Accommodation Birdsville to Flinders
Submitted: Monday, Mar 29, 2010 at 19:15
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Doodle
G’day all knowledgeable travelers.
We are looking to travel from the
Gold Coast to
Adelaide in early September for our daughter’s wedding. The better half wants to fly but I have convinced her that the outback country may be quite spectacular after all the rain in QLD. I am thinking of heading out to
Birdsville and down the track to
Marree, then through the Flinders to
Adelaide. I though spring time would be a good period to take this run. We are experienced travelers in OZ but not this part of the country. I would of course
check road conditions etc before deciding the final route.
I need advice on accommodation along the way. We normally travel with a camper trailer but I plan to leave it at
home this time. I thought overnight in country pubs, park cabins etc would be a different experience for us as this is a drive through rather than a camping trip. I just hope the ferry will be up and running.
Can anyone recommend some really interesting
places on route for accommodation. Quality of accommodation is not important, though desirable, but good tucker and a cold beer (or three) while jawing with a few locals is a priority. I would not want to pass through
Birdsville at race time as rooms would be booked out.
Looking forward to some suggestions.
Cheers....... Doodle
Reply By: Member - RobG J (WA) - Monday, Mar 29, 2010 at 20:01
Monday, Mar 29, 2010 at 20:01
G'day Doodle,
Stayed at
Birdsville Caravan Park back in the winter of 05 and had a very restful night except after the boss went to the loo in the wee small hours she found she had locked herself out of the room. The room we had wasn't self contained. The
Birdsville Pub is quite OK, booked out the Monday we were there. we left our van at boullia, after the camel races, down and back overnight and then over to
Winton.
Easter Monday , we are heading accross to SA, Eyre Peninsula,
Adelaide, and Flinders before heading back to the West late May.
We will stay at the odd Park so will let you know what we think if you want.
Regards Rob GJ
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Doodle - Monday, Mar 29, 2010 at 21:42
Monday, Mar 29, 2010 at 21:42
Thanks Rob,
The
Birdsville pub is a must for us if they are not booked out by the time we have a firm itinerary. Other interesting spots to overnight is where I'm finding it difficult to plan. Any info would be appreciated.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Tenpounder (SA) - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 08:18
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 08:18
Hi there Rob G has filled you in on
Birdsville. The CP has a few cabins without facilities, plus a couple of full en suite cabins; the pub has a fair number of motel style units, but still gets booked out at times.
Otherwise, in terms of your request for info on the
Birdsville to Flinders stretch, there's the pub at Mungeranie with basic accommodation (again not many units), and several options at
Marree (pub and CP) (can't comment, because never stayed there). Then there's
Copley, with a CP with quite a bit of good standard cabin/unit style accommodation. Just South of
Copley, there's
Leigh Creek township, also with motel style accommodation, but I'm not sure about more traditional pub style accommodation at either
Copley or
Leigh Creek. Further South you get to the tourist area of the Flinders, with the Prairie at Parachilna (full pub plus motel options) the
Blinman pub a bit to the East, and then
Hawker.
Blinman is a long term favourite bush pub for many.
Hawker has a full range of cabin, motel and pub options
Does this help
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Doodle - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 14:45
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 14:45
Exactly the info I was looking for Chris.
I thought
Marree was the first accommodation stop south of
Birdsville. I looked up the Mungeranie Hotel website (301km from
Birdsville) and they have a few rooms. Fantastic!
Possible Itinerary for overnight stops:
Gold Coast,
Roma,
Blackall,
Windorah,
Birdsville, Mungeranie, Parachilna or
Blinman then on to
Adelaide.
Would you recommend Parachilna or
Blinman as the most interesting just for an overnight stop. I would love to have more time to spend in these
places but unfortunately not at this stage. That should come next year when we plan to morph into part time
grey nomads. At the moment – just
grey.
Cheers..... Doodle
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: MrBitchi (QLD) - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 15:50
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 15:50
Stop at Parachilna and sample the Feral Mixed Grill ;-)
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Follow Up By: Tenpounder (SA) - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 16:52
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 16:52
Blinman vs Parachilna? As Mr Bitchie says, the Prairie at Parachilna has a reputation for food (it's known for emu etc and not just kangaroo) it's on the main road from the North to
Hawker and the South.
Blinman on the other hand is half an hour off the road, so a detour if time is tight. It's much more,
well, 'natural' as bush pubs go, more your snitzel than emu steak. The town of
Blinman has a bit to see (a bit of mining history, for example)and the Prairie is just a siding off the main bitumen road, but people drive
miles for a feed at the Priarie.
Compared to what you've been staying at on your way down, Blinmand may be more of the same, and the Prairie something different, if more expensive.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Fab72 - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 12:45
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 12:45
We're doing the same trip but in reverse order at the end of Sept/early Oct.
I didn't see anyone mention it (mind you I only had a "man look") but the
Birdsville Races are on in the first week of September so things will be booked pretty tight for then.
Like I said....we're in reverse order but for us it's:
Leigh Creek Caravan Park (ensuite cabin)
Marree Hotel (ensuite cabin...these are fairly new and much better than the ensuite cabins on offer at the Oasis Caravan Park)
Birdsville Caravan Park (ensuite cabin)
Windorah Hotel/Motel.
Then from their we're heading north to
Longreach before we head east through
Rockhampton and down the coast to Surfers,
Tamworth,
Bathurst,
Canberra,
Mildura and then
home.
I have all the contact details for these
places and costs based on a family of four. If you're interested, email me at fabandsonja (at) hotmail (dot) com
Adelaide to
Leigh Creek is a long stretch but we've done everything in between several times. In contrast
Leigh Creek to
Marree is a short trek but we want to spend a fair bit of time at
Farina looking at the
ruins and want to get to
Marree early enough to site see around there. I would have liked to stay at Mungerainie but the other half is keen on getting to Surfers......some other time maybe.
Regards....Fab.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Doodle - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 15:06
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 15:06
Hi Fab,
I am interested in what you came up with in
Marree,
Birdsville and
Windorah. I’ll drop you a line.
I don’t like our chances of getting accommodation in
Birdsville the first week in September but have slept in the vehicle before and just find a place to wash up. Unfortunately I don’t have exact dates I can book at the moment. It looks like we should be pretty comfortable for the rest of the trip.
I plan to only drive during daylight hours if possible as there are reports that the roos will be in plague proportions with all the good feed available.
Cheers..... Doodle
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Follow Up By: Tenpounder (SA) - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 16:58
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 16:58
I don't fancy your chances of a room at Mungeranie in
Birdsville Races week unless you're very lucky. There'll be a couple of folk on the
Birdsville Track that week!!
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Doodle - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 17:08
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 17:08
You're right Chris.
If we don't get bookings I'll probably take some camping gear. I just don't feel like towing the CT as we will have a week in
Adelaide for our daughter's wedding. I appreciate the advice from everyone. Probably just play it by ear.
Cheers........ Doodle
FollowupID:
681127
Follow Up By: Tenpounder (SA) - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 17:16
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 17:16
Sure, and, if Mungeranie happens to be full (there's heaps of camping space there), it really is quite a reasonable day's drive from
Birdsville to
Copley, even at 75kph and tyres at 26psi to reduce the tyre damage risk. Good wishes for the trip, and I hope you survive
Adelaide!!
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Doodle - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 20:22
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 20:22
Thanks for the great advice guys,
We decided to reverse the direction to avoid the
Birdsville race crowd. We will head down to
Adelaide through NSW via
Broken Hill and return to Qld via the
Birdsville Track about mid September.
Cheers........ Doodle
AnswerID:
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