALL wanted to keep in touch.
One thing you have to do in Birdsville is drive out 35 kilometers into the Simpson Desert and climb "Big Red".
Connie climbed to the top - with a bottle of beer for herself, and a bottle of water for me - just before sunset.
Sunset at Bedourie (200klms North of Birdsville) was stunning. I know you've seen a thousand sunset pics but this one seemed different.
This seems to be the "Bedourie Trade Mark" - although it's such a tiny town that trade would be minimal.
Water is plentiful here as it is in many of the little towns in the outback because it all comes from bores in the Great Artesian Basin. Sometimes it smells like sulphur or rotten egg gas.
This (above) is the CBD of Bedourie. The only other buildings are the pub, police station, community centre and information centre. This roadhouse also includes a bar, restaurant, general store, fruit and vegetables and a selection of sunglasses as well as those funny netting hoods that go over your head to keep flies out of your eyes.
Along the road from Bedourie to Boulia the landscape is exactly as it looks here (left). In all directons, and over each rise it's just the same. Fortunately it is only 700 kilometers from Birdsville to Mount Isa! It is so relaxing...
And don't ask me what the "Min Min Lights" are. It does seem a little suspicious that whenever the stories are told, alcohol is involved somewhere along the way. In any case, if you are ever near Boulia, be sure to visit the "Min Min Encounter" where the stories are told in great detail.
Because it is only a single lane, and because it is in the town where the Min Min Lights are supposed to appear, you should beware of cyclists and headless men when crossing the bridge.
As we walked towards these trees, I thought I was looking at some sort of blosoms on the branches. Then they all took to the skies. Thousands of galahs can make one hell of a noise.... AND HOW DO THE KIDS KNOW WHICH IS THEIR MUM & DAD!!!
kasi told me that "Birds hear a smaller frequency range than humans, but they have much more acute sound recognition
skills. Birds are especially sensitive to pitch, tone and rhythm changes and use those variations to recognize other individual birds, even in a noisy flock.
Ok kasi, if they have such good ears, and they can HEAR mum calling, can they SEE her in this little crowd?
Well I never!!! We all know that money doesn't grow on trees, but now I have doubts.
Now, lets be realistic, in the middle of the scrub, far from anywhere, where on earth did somebody get so many of them?? This was somewhere between Boulia and Mount Isa.
Another wheel has split and deflated, but how lucky was I ... we discovered it ten minutes after setting up camp in the caravan park at Mount Isa.
A couple of phone calls later and we had a whole set of six new wheels (another brand) on their way from Melbourne via courier. I have to say that NOBODY COULD HAVE GIVEN BETTER SERVICE THAN "PRIMAL ALLOY WHEELS & TYRES" at Campbellfield Vic. Ph (03) 9357 1425. John and Belinda were great. I think a lot of businesses could learn from these people.
While we waited in Mount Isa for the new caravan wheels to arrive we found a patch (in the caravan park) beside the river. The wildlife around the river was interesting but there was barely a blade of grass to be seen.
This was a chance to carry out a few minor repairs to the caravan - like drawer locks that wouldn't stay closed, plumbing fittings and also an Anderson plug that had been broken by stones flying around under the car and caravan.
End of Part two.
< Index & map page > < another year > < Part 1 > < Part 2 > < Part 3 > < Part 4 > < Part 5 >
< Part 6 > < Part 7 > < Part 8 > < Part 9 > < Part 10 > < Part 11 >