Our ‘Makin’ Memories’ group of 6 caravans and one motorhome set off from Birdsville on the morning of Sunday 4 July 2021. I think everyone was feeling some excitement as, this was the day, the culmination of 2 years of planning. There was sadness in 2020 when the event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a great sense of relief to hear that the same artists would return for 2021 and our tickets would carry over.
Unfortunately, one of our gas bottles ran out during the night (why do they always run out in the middle of the night?) so we left the group early to go up to the Roadhouse and get in the queue for a gas refill. There were only five in front of us so we hoped we wouldn’t hold the group up for too long.
As we waited I saw our group head out of town and got a message from Mandie that they would wait for us at the end of the tar. We didn’t have long to wait before it was our turn for the gas refill and then we were off on our way to The Big Red Bash.
We’d arranged to use UHF channel 29 to communicate with each other. As we got closer to our group my call on the UHF was answered and they were all pulled over waiting for us. It was a great sight as we came over a sand hill and there they were. We let them in in front of us and we joined the long queue ahead of us.
The queue moved fairly quickly. It wasn’t long before we arrived at the Marshall where our Early Entry stickers were checked and, as Brian was in the lead, he let them know we were a group of 7 (originally 8 but now down to 7) and we were asked to pull off to the side while they sorted a big site for our large group.
We were directed by marshals to turn into a certain roadway and down to the middle of the bash site. We were given 8 sites to set up on. Turns out our site was only the second road back from The Plaza and right next to the middle walkway directly in line with the main stage. There was even a toilet block on the other side of the walkway. The ice and firewood truck was there too. What a fantastic spot!
We set up our RV’s and as we had the spare spot we were able to set up our fire pit in the middle of that. Everyone was pretty happy with our site. We couldn’t have really asked for a better one.
We enjoyed another great night around the campfire.
2021/06 – Big Red Bash & Beyond
The Big Red Bash
What is The Big Red Bash?
It’s a 3 day music festival in one of the most remote places on the planet. It is held each July under the shadow of the most famous of Australia’s mighty sand dunes, Big Red.
The site has been nicknamed ‘Bashville’ and sits on the dry lakebed of Lake Nappanerica on Adria Downs Station near Birdsville, Queensland. Adria Downs Station, owned for over 80 years by the Brook Family, is an organic beef producer of Hereford beef. The property is 8,700 square kilometres in size.
The dry lake bed is graded and leveled each year and marked out by surveyors into a large arc shape with marked pedestrian walkways and roads. Front and centre is the huge stage and directly in front of that, facing Big Red, is the concert area. This area is fenced off and opens each day of the festival to allow people to bring their chairs and other paraphernalia and set up for the concert.
Behind the concert area is The Plaza. This arc is home to the food vendors, merchandise tents, The Crackup Sisters ‘house’ and a smaller stage for events such as the Air Guitar Competition, the finish of the Drag Race and fashion parade.
Behind that in ever-widening arcs are the large campsites, each marked out with little flags.
The ‘Bash’ has had most of Australia’s iconic musicians and singers perform over the years since the very first concert by John Williamson in July 2013. John played to about 600 people atop of Big Red to entertain the runners and volunteers of the Big Red Run, a 250km long desert run created by Greg Donovan to raise funds for Type 1 Diabetes research.
The event has gone on to see John Farnham, Midnight Oil, Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins, Lee Kernaghan as headline acts. They’ve performed for progressively bigger crowds and in 2021 10,000 people are expected to ‘rock in the Simpson’.
The Big Red Bash has added other events to the program over the years such as the Drag Race, a race down Big Red by people dressed in drag, the Air Guitar Competition, the world record attempt at the number of people doing the ‘Nutbush and all of these events have an entry fee. The funds raised from these fun events all goes to The Royal Flying Doctor Service. Each year tens of thousands of dollars is given to RFDS to help keep them providing their vital service to outback patients.
So what is The Big Red Bash? It’s basically a big party of campers who come in all their variety of RV’s to camp in one of the most spectacular places in the outback and attend the most remote music festival in the world.
Preparation for Big Red Bash
Now that all our group had arrived in Birdsville it was time to start our preparation for our travel out to Bashville. We all had 2 day Early Entry Passes which meant that we could travel out to Bashville on the Sunday. As long as we travel out in a group and arrive in that group we will be able to be camped together.
To gain entry to Bashville you need to exchange your e-tickets for wristbands and Early Entry car stickers. This is done at a stand set up at the Birdsville Information Centre. As expected there was a queue but it moved very quickly and efficiently. In no time at all we were processed. As our group met up after the ticket exchange we were approached by the official photographer for the Bash and she wanted to take a photo of our group in our colourful shirts. We were happy to oblige.
While we were having our photo taken I recognised Greg Donovan, the organiser and man responsible for the Big Red Bash. I approached him and had a brief chat and he is so relieved that the event is going ahead in spite of all the challenges Covid has thrown up.
No grey water can be emptied onto the ground at Bashville so everyone needed to empty their grey water tanks. There is also no water so water tanks needed to be topped up. Luckily there are lots of taps scattered around the Birdsville Common. There were queues at most of the taps on the Saturday as everyone was doing the same thing.
There are no dump points at Bashville either so everyone needed to empty their cassettes so we go out there with empty ones.
Once we’d done all that and our motorhome was ready to go we took Robert up on his offer to head out to the desert and check out Bashville and the incredible scenery of the Simpson Desert.
The road out to Big Red is mostly a tar road. Only the last few kilometres are gravel. The road travels over a few low sand dunes with large valleys in between. The sand hills go for miles in either direction. The Simpson Desert covers some 176,500 square kilometres and is the largest sand dune desert in the world. The sand dunes are the world’s longest parallel dunes and vary in height from 3 metres to around 30 metres. It is Australia’s fourth largest desert.
Munga-Thirri National Park includes the Queensland part of the Simpson Desert and goes all the way to Peoppel’s Corner where Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory intersect.
We knew as soon as we crossed over a large sand dune that the one in front of us was Nappanerica, or Big Red as it is popularly known. Apart from the sign telling us! Big Red is 40 metres high and is a very impressive sight when you see it for the first time. The closer we got the bigger it seemed.
At the bottom of Little Red Robert pulled over to lower the tyre pressure so we could make the crossing over the dune. It is most important to lower your tyre pressure as you won’t make it over with your tyres at highway pressure.
Once that was done it was time to tackle Little Red. I’m not kidding the road is not really a road just a sandy track that goes up over the dune. It is bumpy and you can hear the wheels digging in to the deep sand as you go up. Robert has done this before and he just kept the vehicle at a constant speed and we bumped our way to the top. We paused briefly at the top then headed back down, which is nearly as scary as going up!
There were a few vehicles at the bottom of Big Red waiting to have a turn at going to the top but we continued on and went further out into the desert. We crossed another couple of sand dunes before turning around and making our way back to Big Red.
Here we got in line to make out way to the top. So many vehicles don’t make it to the top however Robert didn’t hesitate when it was our turn and, again he just kept the car at a constant speed and up we went. The car seems to be on such a precarious angle as you go up and when you get to the top you feel like you are shooting into the sky but then the front wheels go over the rim and the car levels out. We’d made it to the top first go!
What a view from the top. Lots of spectators were on the top watching the vehicles make their attempts. There was lots of groaning when another attempt failed and loud cheers for those that make it. We didn’t see many make it first go though. It was great fun to watch and we stayed watching for an hour or so.
On the other side of the dune is Bashville. Wow it looked amazing from up there. The stage was already set up and some of the food vendors had already set up their trucks. The Admin and Merchandise marquees were up and the streets and campsites were all marked out with flags and signage. We could see lots of toilet blocks at various places around the camp area. It was amazing to think that in just a couple of days this place would be full of over 4,000 camps and roughly 10,000 people.
Bashville is situated on Adria Downs Station (8,700 square kilometres) and it borders Munda-Thirri NP. Bashville is set up on the dry lake bed of Lake Nappanerica. Adria Downs is an an accredited organic property and this is why no grey water can be let out on the ground at Bashville.
Seeing the sight from the top of Big Red we could appreciate the amount of work it takes to put on an event of this size in such a remote location. It truly is a unique event. My excitement was definitely building.
We made our way back to town and we all enjoyed a night around the campfire and we were all ready to get on the road at 8am.
We made it to Birdsville
We did it! We made it to Birdsville. After 2 long years in the planning we were finally here AND so were thousands of others.
We had the best nights sleep at our campsite on the banks of the Eyre Creek but we were both excited to be only 130km from our destination and woke early. There was no argument….it was up and get going.
Our camp at Eyre Creek was only a few kilometres from where the great tar road became a great gravel road. We expected there may be a bit of water across the road at Cuttaburra Crossing but it had all dried up and was no problem. Quite a few campers were set up there.
The road became a good tar road again and it was another 20-30km of this before we came to roadworks. There were many big earthmoving machines working away at the new road. It won’t be long and this road will be a tar one all the way to Birdsville.
We stopped to check out Carcory Bore and Homestead Ruins. It was amazing to see the boiling water coming out of the bore and running into a channel before entering a dam to cool. Apparently that water comes out of the ground at 85 degrees. No wonder it was steaming!
Carcory Homestead was built in 1877 out of local limestone. Only the walls remain today. The roof is long gone. The story goes that the roofing iron was commandeered by the Federal Government in WWII. This was once one of Sir Sidney Kidman’s properties however after losing 4,000 bullocks during the drought in 1906 the property was abandoned. Carcory is now part of Rosebeth Station.
At the end of the roadworks we arrived at the section that had already been finished and tarred. Wow, what a great road. We really ate up the kilometres on that stretch.
It’s funny what you see on the side of the road sometimes. We came across a pile of junk that people have left behind and it included a stove, a satellite dish, a lawn mower, an air conditioner, a washing machine and a dishwasher. Now why would anyone want to leave those things in the middle of nowhere?
The next odd thing we saw was a garden table and chairs sitting in the middle of a large paddock of red stones. Now that was just odd!
A bit further on was a ‘shoe’ tree covered in shoes, boots and thongs of all descriptions. I really don’t know why people do this.
About 30km from Birdsville the road became a shocker. It was rough gravel and I thought we’d been too lucky with the roads so far. Our speed had to drop right off over the 23km of corrugations. We were passed by so many on this section including one idiot in a Landcruiser towing a Crusader caravan who went past us so fast he threw rocks up all over the front of our motorhome. All the others passed us slowly but not that one. Serves him right if he gets a flat tyre!
We stopped for a cuppa at the Waddi Tree Grove. There was a large parking area and about 5 vans were already pulled up including the idiot in the Crusader. I wasn’t going to talk to him!
The Waddi Trees are a rare and ancient species of tree. They are so hard that they can cause damage to axes and saws and, when dry, is almost impossible to drill. Waddi fence posts nearly a century old have shown little sign of decay. Waddi Trees are now a protected species and are now only found in three sites, one of which is Birdsville. When Australia had a much wetter climate 400,000 years ago Waddi’s would have been widespread across Central Australia. They are very slow growing and can live for hundreds of years.
About 10km out of Birdsville the road became a tar one again and we gained some mobile service on our Telstra phone. We got to send and receive messages from our family and to hear that Kevin and Sally are back in Winton however they cannot get a tyre until next Wednesday. It was now Friday. The Big Red Bash is to be held Tues/Wed/Thurs so they will miss it. What a shame for them.
When we arrived in Birdsville we went directly to the Roadhouse to fill up with fuel. Then around to the famous Birdsville Bakery where we met up with some of our group. Next stop was the dump point before making our way out to the Birdsville Common where our group was camped. It was great to see everyone.
Water is available at taps around the common so before setting up camp we filled up with water. I got two loads of washing done while filling up. We quickly set up camp and got our washing hung out. It was a gorgeous sunny day so our solar panels are charging the batteries nicely.
Most of the group left to go for a drive out to the Simpson Desert and across some sand hills but Robert and Richard stayed behind and went shopping while I took the opportunity for some quiet time to update this blog.
I’m sure there will be a great night of socialising around the fire pit tonight. I’m just so excited that we’ve finally got here and the Big Red Bash is going ahead. Can’t wait.
PS: not enough service to load photos (and I’ve taken hundreds) so they will have to come later!
Middleton to Bedourie
Oh what a slow start to the day with a welcome sleep in. The last week had been an early start each day so a sleep in was appreciated by all. We set off from Middleton Hotel campground about 9.30am and continued our journey west. The countryside around Middleton is flat grasslands with the occasional flat topped mesas in the distance. The road is a narrow one lane tar road with wide gravel shoulders. The straight road stretches way ahead of us and we could see the Farrells caravan in the distance.
As we approached Cawnpore Station we came to an area of mesas. The road traveled up and over this line of hills. We stopped at Cawnpore Lookout and walked to the top. The scenery is just spectacular. The mesas with their top layer of ironstone and then the red sandstone layers under are incredible. There was a guy flying a drone and I’m sure he would have been getting some amazing footage of the hills from above. I just can’t stop taking photos! I’m sure my phone is going to run out of storage!
Past Nerida Station and the land had flattened out again to wide open grasslands, although there wasn’t much grass left to speak off. It looked like it had all been grazed out.
We stopped at the site of the ruins of the Min Min Hotel. Boulia Shire has erected a signboard explaining the phenomenon of the Min Min lights. The creek nearby had water in it. Evidence of the recent rains. The paddocks surrounding this creek were covered in a slight green tinge of new grasses coming up. The land flattened right out after this and the narrow road stretched straight ahead into the horizon. We both commented on the lack of animals. I think we’d only seen one lonely cow and a couple of dead birds on this part of the trip.
We came to a series of floodways and went up and down over those. Some of the little creeks had water in them. On the other side of the floodways we came to the ruins of the Hamilton Hotel. Not much is still standing just a bit of fence and a brick and stone chimney. We stopped to take a couple of photos and continued on. We hadn’t got very far when we caught up to the Farrells. They were on the side of the road and oh no! They had another flat tyre on their car.
It took the better part of an hour to change the tyre and put on the spare. Now they have no spare. I just hope they’ll be able to get a tyre in Boulia. I wouldn’t like to be traveling out here without a spare or two!
After travelling down the road a few hundred metres the Farrells pulled over to check the tyre and let us know they had decided to return to Winton as they thought they’d have a better chance of getting tyres in a bigger town than Boulia. We think they made the right decision. Hopefully they will get the tyres sorted and catch up to us in Birdsville.
We continued on and made it to the tiny outback town of Boulia. Boulia sits on on the Burke River and it was a muddy brown waterhole as we crossed the bridge into town. We fueled up, visited the tiny supermarket for fresh bread and came back across the bridge to park under a shady tree for lunch. We were parked right next to the caravan park which is on the riverside. Across the fence was an RV we recognised from our travels since Winton. It is an orange Kombi towing a red teardrop van. I had a chat to the couple as they waved when they saw us pull up. They recognised us too.
They are from Melbourne and luckily left Melbourne on the day lockdown started. They were very happy to be across the border into NSW just in time. It was no surprise to learn that they are also going to the Big Red Bash. They are first timers too!
Also stopped for a break in Boulia was the Pizza Van and the Pie Truck we’d seen camped at Middleton the night before and again along the way. They are on their way to BRB too.
While having our lunch break we had some decent Telstra service and were able to speak with our daughters and daughter-in-law. It was great to talk with them.
We left Boulia heading southwards. The land around there is very flat and there was a line of jump ups on the far horizon to the west. I was quite astonished by the quality of the road. It’s a very good two lane tar road and we were able to eat up the kilometres on that stretch.
Some of the shallow depressions in the paddocks still have water in them from the rains a week ago. We regularly cross cattle grids along the way.
Around 3.30 we crossed the Georgina River and saw a huge mob of cattle on both sides of the road. They were Brahman cattle and they looked fat and sleek. Not long after this we passed the marker for the Tropic of Capricorn. We’ve crossed this line a couple of times already on this trip.
About 100km south of Boulia we came to an area of stones. As far as the eye could see the land was covered in red stones. Not a lot of grass in that area for cattle to eat. I’ve never seen so many rocks. They need a Big Red Rock Eater out this way!
The sign for Motorcarbreakdown Creek was missing. Rich said someone’s taken it home as a memento for their man-cave!
About 30kms north of Bedourie we left the red stone plains behind and came to an area of red sandy country covered in scrub much like the country around Menindee. There were large shallow channels between the sandy hills that were covered in water.
We arrived in Bedourie around 5.00pm and went directly to fill up with fuel. There was a bloke near the bowsers taking down the amount of fuel everyone used and handing them a paper to take inside to pay for their fuel. We asked him why he was doing this and his answer saddened us greatly. He said that in the last week three vehicles have pulled in, filled up with fuel and driven off without paying. Scumbags!
We continued on southwards and drove until the sun was about to set. We ended up camped by the banks of the Eyre Creek. Water views again! We had hit the gravel road not long before and as the sun was soon to set we pulled up for the night. Only 130kms to go tomorrow and we will reach Birdsville.
Winton to Middleton
After our fabulous tour with Red Dirt Tours out to Lark Quarry we were dropped right back at our motorhome. We quickly got going. Rich dropped me at the Spar to get some supplies whilst he went to get a gas bottle. Next stop was the bottle shop to stock up on some wine then we were driving west out of Winton.
A few kms out of town we took a left off the Cloncurry Road and turned onto the Kennedy Development Road that would take us all the way to Boulia 365km away.
The road for the first part of this journey is a narrow tar road surrounded by flat native grasslands. In the distance you can see ‘jump ups’ (mesa hills) and they shimmer a blue colour in the far distance.
About 65km out of Winton we came to the Diamantina Causeway. This is a long stretch where the narrow road crosses over many floodways. Some of these were low bridges and a few of the channels underneath had water in them. All these channels feed into the Diamantina River. Some of the floodway markers were 2m tall so I can’t imagine what it would be like when there is that much water going down these channels.
The landscape changed after crossing the Diamantina. There were lots more trees and the soil was really black like it had been burnt.
The road was a one lane narrow tar one but every now and then it would widen into a two lane road to enable people to overtake safely. Crests of hills were also wider. I was surprised how good the road was. A few times we needed to get off the edge of the road to allow others coming towards us get past. This just means slowing right down and putting half our vehicle on the shoulder to give them enough room. A couple of times we had to get right off the road to allow big triple trailer road trains go by.
We made it into Middleton just as the sun was setting and found Sally & Kevin already set up camp and had a BBQ dinner ready to go. We enjoyed not having to cook.
After dinner we all wandered across to the historic Midddleton Hotel where we enjoyed a cold beer and chatted to the lady owner Clara. Her and her partner have taken over the hotel from his parents and have great plans for the future of the hotel while still preserving its history. We wish them luck. One thing they could do immediately is to start charging a camping fee. They provide a large flat space for campers, toilets and showers and I don’t think any campers would mind paying $10 per night to camp there. We gave a $10 donation into the RFDS tin on the bar to cover our camping fee.
The hotel, in the middle of nowhere, was once a Cobb & Co changing station. Cobb & Co’s first run through Middleton was in February 1865. The hotel would have been a welcome relief for passengers where they could get a meal and have a rest after being jolted about in the coach. I don’t think traveling by coach was particularly comfortable.
The last Cobb & Co Coach to pass this way was in the early 1920’s. Middleton was once a thriving little town proclaimed in 1908 and had a police station, store, hall, school and the changing station and hotel. Only the hotel remains.
The Middleton Hotel is the last changing station remaining on the Winton to Boulia mail route.
3/4 Day trip to Lark Quarry
We had a choice to make in Winton. If we wanted to visit Lark Quarry to see the Dinosaur Stampede we would have to drive 110km south of Winton on a rough corrugated dirt road or we could leave the motorhome in Winton and take a tour. We elected to take the tour and I’m so glad we did. If we’d driven out there ourselves we wouldn’t have learnt anything about the country we were driving through and would have missed out on seeing some of the most spectacular scenery.
We parked the motorhome behind the Waltzing Matilda Centre and right on time at 8.45am the Red Dirt Tours bus pulled up out the front of the centre to collect us. I got the whole back seat to myself whilst Richard sat up front ‘shotgun’.
Our tour commenced by leaving Winton and heading south on the Jundah Road. The road crossed over the many channels of the Western River before becoming very flat again. Our tour guide Vicki gave a fabulous commentary along the way and explained that we were seeing natural grasslands all around us. The only trees that grow in that area are along the channels and rivers. The open plains are covered in grasses. It is great cattle country.
Vicki left the main road and we entered Carisbrooke Station. As we drove through the station Vicki told the story of the property and the land we were traveling on. We pulled up next to the edge of the escaparpement where Vicki produced a delicious morning tea. What spectacular views. Carisbrooke Station is huge, some ?????acres.
Following morning tea Vicki followed the tracks that took us around the edge of the escarpment. So many great vistas. Finally we arrived back on the main road and drove into Lark Quarry Conservation Area.
Once there Vicki pulled out the esky and produced a chicken or ham salad with fresh bread and butter for our lunch.
After lunch it was time to take our tour of the Lark Quarry facility. Some of us elected to get there via the lookout walking track. What a dry rocky place it is around there. I can’t imagine how hot it would get in summer.
Once inside our group gathered and our tour commenced with a short introductory film about what we were about to see inside. The film was well produced and explained what dinosaurs footprints we would see and how they came to be preserved in the rock. The film finished with a looming dinosaur opening its mouth at the screen. It looked like it was about the eat the people in the front row. That might be why the tour guide asked people with children to sit at the front. The couple of kids sitting there jumped and everyone around laughed.
Then the doors were opened and we made our way inside the huge shed that has been constructed over the dinosaur footprints to help preserve them. The tour guide used a laser to point out the various footprints and tell the story that the footprints have left behind. There was a family of sauropods probably at the edge of a lake and other smaller dinosaurs as well. Then a large predator dinosaur came through looking for a meal and the sauropods scattered. You can clearly see where the large predator went and turned quickly chasing a meal.
The tour lasts for about 45 minutes then we headed back outside where Vicki was waiting for us with some refreshing fruit salad before we boarded the bus for the trip back to Winton. This time we stayed on the main road and it was no time at all before we were arriving in Winton.
Vicki dropped us right back at our motorhome and, as Vicki told us that rain was expected overnight, we went to the Waltzing Matilda Centre to pay for a camp spot at the Showgrounds. We didn’t think it would be good to stay at Long Waterhole on the black soil if it rains. We let Farrells know that’s what we were doing and they joined us later after touring at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs.
Australian Age of Dinosaurs, Winton Qld
Before we left home I had booked online with Red Dirt Tours to do a half day tour of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum. To meet the tour we had to pack up camp and drive into town, park out the back of the Waltzing Matilda Centre and be waiting out the front 15 mins before pick up time of 8.30am. The 4WD Red Dirt Tours bus arrived right on time and, after another couple of stops to collect passengers, we set off heading back towards Longreach.
The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum is located out of town on one of the ‘jump ups’. These tall mesa type formations are scattered around the Winton area. Australian Age of Dinosuars was incorporated as a not-for-profit organisation in 2002 and was originally based at ‘Belmont’ a sheep station owned by David and Judy Elliot. In 2006 a huge 4,000 acres of rugged mesa wilderness was donated by the Britton Family and the Museum relocated there in 2009. The museum now houses the world’s largest collection of Australian dinosaur fossils.
In 1999, while mustering sheep, David Elliot discovered the fossilised bone of what was, at the time, Australia’s largest dinosaur. The bone was identified as a femur belonging to a Cretaceous period sauropod that roamed the Winton area 95 million years ago. Following this and more discoveries the Elliots called a public meeting in Winton with a view to establishing a dinosaur museum at Winton and the rest is history.
The Red Dirt Tour bus toiled up to the top of the ‘jump up’ and our first stop was the Laboratory where we were shown the process for finding, preserving and processing of the bones that are found in the regular digs that take place in the area.
Next stop was the new Reception Centre where our tour was led into The Collection Room. The Collection Room houses the bones of Australia’s most complete sauropod Diamantinasaurus matildae (known as Matilda), sauropod Savannasaurus elliotorum, the most complete theropod dinosaur Australovenator wintonensis and pterosaur Ferrodraco lentoni. We were shown a presentation of these famous dinosaurs and what they might have looked like. This was very well done. The Reception Centre also houses a cafe and a gift shop.
Next stop on our tour was the March of the Titanosaurs exhibition. This is amazing. It is a 54m long track site that was discovered on a property near Winton and removed piece by piece and reassembled in the spectacular new building at the Museum. The track site was made when herds of sauropods roamed the area when the landscape was covered in temperate rainforest and muddy billabongs. The track site also has tracks of small mammals, turtles, lungfish, crocodiles and tiny therapods as well.
Outside are two enormous bronze sculptures of an adult and juvenile sauropod. They made for a great photo opportunity.
Also near this building is the new Gondwana Stars Observatory that was opened in May 2021. The Jump Up site has been designated as Australia’s first International Dark-Sky Sanctuary. The building has been made to look and feel like a meteorite that has landed in a simulated impact crater.
Next stop was the Dinosaur Outpost and the Dinosaur Canyon exhibiton. This fabulous outdoor experience follows an elevated concrete pathway some 300 metres above the gorge below. At various points along the walkway are recreations of dinosaur life including a billabong where a large sauropod has died and it’s bones are left scattered probably by scavengers much like they do today.
The next exhibit is a family of pterosaurs perched atop a large boulder. They had small conical teeth perfect for catching fish or other aquatic creatures.
The next exhibit is a dinosaur stampede that has 24 small dinosaurs leaping across a chasm to escape the sharp claws of a 5m long theropod dinosaur Australovenator. This large predator was 2m tall at the hip and 5-6m long and weighed 500-1,000kgs.
The last exhibit at the end of the walkway is a small group of Kunbarrasaurus ievesi. These were an armoured dinosaurs and they were plant eaters.
What struck me during the walk along this exhibiton was how stunning the scenery is at the top of the ‘jump up’. I just couldn’t stop taking photos of the spectacular views.
Future plans for the museum include a natural history museum that will be built on the edge of the jump up. That will be worth coming back to visit in the future.
One of the interesting people we met on the tour was the husband of our tour operator Vicki. Her husband Hylton is a pilot and he told us he will be taking his bright red helicopter to Birdsville for the Big Red Bash. When we explained that’s where we are going he said to make sure we do a flight with him and to mention that we know him when we book. Can’t wait for that one!
Our trusty bus took us back to Winton and dropped us back at the Waltzing Matilda Centre. Hilton has told us while on the bus that the best place for lunch was the ‘Tatts’ Hotel so we parked up and walked to the pub for a crumbed steak sandwich. It was a pleasant spot out on the footpath watching the caravans go by.
Vicki, the tour bus operator, had told us that 1-5mm of rain is forecast for tonight and not to get stuck out on the blacksoil if we can help it as it is very easy to get bogged. So where to camp for the night. After checking out the Showground camping area that we thought looked OK we had to go back to the Waltzing Matilda Centre to pay our $20 and get a permit to camp there. We got one for Kevin and Sally too as they were still out at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs.
As I wrote this we were camped at the Showground waiting for Farrells to arrive after their sightseeing day. I have a lamb roast cooking in the oven and it smells amazing!
The rest of our BRB Makin’ Memories group are all slowly making their way to Birdsville and are at various places such as at Windorah and on the Birdsville Track.
Longreach to Winton
There must have been over 200 campers at the Apex Riverside Park overnight. Many were quick to move out in the morning. The park is provided by the Longreach Council as a camping ground. There is a self registration box and it costs $5 per night per vehicle or $25 for 7 nights. I think there is a toilet block somewhere but we don’t need to use that as we have our own on board.
The park is right beside the muddy brown Thomson River. Sally and I walked up there last night and guessed that the river wasn’t very deep. Sure enough we came to a marker and the river is only 0.5m deep. No wonder it is so brown.
Apparently there is a paddle boat that does regular cruises on the river including a popular sunset cruise. This was not on our to do list as we’d just spent time on the PS Murray Princess not long ago.
We spent a few hours doing some washing (the chores still have to get done) before heading back into Longreach to top up with water. A quick stop at the IGA and the servo to buy a couple of bags of wood and we were leaving Longreach behind. The land along this stretch of the journey was not quite flat, just low rolling plains covered in tough grass and scrubby trees. The paddocks are huge and we saw mobs of Brahman cattle and freshly shorn sheep.
The only other sign of life was the magnificent Fork-tail Hawks. These huge majestic birds swoop and glide above the road searching for game and eating the odd bit of road kill. I tried so many times to catch one in a photo but they are too quick for me. We also saw a couple of pairs of Brolgas. I wonder if they are always in pairs. Maybe they mate for life like some other birds.
In the far distance was a low line of hills that shimmer blue as they break the wide horizon.
There was a lot of traffic, mostly RV’s of all descriptions and the occasional road train. Sadly we saw a caravan left on the side of the road and missing a wheel. It looked like the bearings had failed and the y needed a whole new wheel. No sign of the tow vehicle so they’ve probably gone back to Longreach to see if they can get a replacement wheel.
It’s 180km from Longreach to Winton and the countryside was pretty much the same all the way. It’s a big sky out this way. The road is long and mostly straight with the occasional floodways reminding us that we are in the Lake Eyre catchment.
The road to Winton is alongside the railway line on the right. It looks like the railway line is still in use as there were piles of old sleepers along a long stretch of line where the old sleepers had been replaced.
We came into Winton, the Dinosaur Capital of Australia around lunchtime and, after a quick drive down the Main Street to orient ourselves, we drove out to Long Waterhole, about 2km south of town, to check out whether it would make a good camp spot for the night and to have some lunch. You know how I like a water view.
Long Waterhole is clearly signposted on the Jundah Road and we turned off onto a dry dusty track that goes for 1.5km to the man-made waterhole. This is the community water hole used for swimming and even water skiing.
What a gorgeous spot. Quite a few campers were already set up around the edge of the waterhole. We enjoyed our lunch with water views and decided we’d come back and camp here for the night.
Our first stop back in town was the Waltzing Matilda Centre. We spent the afternoon there exploring this wonderful museum of all things outback and in particular the Waltzing Matilda story. The museum was burnt down in a devastating fire in 2015 and completely rebuilt. The new museum opened in 2018 and it an interesting piece of architecture with it’s earth coloured concrete and rusty steel. I really liked their rusty steel down pipes that have a chain hanging down for the water to run down into the gardens below. My dad would have liked those!
The Waltzing Matilda centre is the first museum in the world dedicated to a song and first opened in 1998. Banjo Paterson penned the ballad of Waltzing Matilda whilst staying at Dagworth Station near Winton in 1895. No one at the time could have foreseen what a special place this song has in most Australians nor how popular it would become. It has been sung by soldiers, sporting teams and their supporters and has been recorded in over 500 different versions and numerous languages.
We spent a good couple of hours exploring the museum, checked out the photography exhibit in the Art Gallery and wandered the outdoor exhibits that include a steam train, carriages and a railway station, old horse drawn vehicles, a display of medical memorabilia, a shearing shed with blacksmiths and saddlers tools, an extensive glass bottle display a complete old cottage full of items showing how people once lived, anda huge machinery shed full of more memorabilia. If visiting Winton you need to allow at least a couple of hours to see all of this.
There is a large flat paved car park behind the Waltzing Matilda Centre for RV’s and it has rubbish bins and a dump point.
We had a wander along the Main Street with its historic buildings and interesting street art in the middle island. The North Gregory Hotel is a part of Winton history as it was the very first place that a live performance of Waltzing Matilda was held in 1895. The building next to it the heritage listed Corfield & Fitzmaurice Building, a perfectly preserved old style general store. The Australian Hotel on the other side of the road has seen better days. The floor is up and down all over the place.
There are a few shops selling opals and opal jewellery and we had a bit of a browse in those.
One fascinating building is the Royal Theatre, one of only two remaining outdoor theatres in Australia. The other is in Broome. The theatre was built in 1918 and in 1938 the Evert Family purchased it. The theatre is still owned by the same family and is now run by a non-profit organisation and we met one of the family members who explained how they are really working hard to preserve the old theatre and all its memorabilia. The Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival was on while we were there and there are two feature films being shown each night as well as classic films during the day. We thought we might try and catch one while we were here.
We headed back out to Long Waterhole and set up camp. There were many more campers there since lunchtime and although we couldn’t be right on the water we still had water views. It cools down rapidly once the sun goes down and I’m glad we were able to buy a couple of bags of wood in Longreach before we left. As I wrote we were sitting around a lovely little fire waiting for the Farrells to turn up from Longreach where they’d spent the morning at the Qantas Founders Museum.
Last day in Longreach
It was Richard’s birthday on our last day in Longreach. We had a lovely dinner out the night before at Harry’s Restaurant. Richard asked around town which was the best restaurant in town and the answer was always Harry’s so he’d made a booking as he walked past. Harry’s is upstairs at the Longreach Motor Inn and it was a popular place. Most tables were full when we arrived for dinner.
We had lovely meals and Rich was very pleased to see they had a St Hugo Shiraz on the wine list. The service was very good and friendly. We enjoyed our ‘night out’.
This morning was a bit of a slow one. We slept in, had a very leisurely breakfast, sorted food supplies and made a grocery list, uploaded more photos to our motorhomemeanders.com blog, and generally tidied up the motorhome.
Our BRB Makin’ Memories Group are all on the move and it was great to see messages coming in telling us where people were on their journey to Birdsville. I’m happy to say the sun was out in full force and really helping to dry things out. I was becoming a lot more confident that we will be able to get to Birdsville after all.
During the day we had messages from Kevin & Sally to say they would make it Longreach this day so after filling up with water we headed out to the Apex Riverside Park and set up camp with plenty of room next to us for the Farrells when they arrived. We put out our awning, laid down our mat, got the chairs and table out, set up the fire pit and I even put up the fairy lights under our awning. We were all ready to celebrate Richard’s birthday AND watch the State of Origin.
In due course the Farrells arrived and parked up. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying a meal and some laughs around a lovely little fire. We can’t say the footy was great. NSW flogged Qld so it wasn’t much of a contest.
So now we are a convoy of two.
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