Birdsville and the Birdsville Track

Campground 1: Birdsville Caravan Park
Facilities: Toilets, Showers, Potable Water, Picnic benches, Camp Kitchen, Bins and Laundry.
Good stuff: Great amenities and friendly people. Lovely unpowered area overlooking the billabong. It had a nice vibe for a caravan park.
Not so good stuff: $30 may be a bit on the steep side however it is a bit out of the way.  

Price: $30 for two adults per night

Campground 2: Cooper Creek
Facilities: Toilets, Fires Allowed.
Good stuff: Flat areas and you can find some shelter underneath the trees if you need it. Flushing toilets and running water is great for a free camp.
Not so good stuff: None.
Price: Free

After the desert we decided to take a few days out from setting up tent everyday and spend sometime in Birdsville. The Birdsville Hotel and Birdsville Bakery are two iconic places on the outback trail. The pub food at the hotel was really good, dukkah crusted kangaroo was not the first thing that we expected to see on the menu but it definitely hit the spot. Unfortunately they were out of the Birdsville lager so no beer tick there but hey you can’t have everything! In regards to the bakery… Pies! Curried camel pie is the one everyone talks about and it is ok but the kangaroo and claret one is even better. They also are going for the true Aussie owned beers serving some Victorian brewed Australia Draft and Broo lager that are two beers we haven’t tried yet and a great change from the standard beers on tap in the middle of nowhere.

This is when you know you have arrived on the northern side of Birdsville and handily has a washdown bay to the right.

The home of the curried camel pie and the more understated the white loaf!

Unfortunately sometimes the run down places can look the best...

...but here is the newer Birdsville Pub!

At a glance from a distance Liz thought this was the local taxi...

Birdsville was a cool little town and it managed to latch onto our upbeat mood after Simpson Desert! We went into the Birdsville Roadhouse and came out with a stubby cooler and a Simpson Desert vehicle plate followed by stickers from the bakery. It feels like we are getting a mix of memorabilia from beer mats to stubby coolers to rocks we have collected on the way that will have to go in an Aussie room wherever we live. You never know we may come up with our own style of outback pub room!

Clean and ready to hit the road our plans had changed slightly. We had originally wanted to head down to Innamincka for a bit of Australian history via the Walkers Crossing track to visit the Dig Tree as well as Burke and Wills Grave. Then we had some good news and some bad news. The area had got some much-needed rain in the supply of 2.5 inches, however that meant the Walker Crossing track was a slushy boggy mess and hence closed. So we headed down the recently reopened Birdsville track instead.

The Birdsville track was a bit of a surprise. We are not sure if it is because we are from the UK but when we think of a dirt road the picture in our minds are of small farmer’s tracks. The more we travel around there is a distinct difference from 4WD tracks that are similar to farmer’s tracks and then there are the unsealed roads. The Birdsville track was the latter being essentially a highway allowing for any vehicle to use it depending on the weather and condition.

Although camping at Cooper Creek was lovely the wind had a certain bite to it.

Although usually most cars will be fine driving the unsealed road between Birdsville and Maree it is crucial to check the road reports. We were met by many boggy patches and would definitely not want be taking the old Polo down there when it was like that.  The slightest bit of rain makes it a 4WD only for many days.

There are two places that deserve a special mention along the journey. The first was Cooper Creek campsite. This place was one of the nicest roadside camps that we have been to. Then secondly Maree… Maree was one of the stops on the Old Ghan Railway to Alice Springs so there is a lot of railway stuff around the place. The railway line was closed in the 80’s but what was our favourite thing here…? The buns from the roadhouse with jam and cream! Like in Larrimah with the pies we went back for seconds!

These were the Maree old days...

...and now they have no trains but they are not to be forgotten. Cream and Jam Buns!