Birdsville Races

I was there last year. There was unlimited camping available along the river just outside Birdsville. We were probably one of the last to arrive and camped about 15-20 mins walk from Birdsville. There were no facilities at all around the river (except for a bloke in converted bus who set up a bakery) but in Birdsville itself there were showers and toilets set up (I think there was a small donation to use the showers) and all sorts of carnival-type food. Birdsville Auto has a decent range of groceries etc but at fairly high prices.

gid'ay arofs1
what type of caravan are you taking&from where,which route.
regards toohey.

Hi arofs1, was that way a month ago, providing you drive to the conditions you should not have a problem.
Will

I drove in through Quilpie/Windorah last year and found the road to be okay, especially compared to the road down to Innamincka which was fairly rough. Quilpie was a nice town and would be my pick of places to stay around that area. Windorah was friendly enough but there's not much there. I don't remember there being anything to look at on the way though - a burnt out VW combi being the only sight I recall.

My father towed his caravan to the races 3 or 4 years ago when he retired and joined the gray nomads,
he smashed the hoses of the under van water tank
rattled ever window loss in the van. he had to remove the windows and reseal them (they still leak today)
he covered the rear glass of his patrol and front of van with cardboard (dented the front of his van real bad)said should have used thicker cardboard???
he heard it was a good idea to take your own beer as it was cheaper than at birdsville and take cans as there was less chance of them braking on the trip out there, only to find out you should not put slabs of beer (or any heavy item) on the shelves of caravan cupboards (smashed the shelves out of every cupboard in van)
he turned a near new caravan in to a well used van on his first trip. he`s still cleaning the bulldust out of it 3 years later.
he`s said he`ll never do it again with the van but said it was worth it.

he still sits around the campfire today look`s at the dented van and tells storys about the year he went to the birdsville races.

gid'ay arofs1
as said mate take your time on the gravel,the grader generally does that stretch around that time of year,lots of traffic both going&coming home. i hate saying it but there are a few rat bags.
regards toohey.

Both Windorah and Quilpie have caravan parks in town run by the local shire.
Windorah is a bit smaller, about 10 sites from memory, while Quiplie would be at least 30 to 40. Quiplie is a larger town and has more to see, but they are both good local country towns.

Will let others reply with experience greater than mine re the races but I did notice last year that Birdsville has nothing like a general store anywhere. Seems that some local person of influence does not want a general store up there. The shop section inside the only fuel servo has a very limited range of goods. Quite odd - by contrast, Innamincka has a very comprehensively stocked trading post - plus a great range of camping gear and fresh bread. Take everything you think you will need in Birdsville - in all other respects, a top place - we very much enjoyed our stay.

Hi, we're just back from Birdsville, and they're gearing up for the races....infact a committee meeting was in full force at the pub when we went there for dinner the other night.

I noticed there is an amenities block in town near the sports ground, the big servo has as other's have said, limited supplies - bread, millk, frozen meat, and some groceries, there is also a Bakery in town now who make fantastic hamburgers...HUGE....they cost $8, and are well worth it...

it's a great place, though I'm not sure I'd like to be there for the races....

cheers

Lyn

Gidday Brian

Hope you have safe trip out here. Alot of useful info. provided already. The general store (which used to be located opposite the old Royal Hotel) was moved into the Shell servo. when it was built. It was extended over the summer and has a (slightly) larger selection available.

Over the Race weekend the Birdsville Hotel only sells drink and souvenirs. Most of the inside fittings are removed to make space (and protection - doors have been known to go missing in the past !! though this sort of thing doesn't happen much anymore....) To see it in it's "normal" state you need to get here early in the week or hang around a few days afterwards.

There is a cafe at the Caravan Park (I'm not sure what hours they are operating this year, maybe Ruth might fill in this info.) I'm not sure what the booking situation is for Races, however it fills up very quicky and if you'd prefer easy access to amenities it might be worth giving Ruth & Ian a call on 07 46563214.

The Bakery opened mid-last season, though I'm not too sure what hours he's operating, and I'm not sure he's baking daily.

We have a wonderful Working Museum in town and it's well worth doing one of the tours which run at 9am 11am and 3pm. In between tour times you can wander about the museum at your own leisure. John also does some great leather work and has a few other interesting things available.

Our own Big Red Cafe is open for meals and beverages between 9am until 10pm daily, with an open fire burning every night in the courtyard. Thursday - Saturday Race Weekend we will be open 8am until late. We have the largest menu in town. Thursday to Saturday this will be reduced to Thai Green Curry, Butter Chicken, Rogan Josh, Kangaroo Curry, Spaghetti Bolognese and Beef Stew. Our selection of Bakery treats are available all day long per normal, includes Pies, Sausage Rolls, Filos, Quiche. We are BYO and provide regular entertainment around the fire.

We also have the Blue Poles Gallery with a range of Prints, Cards, Original Paintings, Photographs and CD's. You can check us out at www.birdsvillestudio.com.au or click on one of our adds on this site.

For more information on Birdsville or the Races explore this site as there's oodles of info. available. Also check out www.birdsvilleraces.com

When you arrive drop in and say gidday, I'm always happy to provide info and we have a selection of books for our patrons to read which includes the history of Birdsville and other tasty morsels.

Safe Travels.

Karsten

PS. Will keep an ear to the ground regarding tips !

Thanks to all for your informative replies. It is great to see this small towns businesses using avenues like this forum to promote their part of the world.

We are looking forward to the trip and stay in Birdsville and will no doubt look up the businesses that replied and contribute to your local economy. Not only do we hope to have a good time, but we hope Birdsville has a very prosperous event.
Brian DJ