After leaving Farina we had a quick stop at Marree to top up with fuel and then dropped the tyre pressures on the car and van before starting ‘the track’.  

Tom Kruse used to drive the track in his Leyland Badger truck delivering mail and goods from 1936 to 1957 eventually abandoning his truck at Pandie Pandie Station near Birdsville. John Heyer’s 1954 movie ‘Back of Beyond’ made Kruse a household name and you can see a small bit of the movie here. I’ve watched this movie and read ‘Mailman of the Birdsville Track’ by Kristin Weidenbach so had a few preconceived ideas of what the track may be like. I was wrong. The road now is a well-maintained dirt road. I’m sure at some times it is in bad condition but when we drove it there were very few corrugations. The biggest risk was from getting a flat tyre from some of the more rocky sections.

We had decided that we would have a couple of stops along the way and our first was at Dulkaninna Station. The camping area was pretty basic and we were the only ones there. They did have hot showers so we made use of them to conserve our water in the van which hadn’t been replenished since before Farina. The first lot of showers didn’t have any hot water so I tried some at the other end of the block which appeared to be working. Jude went off to have her shower and came back complaining that they were cold. I remembered on my way to the showers about an issue we had had in the Daintree where if there was insufficient water flow the gas water heater wouldn’t kick in. So, I turned one of the hot taps on in the basin and then the shower and had a nice warm shower. I wasn’t very popular when I explained it to Jude!

Our next stop was Mungerannie Hotel which turned out to be great fun! We had dinner and a few drinks in the pub and met Julie, an 82 year old lady travelling on her own with two dingoes. Later at the bar we met Jen and Peter who are part owners of the Pink Roadhouse at Oodnadatta. They’d driven over to see the new managers of the Mungarannie Hotel who they knew. Jude and I had stopped at the Pink Roadhouse on our honeymoon 33 years ago so it was good to meet the new owners.

The next morning we were off early for the final leg to Birdsville. Before we started along the track we were a bit concerned as Queensland Roads were marking the last section into Birdsville as 4WD only. Not a problem if we just had the car but we weren’t too sure about towing the van. After a call to the Birdsville Hotel, they advised it was all ok. We were amazed though to see large areas of water along either side of the track in places. Not something you expect to see out here!

We stopped for lunch on the side of the track and had the two vehicles that passed us stop to check we were ok. Something that people do out here. While stopped I was bending over hooking the stone stomper up on the back of the car when I felt something wet on my back. Looking up there was a flock of pelicans on their way to Lake Eyre. They must have been at least a kilometre up in the sky and one of them managed to crap on me! Jude said I should buy a lottery ticket after that! 

We had originally planned to camp on the common at Birdsville but it was very muddy in a lot of areas and full of mosquitoes so we headed for the van park. Good choice as it was within walking distance to everything.

Birdsville is a small community and even that is seasonal. I’m not sure I’d want to be there over the summer! Supplies were a bit limited and looked like they’d been there for a while. Things were quieter than normal for this time of year as the Simpson Desert was still closed due to flooding.

We met up with Julie and the dingoes again and had dinner with her at the pub. A real character who told us how she’d been thrown out of Innamincka because of her dingoes. Interesting as that was where she was heading!

While at the bakery we had a chat with the baker. After a bit, he came out with the fact that he wasn’t a baker by trade but a mechanic! ‘Oh, that’s ok – the local nurse taught me how to bake bread’!

We went for a drive out to the sand dune called ‘Big Red’ and had a drive to the top which has an expansive view across the desert and to the area where the Big Red Bash is held each year. Couldn’t believe how big the area is.

We enjoyed our time in Birdsville and will probably end up back there again sometime.

And then off to Quilpie!

Some more photos. Click on an image for full size.