Day 20 - 23 Birdsville QLD

Birdsville was a revelation. It is the most remote place in Queensland, and therefore – my Lonely Planet guide tells me – one of the most remote in Australia. I had expected a lot of Simpson Desert and a pub, but it is an oasis. It was originally called Birtsville (true) after the 1st person to open a shop there for the drovers on the track down to Adelaide (this became the Birdsville track). However Birt did not want the community named after him, so they changed it to Birdsville.

And birds there are.

We camped outside the town boundary at a free camp spot right on the Diamantina river. We hadn't even expected any water to be there. we were perched high above the river with a steep sandy slop D naturally wanted to go for a swim so we silthered down the slope to the river bed. It was deep from the edge of the water, which was clay - and very slippery. Darren first went in. He said it was pretty cold, and that it was a slippery bank under the water to the deeper water. I put one foot in the water, it was freezing! There was no slow way to get in, and I was hot, so i gingerly put another foot under the water - which immediately slid away from me, and there was no wat to stop myself from sliding all the way in - HAH COLD! (see video)...

I had to climb on Darren's back to try and get away from the cold, nearly knocking him over - and you know how much I love to be cold.



It was wonderful to have this pool right by the caravan, albeit a chilly one, and we settled down to a few days of R and R. Spent one day typing up the blog as there was a computer at the library i could use to talk to all. We had thought Birdsville might have Telstra mobile range. This has been one if the most important things to me on the trip – not being able to phone home. So far I have had to make several calls from phone boxes along the way, but unlike UK phones, parents cannot call me back, so $10 gives me enough time to establish all OK here and there, and maybe one amusing anecdote from either end of the phone , then all over. There was mobile coverage, but only from Optus. Optus! – For UK people that is like having a village that has no BT or Vodafone coverage, but has coverage from Virgin! Well blow me down with a feather! I had much debate whether to buy a $30 Optus card for my phone to use just there, but I figured (rightly) I probably would not use it enough in the few days we were to be there to warrant it, so it was back to the pay phone for me. Apparently Telstra only come to town for the Birdsville races when 6500 people converge on the place and they feel it is worth their while, otherwise Optus look after the area – which is mad really, considering the number of people that come out of the desert at Birdsville from NT, and could probably do with using their phone. Bad business dicision, maybe I should write a letter?