Overland Australia

Today racing starts at 12:35 and we used the morning to start packing up some of camp as we plan to leave tomorrow for our return journey back to the Sunshine Coast. Steve and I went into town to restock some supplies and fill up with diesel, town was chaotic with lots of vehicles waiting for diesel and a large number of people packing up ready to hit the road. Just before lunch we all made our way into town for lunch, Bron and Steve hit the bakery for more pies and Anna and I grabbed a steak burger as we were well and truly over pies... No walking to the race course today so we jumped on another bus and were soon at the race course, we should have done this yesterday... We managed to get a spot in the grandstand again so we were able to keep out of the sun for most of the day. Today was another successful day on the horses, we had worked out a winning combination between a trainer and jockey and backed that combo most of the day. Out of the 13 races over the weekend our combo wo...

Today's racing didn't start until just after 1pm and we decided to walk out to the race course from our camp-site which took us 30 minutes or so. It was a warm day and I couldn't help but think how hard it would have been for the early explorers like Burke and Wills who walked through this country in the heat of summer... We arrived at the Race Course about an hour before the first race which allowed us to find a seat in the covered area and then locate the beer tents and the bookies. We met up with the guys we met up on Big Red a couple of days ago and had a great time placing bets, having a few drinks and cheering on our horses. Before we knew it the last race for the day had run and we made our way into town for a quick dinner and to get in line for the 7.30pm Boxing session. The lines for the buses were very long and we decided to walk again which took us just on an hour with a quick stop back at camp to drop off some gear. The crowd for the boxing started to grow ...

Today the organised activities in Birdsville started with the Equine Flu race events in the main street outside the Birdsville Hotel with a kick off time of 1pm. We relaxed around camp and enjoyed a warm morning before setting off to explore some of the local sites around town. First stop was the Waddi tree's just north of Birdsville, these trees are unique to this part of the Australia and are up to 1000 years old. Apparently the timber is so hard that it destroys axes and saws and is almost impossible to burn. After a quick look around we returned to Birdsville and had a look at the Artesian Bore and Cooling Ponds that supply Birdsville with its drinking water, the water comes out at 98 degrees... Next stop was the old Royal Hotel ruins for a quick photo and then onto have a look at all of the food and merchandise vendors in town. Around lunch time the crowd started to gather outside the Birdsville Hotel for the start of the Equine Flu Races, these events were first started i...

This morning we chilled out around camp and gathered some fire wood for the next few days in Birdsville. Just after lunch we ventured out to Big Red and after a quick walk to the top to watch some of the action I drove up the eastern side without any drama and continued west into the desert. We've always wanted to visit the Simpson Desert and one day we will do a full desert crossing but this time we had to make do with just a few hours and a short drive to Eyre Creek. As we headed west we came across several groups who had made their way across the Simpson via the QAA line for the Birdsville races. Heading west was relatively easy with the eastern sides of the dunes being fairly smooth, the western dune faces were badly scalloped and our descents were slow 2nd gear low range affairs. We soon arrived at Eyre Creek and stopped to stretch the legs and look around, the flies were really bad here and it was the first and only time that we used our fly nets. After half an hour or so...