Birdsville Races

[Wirra436]

Hi All,

Myself and a few mates are taking a road trip this year from Melbourne to the Birdsville Races in QLD.

Looking forward to the road trip and the event itself

Would love to hear from anyone who has done this trip in the past:

Best routes to take?
Past Birdsville Race/Event Stories?
Where to stay along the way from Melbourne?
General Info?

Cheers,

Wirra

 

[Scott No Mates]

Book your accommodation early (there's only the one pub in Birdsville) otherwise you'll be camping out.

 

[Timmyd]

Firstly,
Are you going in a 4x4?

Do you have any experience with travel like that before?

What sort of thing do you want to see? there is lots to do out there, but all the stuff i know you really need a well set up 4wd to access...

Tim

 

[Coconutwheels]

Take some goggles, I was there in 1999 and it was windy creating a dust storm.

They were selling disposable goggles for $5 but sold out by 10.00am. I offered a guy $20 for his as the dust was terrible. By midday I had guys offering $50 for them.

 

[bob shovel]

what gear do you have? do you want the dirt option there?

if dirt, you probably want to look into going into SA make a good loop of it.

Go out to lake ayre then mt dare and across the simpson (WAA line??). over big red through to birdsville.
then on the way back down look at going the bridsville track or the strzleki. You have a few options.

plus there are other tracks, the french line, K1 or go the boring highways

get yourself a copy of this to plan the trip
http://www.hemamaps.com.au/en/Buy/Books and Atlases/Australia/Great-Desert-Tracks-Atlas-and-Guide

Hema makes great books, i have a copy of it and also used the cape york one a few years ago. they have heaps of detail plus all the maps in one place.

We've been meaning to get out to birdsville for years now!

 

[Wirra436]

Firstly,
Are you going in a 4x4?

Do you have any experience with travel like that before?

What sort of thing do you want to see? there is lots to do out there, but all the stuff i know you really need a well set up 4wd to access...

Tim

Thanks for All the feedback Good tip about the goggles !!

Myself and Two mates are going.

We will be taking a 4x4 Triton ute with trailer.
I lived and worked in the Pilbara for 7 years.
Quite alot of Camping and Driving for hours in Bush just to get to a work site
I'm by no means a 4x4 expert but I do have experience yes.

We've got the the Car Setup, with All the fruit and Plenty of spares/tools & recovery gear (If required)

We are camping and swagging it for the week.

 

[Wirra436]

We've been meaning to get out to birdsville for years now!

Is this the Year ?!

 

[bob shovel]

I wish! We bypassed and drove to WA from Gladstone!