Birdsville & Beetoota

Our chilly morning walk at the Carcory Bore gave effective views of the artesian bore water steaming up. We visited the adjoining ruins which tell the story of how difficult life was in days gone by. Sir Sydney Kidman owned the property and during a drought in the 1900’s, lost 4000 bullocks!  During WW 1 the iron off the roof was requisitioned by the government - that’s how short of supplies of country was. 

In Birdsville after fueling up (again) our next stop was at the bakery where we enjoyed a coffee and some of their delicious pastries. We are a little over biscuits and cheese lunches so this was an enjoyable change - even though it was only morning tea time! 

We had noticed many horse floats heading to Birdsville and learned they were attending a weekend of activities so we ventured out to watch the cattle drafting. This was new to all of us and we found it quite interesting - and very hard and skilful work. 

The Birdsville Big Bash is coming  up and already the  town is gearing up to cater for the huge crowds - and the early birds are already there! It’s a very happening town and full credit to the community - next are the Races. 

We left there and headed east towards Windorah. The scenery was so different - more like you’d imagine Central  Australia to be - but spectacular in a different way. 

This serpent art work along the way was quite a sight to see.

We camped along the way at the iconic Beetoota pub, some 200km before Windorah. We’ve read about this place, and had it on our list for a long time so we were very happy to finally get there. It certainly is different, right in the middle of no-where - and very rustic. 

Dennis was pretty happy to spy this Model T car - looking in very good condition. 
We were looking forward to a delicious pub menu - steak, salmon, seafood …….but the set menu was spaghetti bolognaise! It was ok anyway and best thing was we didn’t have to cook it! The Shit box rally had been though and diminished their supplies - there wasn’t even a drop of red wine in the bar! 

You can see how isolated this pub is, and how the caravans are just perched outside.

Around the campfire at breakfast (cooking our toasties) we learned that the Warri Gate is closed due to flood damage. So once again our plans change as that’s where we were going! We will leave this blog for now and post it when we get service. Keep warm and safe, ❌❌❌❌