tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49042603884419988322024-03-13T23:13:53.943-07:00Living in BirdsvilleAn inner-city couple make an extreme tree change.Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-57781894460477862742009-03-15T23:27:00.000-07:002023-07-17T14:47:28.120-07:00EscapeThis was written in March 2009, but for some reason I didn't put it up. I thought I should finish the story ....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg107qLtP-G_mLcX-AaTLX60ehCCjsS5lcgBISaNYDUnS6slMWm5MzOWDQJSxR_Z6X17OyIUbfjvuOVBHXeNP1yZMihKgbhO_TlnES1_d4PwjeCy2siikZprEkaeIPg93X0wc83nDc0Uts/s1600/1+Neale-changes-road-sign.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg107qLtP-G_mLcX-AaTLX60ehCCjsS5lcgBISaNYDUnS6slMWm5MzOWDQJSxR_Z6X17OyIUbfjvuOVBHXeNP1yZMihKgbhO_TlnES1_d4PwjeCy2siikZprEkaeIPg93X0wc83nDc0Uts/s320/1+Neale-changes-road-sign.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509559343427088738" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Neale the policeman finally opens the Birdsville Track for traffic.</span><br /><br />At the beginning of March we were starting to develop cabin fever, after having been unable to get out of town because of the flooding for the last five weeks. As soon as the water went down enough for us to leave we drove down to Adelaide for a week just for a change of scenery. We knew there was a fourth flood coming, and hoped it would be up and down again quickly enough that we could get back in, but just in case, arranged for the flood boat to pick us up if necessary, and leave the truck on the other side. And necessary it was — it took nine days for the water to drop enough for us to go and get it back.<br /><br />We finally got to drive all the way down the Birdsville Track. We stopped overnight at Mungerannie Hotel, a little pub next to a spring, with the Mungerannie Station homestead nearby. Pam the owner was lovely and looked after us very well, I think we were the first people she'd seen in days, it still being non-tourist season at that stage. The road itself was very good, but it was so hot we thought our air-conditioning had broken down until we opened the windows to find out. We realised how bad it would be to break down out here in these conditions, with little chance of someone happening by to help out. It reinforces the need to let people know where you're going, and letting them know when you get there.<br /><br />There are a lot of ruins along the way, the most interesting being at Farina. There were several buildings, the town was finally deserted in the 1980s after the railway was closed, but once had a population of 300. I can't imagine how people used to live out here.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4fgcZwvn7Ox9bqv7L5wbkpvW7kHFPXizNqCwMijSLdvEzir_hyphenhyphencayJVsRkNMfGlgBi0r0lds6pw53LYH3qObpc9juu_4oazFpC_UnQ8Sw1QqDX9PiGRunMf113yiQMXBisX1oMFfYII/s1600/2+Mulka-ruins.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4fgcZwvn7Ox9bqv7L5wbkpvW7kHFPXizNqCwMijSLdvEzir_hyphenhyphencayJVsRkNMfGlgBi0r0lds6pw53LYH3qObpc9juu_4oazFpC_UnQ8Sw1QqDX9PiGRunMf113yiQMXBisX1oMFfYII/s320/2+Mulka-ruins.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509560902282270258" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The ruins of the Mulka Homestead.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIGAkXBXzVlDGuw65wo4WEwvylU7iDGHfCqHLXUAXyNjQtkhRsCGCgL3vt9_R-RKSbf2I2OokRcwrmiptUBcSXk6tlBtkryQyj2PN4JFTGLpyU8Kk3130G_1ZNSzWle738G2jYuFVZN8E/s1600/3+Farina-ruins.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIGAkXBXzVlDGuw65wo4WEwvylU7iDGHfCqHLXUAXyNjQtkhRsCGCgL3vt9_R-RKSbf2I2OokRcwrmiptUBcSXk6tlBtkryQyj2PN4JFTGLpyU8Kk3130G_1ZNSzWle738G2jYuFVZN8E/s320/3+Farina-ruins.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509560899625672882" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The ghost town of Farina. The Post Office finally closed in 1980.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEL8DQo0-nhANYtZR6h7rNZPIWTEBQPxGIRdoT2rOFce8uEkzFTfYP5xmIAwhp5szv1P-cpKEXDtTUTiCLUq3KcOLA-Q6r2jP-Ffmsr4ddI0asm8wzETr27O2CuhmBscoA0lrXtsbfOwg/s1600/4+Lake-Eyre-Yacht-Club.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEL8DQo0-nhANYtZR6h7rNZPIWTEBQPxGIRdoT2rOFce8uEkzFTfYP5xmIAwhp5szv1P-cpKEXDtTUTiCLUq3KcOLA-Q6r2jP-Ffmsr4ddI0asm8wzETr27O2CuhmBscoA0lrXtsbfOwg/s320/4+Lake-Eyre-Yacht-Club.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509560893136306770" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Lake Eyre Yacht Club. Not such a joke now, with all the water in Lake Eyre at the moment.</span><br /><br />At last the scenery started changing, there were hills and trees, and the towns were closer together. After an excellent lunch at the pub at Parachilna, we detoured through the Flinders Ranges which was so foggy and rainy it was difficult to see anything. At the Clare Valley, I had to buy a jumper because when we left Birdsville it was so hot I didn't think to pack warm clothes. We stayed in a fabulous house overlooking the valley and enjoyed a bottle of wine in the spa bath, looking out at the blustery rain, thinking what a novelty it was to be cold again.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEedlYW47R_U6z2O_Cgda2q2ZNxlVSOeT2_g8UM3NgSLeScxp4ik5puP9WPgMGLu19qwjTJg6hvjYud61P7Q0yI6A9vXZ30TFi1_HbYv-RpQyrCly22IESgR_tkHMjsC30en-4M3Y-hpQ/s1600/5+windy-road.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEedlYW47R_U6z2O_Cgda2q2ZNxlVSOeT2_g8UM3NgSLeScxp4ik5puP9WPgMGLu19qwjTJg6hvjYud61P7Q0yI6A9vXZ30TFi1_HbYv-RpQyrCly22IESgR_tkHMjsC30en-4M3Y-hpQ/s320/5+windy-road.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509560413831987842" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The scenery finally starts to change, although it is still a bit surreal. The (sealed!) road winds around naked hills south of Marree.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizODADm4XbCdIhDQE-iQkuRLhHl1wRHEuuzii0nE-i7XsCXfA8J_Rc-sOc1fQWJMyXY290p-h6edHubRUdLjVcL9yr53-OkJ1r7RxcSJoHAJqBHR9X1NbYiqSKZeqeuokI_VZIJDdUu9k/s1600/6+Flinders-foggy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizODADm4XbCdIhDQE-iQkuRLhHl1wRHEuuzii0nE-i7XsCXfA8J_Rc-sOc1fQWJMyXY290p-h6edHubRUdLjVcL9yr53-OkJ1r7RxcSJoHAJqBHR9X1NbYiqSKZeqeuokI_VZIJDdUu9k/s320/6+Flinders-foggy.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509560409410193058" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Flinders Ranges was so overcast we didn't see much on our detour through after Parchilna.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiveNFV5lVlq3DSNjVgMJ6iBhm12Hx49ulKuxwTWRGZ1VDZq7nN5L0KixMbKut-wWdzfydQ2NshV36IbqgIqdFHSAYMLtxhOLaj6OtXKvJyjFSbcNW4SlmUhX8glRqXk7FrwtYOgp0Xyc/s1600/7+Flinders-Ranges.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiveNFV5lVlq3DSNjVgMJ6iBhm12Hx49ulKuxwTWRGZ1VDZq7nN5L0KixMbKut-wWdzfydQ2NshV36IbqgIqdFHSAYMLtxhOLaj6OtXKvJyjFSbcNW4SlmUhX8glRqXk7FrwtYOgp0Xyc/s320/7+Flinders-Ranges.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509560404576596882" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This is the view of the Flinders on the way back north, the one most people see.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rPJVffTTTi3ekCKZ0Q8XquoraS-R2iHyQAX7jPXq6thbWY4-W4fJevjKnOrMcdiK-hAc34OykSosG4GVZWlbHUplyQcJKsr_wFcPE0ACz3DQwQ2zeUqVoRsTPtucjJ2bfZ2EcVda1VQ/s1600/8+Clare-view.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rPJVffTTTi3ekCKZ0Q8XquoraS-R2iHyQAX7jPXq6thbWY4-W4fJevjKnOrMcdiK-hAc34OykSosG4GVZWlbHUplyQcJKsr_wFcPE0ACz3DQwQ2zeUqVoRsTPtucjJ2bfZ2EcVda1VQ/s320/8+Clare-view.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509560402864069090" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The view from the spa in the Clare Valley.</span><br /><br />I'd earlier been looking on the internet job sites to see what sort of work might be available when we left Birdsville, and had spotted an ideal position in Broke, in the Hunter Valley, a couple of hours north of Sydney. We'd decided we loved Birdsville so much we would stay until after the next races in September, but the job was too good an opportunity to miss. After a couple of phone conversations, I agreed to do an overnight trip to Sydney for an interview once we arrived in Adelaide, which was successful. This threw a major spanner into our plans, I was due to start at the end of May. We were absolutely torn, our heads said what a great opportunity this was, our hearts said oh no, this means we'll have to leave soon! I was very excited at the new job, but it was going to be hard leaving Birdsville ...<br /><br />By the time we drove back up the track to Birdsville, it all seemed a long way away — we still had three months to go, we would make the most of it. We radioed the flood boat guys and stashed the car at the race track. There was a welcome party in the boat when it arrived, it was a real homecoming. We stowed our belongings in the boat and headed back to town.<br /><br />---<br /><br />I'll put some more up shortly from what I can remeber, but it seems so long ago now. I'm dying to get back out to Birdsville, but circumstances so far have prevented it. Evan managed to get out there for the last Races, and for the Bronco Branding -- the National Titles were held there in May. And to the Drovers Festival in Camoweel -- his latest book, called <span style="font-style:italic;">The Drovers -- Stories behind the heroes of our stock routes</span> was released recently and is a very good read -- not that I'm biased!Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-60479744261944875992009-03-15T23:06:00.000-07:002009-03-17T20:04:30.267-07:00And yet more flooding ....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhINEEcG9ShaPERFe5k0su01zxnMLFxX5mainEQacg6U1xsXSLMaubq5IOnMqtSdb2zRILu5w9is_NNWCZW_c_xrcOh4p4YuQH7C7YnN1i4W1dYXR8vF1gQ_z9AdU2AfIDTRbWLVnUm9cg/s1600-h/Simpson-Desert-sign.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhINEEcG9ShaPERFe5k0su01zxnMLFxX5mainEQacg6U1xsXSLMaubq5IOnMqtSdb2zRILu5w9is_NNWCZW_c_xrcOh4p4YuQH7C7YnN1i4W1dYXR8vF1gQ_z9AdU2AfIDTRbWLVnUm9cg/s320/Simpson-Desert-sign.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314351602002137026" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Desert? What Desert? Just out of town on the Big Red road, looking west.</span><br /><br />The third flood was a doozy. It came up much higher than the previous two, lapping at the grid that marks the edge of town and reaching 7.2 metres — the flood level sign disappeared altogether. The river flooded out all over the gibber plains behind town as well, so we were surrounded on three sides, and the Bedourie was completely awash about 30 km north. <br /><br />We were totally cut off for a while because the only way in and out of the place, the MacAir plane, went broke and stopped flying. The government had to charter a plane, but there was no ticket-buying infrastructure and for a week or so you had to already have a ticket or be dying (literally) to get onto the plane, causing a great deal of frustration for people wanting to leave or come back. They then made tickets available through the council, and have since awarded the Birdsville route to SkyTrans for the next six months while they tender the contract. SkyTrans has been very reliable so far, they actually come when they're supposed to, but they've hiked up the price of tickets quite significantly. <br /><br />The food truck from Adelaide wasn't able to get here either, they finally came last week after nearly six weeks, and had to stop on the other side of the flooding, about 5 kms out of town. The food was ferried across by a couple of the locals in utes with snorkels. We get a delivery from Quilpie on the plane previous to that, and I was able to get a supply of fresh fruit and veg, a good thing because I was down to cans and frozen stuff. <br /><br />Finally after three weeks the water started to go down again, although the Georgina River/Eyre Creek system was still coming up. We went out to have a look at Eyre Creek, about 45 kms into the desert. The water runs down channels between the sand dunes — it was apparently about 16 kms wide but we didn't get past the first channel. Another weekend, we went camping out to Adria Downs Station, on the Eyre Creek about 100 kms north of Big Red. The normally dry Muncoonie Lakes are full and very spectacular. We camped on the dune south of the lake and had a relaxed evening around the campfire. In the morning we dropped in on the station owners for morning tea (Judy's delicious pikelets with jam and cream). Don had to come and get us in the tinnie, they were still flooded in. When the lakes dry out they will grow lush grass which will feed the cattle for the next couple of years, so they were very philosophical about it all.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This sign is on the fence of the grid at the eastern edge of town.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHbbTU6XKoXYe9gxn2arq_c2lRjpraQuCxf4U6yNIkuMAniP8WnObQ0KMnvBujBVDX_i0n8fCGd_dbOzixrnRaBvCXZUNlRbgaYChsnG0Spu0QEqvzwMZdJwpfNnYA5MJMUSq7J3M3X8/s1600-h/no-camping.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHbbTU6XKoXYe9gxn2arq_c2lRjpraQuCxf4U6yNIkuMAniP8WnObQ0KMnvBujBVDX_i0n8fCGd_dbOzixrnRaBvCXZUNlRbgaYChsnG0Spu0QEqvzwMZdJwpfNnYA5MJMUSq7J3M3X8/s320/no-camping.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314351597537550594" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Annie and Georgina don't let the flood stop their morning walk.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvut3OK-y8HW9NFf-ZZTGTBFlbZxSWk3lrEsmoILGjBgvyOdWZT2fbFJt4ym2IvdUWXfKSWT5lZefwiZOxCfjjmLHyNl7AgTW8aUkn1LR7-BzzlcpIlzMtXqsVHY41Qdkr3krFafZJHk0/s1600-h/Annie-walking-Georgie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvut3OK-y8HW9NFf-ZZTGTBFlbZxSWk3lrEsmoILGjBgvyOdWZT2fbFJt4ym2IvdUWXfKSWT5lZefwiZOxCfjjmLHyNl7AgTW8aUkn1LR7-BzzlcpIlzMtXqsVHY41Qdkr3krFafZJHk0/s320/Annie-walking-Georgie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314351598704396498" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Lauren and Paul in the floodboat, checking out the water.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvQFOyNu20YdaM5bWHb_C5kiq8OzlobQuve75AjNUNsbymHHmWPEGvZtEI11NboEoZf-LyyfSHY9TqAwipgCqds9VWTsKNxa8jEal5H6hO93y_4LQQtec51npe6ftb7EMEPlO8xk0mYM/s1600-h/Lauren-in-floodboat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvQFOyNu20YdaM5bWHb_C5kiq8OzlobQuve75AjNUNsbymHHmWPEGvZtEI11NboEoZf-LyyfSHY9TqAwipgCqds9VWTsKNxa8jEal5H6hO93y_4LQQtec51npe6ftb7EMEPlO8xk0mYM/s320/Lauren-in-floodboat.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314350556829637554" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The bridge out of town.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDZt9fY8d89UQfrRUTxSCCO_Qq7-oWrSEkqZNgwkMXq45HqqksI311b9DLDnlm3qevAZi4w0JaSr1oQNTa0KuXsRq9qBj4cfnYunUY8lM_85n3dZSm5gOA6LS8fAedAAAvDbe5U34a00I/s1600-h/bridge-under-water.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDZt9fY8d89UQfrRUTxSCCO_Qq7-oWrSEkqZNgwkMXq45HqqksI311b9DLDnlm3qevAZi4w0JaSr1oQNTa0KuXsRq9qBj4cfnYunUY8lM_85n3dZSm5gOA6LS8fAedAAAvDbe5U34a00I/s320/bridge-under-water.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314350556274180514" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">From the billabong (south side of town) looking back towards our unit.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCVNmAdiKKkmno8BW_6x0FkKJIIUX9h-G9LnldeRwiZ_YJ4OM56RwDlArugVH2OFZcO1iZMlQ2mjP8wdmtmA9C8JohTAFMCo04U7MPfL8xQor0m0nm0Co4zVqkzFnba1WmoWvZBHhnv54/s1600-h/billabong-to-house.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCVNmAdiKKkmno8BW_6x0FkKJIIUX9h-G9LnldeRwiZ_YJ4OM56RwDlArugVH2OFZcO1iZMlQ2mjP8wdmtmA9C8JohTAFMCo04U7MPfL8xQor0m0nm0Co4zVqkzFnba1WmoWvZBHhnv54/s320/billabong-to-house.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314350557530816226" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Looking back across the gibber plain on the western side of town.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQReigsVHg14eg8Ql8gD55LeE5jCbNGI9k08Dq6aVYsFX_6Ge-lRTnkc5WHA-Dzot5w6xKdJPxjfO3mA0T42cXJFTuCNJFpFCSg5A20oA3UwjsLpIAsIAXrwzSFo1rvd-lEP9CpgebvE/s1600-h/Floodwater-from-west.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQReigsVHg14eg8Ql8gD55LeE5jCbNGI9k08Dq6aVYsFX_6Ge-lRTnkc5WHA-Dzot5w6xKdJPxjfO3mA0T42cXJFTuCNJFpFCSg5A20oA3UwjsLpIAsIAXrwzSFo1rvd-lEP9CpgebvE/s320/Floodwater-from-west.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314350549681230930" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The first of the 16 km-wide channels of the Eyre Creek about 45 kms out into the Simpson Desert.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBbCon5sKIox8brYZtGRUxvP5frpQ9EeaFEHFJUE6rOBChyphenhyphenL_g0LEsU95i6xLGoSH8qTUDUVH6rf2vam_UA7SNN854WFMDZLmetJaGkFvobCPGa3RNEhLm7qEZkXR6KNB02z1mqTLWlc/s1600-h/Eyre-Creek-in-flood.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBbCon5sKIox8brYZtGRUxvP5frpQ9EeaFEHFJUE6rOBChyphenhyphenL_g0LEsU95i6xLGoSH8qTUDUVH6rf2vam_UA7SNN854WFMDZLmetJaGkFvobCPGa3RNEhLm7qEZkXR6KNB02z1mqTLWlc/s320/Eyre-Creek-in-flood.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314350550089871266" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Whoops, could have done that better! The dunes are very soft after summer and no-one driving across them. And it pays to travel in pairs — it only took a few minutes to pull Neale out again with a snatch strap. Otherwise, it would have taken a long time to dig him out by hand ....</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzHOdMGz_jYikTHYfbaJPusxn4BbOjJ4udOzLMnwMkC3imtMjYcR5t-3Mmr3CrjeeEGxS9On2akEgWzyIYvciAv86vWLU5GwOgANNV68sYs3x4QJN-JqOLEoR7Cz5xBWnSj2V8cZ0duk/s1600-h/Neale-bogged-on-BR.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzHOdMGz_jYikTHYfbaJPusxn4BbOjJ4udOzLMnwMkC3imtMjYcR5t-3Mmr3CrjeeEGxS9On2akEgWzyIYvciAv86vWLU5GwOgANNV68sYs3x4QJN-JqOLEoR7Cz5xBWnSj2V8cZ0duk/s320/Neale-bogged-on-BR.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314349691952778226" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">We passed this herd of 25 wild camels on the way up to Muncoonie Lakes.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklh1-5UuguQ48CaJz0UlWdEUpBzVaBGoNpS7bS2gmJEQgPExl5PPGl0cJ6NZ4gGDivibus7B55jkb-HrDHfAogcRA3Iy189utSYK68pz4IpTfQ4GNZWX647VBZGjBVy-wAVT5DtyjKCQ/s1600-h/Camel-herd.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklh1-5UuguQ48CaJz0UlWdEUpBzVaBGoNpS7bS2gmJEQgPExl5PPGl0cJ6NZ4gGDivibus7B55jkb-HrDHfAogcRA3Iy189utSYK68pz4IpTfQ4GNZWX647VBZGjBVy-wAVT5DtyjKCQ/s320/Camel-herd.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314349694432900002" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The two lakes, separated by a sand dune. </span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJGs9aNWvLGTbL43XXZ3BYQ5ccpJcJqUsCdGZINMRMzz_-ijUEW5aFakcPFHLbyD-HOcwZ0BnWNFi4tVmgHRjDW_tp-z7DX3gV4yED_pCIoVegMxEaXBYtkJHNxevtegeNRN5bdd3KQQ/s1600-h/Muncoonie-Lakes-ED.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJGs9aNWvLGTbL43XXZ3BYQ5ccpJcJqUsCdGZINMRMzz_-ijUEW5aFakcPFHLbyD-HOcwZ0BnWNFi4tVmgHRjDW_tp-z7DX3gV4yED_pCIoVegMxEaXBYtkJHNxevtegeNRN5bdd3KQQ/s320/Muncoonie-Lakes-ED.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314349693145255458" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Don arrives with the tinnie to take us across to the homestead for morning tea.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbyZAYq47r5P1etADnYDo5RBdYQOiSlv5nXSg4hpj0RKl-6rtrjnhC5ILadfcfWggFKWXuhSresgpN_dBiFu83b5544uoDSzv3NjtMoxAQfS9rh0sjCgtoxpBcIPOMvY0W60Y8XxjBSc/s1600-h/Don-with-boat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbyZAYq47r5P1etADnYDo5RBdYQOiSlv5nXSg4hpj0RKl-6rtrjnhC5ILadfcfWggFKWXuhSresgpN_dBiFu83b5544uoDSzv3NjtMoxAQfS9rh0sjCgtoxpBcIPOMvY0W60Y8XxjBSc/s320/Don-with-boat.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314349689836926226" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">We had to walk the last bit ....</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXcACXXBCxatwq_qMGVeBUyZrC27VXkZroFA3dZlVpbwQ0tW07zkKtR5-q2o2x5FtyeEEQIrzWpqYYw6itoDrNWggLc_u_XriXQtmwfGXuiDyzl_5D9xMbpU0mO0o8sHYvwoDblVgjys/s1600-h/Arriving-at-house.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXcACXXBCxatwq_qMGVeBUyZrC27VXkZroFA3dZlVpbwQ0tW07zkKtR5-q2o2x5FtyeEEQIrzWpqYYw6itoDrNWggLc_u_XriXQtmwfGXuiDyzl_5D9xMbpU0mO0o8sHYvwoDblVgjys/s320/Arriving-at-house.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314349688033807858" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-5351228584768890432009-02-27T18:10:00.000-08:002009-02-27T23:49:14.003-08:00What I did in the holidays<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgArl7XpZAYvmKK_kk0xYgi79jkTK26R2-hDwXPqruQWlVjpZ8k5cetp9CtnRYjuoRThlrsUXSr22oCCAbMox-jj6xALQhao5QNvmSODbwIY-94ffoYG86ldS0HGopZgKxoEuZJo4GjM/s1600-h/081031_Evan-OQTA-at-Dingo-Cave.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgArl7XpZAYvmKK_kk0xYgi79jkTK26R2-hDwXPqruQWlVjpZ8k5cetp9CtnRYjuoRThlrsUXSr22oCCAbMox-jj6xALQhao5QNvmSODbwIY-94ffoYG86ldS0HGopZgKxoEuZJo4GjM/s320/081031_Evan-OQTA-at-Dingo-Cave.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307740196587562418" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Evan at the bar at the top of the Dingo Caves for the OQTA dinner.</span><br /><br />There's been a big gap in my posts from early November to early January, I thought I'd better go back and fill it in a bit. <br /><br />This the quiet time, when it gets really hot, all the tourists have stopped coming, and people are leaving town — the pub is back to bare bones staff, the Bakery is shut so there's nowhere to go for our morning coffee get-togethers, and people are going away on holidays. During the cool winter season they're all very busy dealing with the 45,000-odd visitors who come through, but now it becomes a more inwardly-focussed community. There are about 30 people in town, so you know everybody, and you spend more time in their company because there just isn't anyone else. <br /><br />Even so, there seemed to be a lot of things going on. The Outback Queensland Tourism Awards were held at the end of October, about 200 tourism industry people turned up. Dusty was still in Birdsville and did the catering on Friday evening at the Dingo Caves, while the main event was held Saturday evening at the Racecourse. We had a Pink morning tea and bra decorating event for Breast Cancer Day, and a Melbourne Cup lunch, with prawns, champagne and chicken. The pub held a pool party, the school had their Christmas concert (complete with a visit from Santa on the fire engine, one of its very few outings in the year), and the kids put on a great evening of entertainment. We swam a lot in the billabong and all of a sudden it was Christmas.<br /><br />It felt very odd to be so far away from family and friends and the usual Christmas things. This year, Evan's sister Helen and her daughter Emma came out from Canberra. Helen and John, the barman, have been conducting a long-distance romance ever since they'd met each other at the races and were planning to spend some time together. We had a very pleasant Christmas brekkie of panetone and champagne while we opened presents, so Christmas lunch didn't happen until about 3 pm. We were about to start when John got a phone call saying his daughter and her husband had just arrived on the plane to surprise him, so we reshuffled the table and chairs and put out a couple more plates while he picked them up. It was very cosy in our little flat, but everyone was in a good mood, and lunch lasted well into the evening.<br /><br />Next day, the seven of us and four more friends went down to the Andrewilla Waterhole, about 80 kms south of Birdsville, for swimming, sailing and a picnic. We had access to two Laser dinghies down there while their owner was away. Kay and Russ are sailors when they don't live in the outback, and had their own dinghy with them. It was a memorable day, very relaxed and idyllic. <br /><br />New Year's Eve daytime entertainment is traditionally organised by the Social Club (aka Evan and Kay) and is a "car rally" of sorts, whereby everyone is given a list of questions and then you have to drive all around town to find the answers. It finishes at Pelican Point, by the billabong, where every washes away the dust with a beer or two, and those with enough energy indulge in water sports. There was to be three events, but everyone had so much fun with the kayak racing, we never got around to the other two. Then it was back to the pub, where the Social Club put on a barbie on the verandah, while the party continued inside. There was still quite a crowd for the countdown at midnight, and I'm sure everyone got kissed by everyone else. It was considered by all to be a big success, several people said how much they'd enjoyed the day. <br /><br />And then things got <span style="font-style:italic;">really</span> quiet. There was talk of big floods coming, so we started to get organised for that.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">From the top of the Dingo Caves looking down to the dinner tables.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0mh-PSFZnHarmpenoysk7NOvFtR6vDPOnwkV0dFq90P7YLFVZqnoLjhlEMDBpYMi3Atbv27vf2GEOmZs2RGDaOVXuwYSiu52dAI9CaGLW0vTPfWXHkxMezUklhp74PODUY7OgIqNmf8/s1600-h/081031_OQTA-at-Dingo-Caves_tables.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0mh-PSFZnHarmpenoysk7NOvFtR6vDPOnwkV0dFq90P7YLFVZqnoLjhlEMDBpYMi3Atbv27vf2GEOmZs2RGDaOVXuwYSiu52dAI9CaGLW0vTPfWXHkxMezUklhp74PODUY7OgIqNmf8/s320/081031_OQTA-at-Dingo-Caves_tables.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307740198126812306" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Pink everything for the Breast Cancer Day morning tea. We had great fun decorating bras after the talk.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy1XkJMtz2YvgnGHWxx6wbUVDriwjkNZcHn3pgnLtqHWTOXs_dFQklH0vILB91x9I0yrZm-qiEgMAi8-Ku_5T6lZFBpnPBug7xeIVCjaEidvjwwDkxW2yN5JwvNmc7C0HcqQLCLRu-aQ/s1600-h/081030_Breast-Cancer-bras.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy1XkJMtz2YvgnGHWxx6wbUVDriwjkNZcHn3pgnLtqHWTOXs_dFQklH0vILB91x9I0yrZm-qiEgMAi8-Ku_5T6lZFBpnPBug7xeIVCjaEidvjwwDkxW2yN5JwvNmc7C0HcqQLCLRu-aQ/s320/081030_Breast-Cancer-bras.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307740198970571410" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Evan and Judy from Adria Downs Station won the Best Dressed prizes on Melbourne Cup Day.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQIUCSBh6NPPD4i20e7tPJeWnhwfkoOpA85unZhOcb-8L7kJK7PijCTDhBlawS0AI4csCyANKHdLV6m0X9arYeIW6uqudIjjiN6hlG6VI-cWH0uLcipgwu0iAQcKj5SSeGyI50AeMmcWk/s1600-h/081104_MelbCup-lunch.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQIUCSBh6NPPD4i20e7tPJeWnhwfkoOpA85unZhOcb-8L7kJK7PijCTDhBlawS0AI4csCyANKHdLV6m0X9arYeIW6uqudIjjiN6hlG6VI-cWH0uLcipgwu0iAQcKj5SSeGyI50AeMmcWk/s320/081104_MelbCup-lunch.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307739215299552210" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Dave Phoenix passed through Birdsville while walking the entire route of the Burke and Wills expedition.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5GHNIDOJUXBs8tjKoXsOXy3I6ve_0FzKH58PlVebB1AZft56GmB57IdKvIhiW_4N0zoVMe886I0hUgAdHyxcTDXFrDKd-_LpEfDAWlj7QVWtDFOz9J2PkqotKScyqsLVGGQKxl2Ii74w/s1600-h/Dave-Phoenix_081101.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5GHNIDOJUXBs8tjKoXsOXy3I6ve_0FzKH58PlVebB1AZft56GmB57IdKvIhiW_4N0zoVMe886I0hUgAdHyxcTDXFrDKd-_LpEfDAWlj7QVWtDFOz9J2PkqotKScyqsLVGGQKxl2Ii74w/s320/Dave-Phoenix_081101.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307739213182808914" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A farewell barbecue for Dusty and Teresa on the verandah of the old Courthouse.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9HJbxxCPnksnz2a-fGFc3aFxvePLgRotiLW6lqnR8S6V5iPne3xF79jjlfJ0QYFz5zCbjuFKEjLA-DPawEJCSGN57vMyWKC6kyDPLaMsDGK9RTBRZ6disdXBglK5KZLi0Vt4EYAxiwN0/s1600-h/Bbq-at-courthouse.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9HJbxxCPnksnz2a-fGFc3aFxvePLgRotiLW6lqnR8S6V5iPne3xF79jjlfJ0QYFz5zCbjuFKEjLA-DPawEJCSGN57vMyWKC6kyDPLaMsDGK9RTBRZ6disdXBglK5KZLi0Vt4EYAxiwN0/s320/Bbq-at-courthouse.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307739215539945106" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">For our wedding anniversary, we drank a very nice bottle of champagne on top of the Dingo Caves, while watching a spectacular lightning show in the distant storm clouds.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIPG8i-2nCIeISRQr-0V0rMaO2Gsmvu4kXgkWWvp5E5-xk1q2rg_jQL_5U3kdJt34j4EaYjNncdi5_DGi29GmDbKRa_UCDwB4iqXDlirnoBGnq0NLA-C8kofjmRCY41OxD66Rj9rUABo/s1600-h/081118_Anniversary.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIPG8i-2nCIeISRQr-0V0rMaO2Gsmvu4kXgkWWvp5E5-xk1q2rg_jQL_5U3kdJt34j4EaYjNncdi5_DGi29GmDbKRa_UCDwB4iqXDlirnoBGnq0NLA-C8kofjmRCY41OxD66Rj9rUABo/s320/081118_Anniversary.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307739214810701074" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The pub brought in a big blow-up pool and a karaoke machine for their Pool Party.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37WtaEGi3c5w1MW5ll6hUDsBh_CNmy1DFmwkQoaqfX0nkD1uFz8kdCtEF4qv0L2YpR38BvgEuz0skvIOZueaae8MjN2PTUvSEglz85MWvaz_PTyWGESkFcsFZIRVZqUc_7pkokJo6q8A/s1600-h/pool--party-081130.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37WtaEGi3c5w1MW5ll6hUDsBh_CNmy1DFmwkQoaqfX0nkD1uFz8kdCtEF4qv0L2YpR38BvgEuz0skvIOZueaae8MjN2PTUvSEglz85MWvaz_PTyWGESkFcsFZIRVZqUc_7pkokJo6q8A/s320/pool--party-081130.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307736993960629794" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The school Christmas concert. This is the quietest I have ever seen these kids.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjIoQ8yyeBNee2-cy9UYqYukSK0XE_dqAqJA99rxXT4DxghkyenARhtfV7kIBoqJKNMHfD8Zug7paC3RgpuUpwiLADi2U0ftnE-uMmxnGRvz9eEwPmp-o7zFu8YnaNVP8UFVYa4L9xlVE/s1600-h/school-concert-081206.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjIoQ8yyeBNee2-cy9UYqYukSK0XE_dqAqJA99rxXT4DxghkyenARhtfV7kIBoqJKNMHfD8Zug7paC3RgpuUpwiLADi2U0ftnE-uMmxnGRvz9eEwPmp-o7zFu8YnaNVP8UFVYa4L9xlVE/s320/school-concert-081206.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307736991534165314" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">These kids are from Mount Leonard Station, and learn by School of the Air. Santa was a big hit.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2PBBof0IDC6WEe13lqPcq6QtJERbThc6pYL4kzyQl7MTWEiulHKutRei-MBBPz-BzQWyipkY9rbvuWuPMmrhgGgiM_0DykcFcHK8L3XhjB5oliK1XAj0ouuaq2hfsuVhiHlwLGoyWT8/s1600-h/kids-with-santa-081206.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2PBBof0IDC6WEe13lqPcq6QtJERbThc6pYL4kzyQl7MTWEiulHKutRei-MBBPz-BzQWyipkY9rbvuWuPMmrhgGgiM_0DykcFcHK8L3XhjB5oliK1XAj0ouuaq2hfsuVhiHlwLGoyWT8/s320/kids-with-santa-081206.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307736988466313506" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This West Wing plane has the longest mail run in the world. Here they are dropping off at Glengyle Station.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_m5HIO-ftVSnooX_eWFvyKIwzQmeRH-1LVXvvPrIqXL8fKP1-G0MT1ql28OqKqmJj926rF1kHSUTjrDguH0knwVpFtflGxeERmQlINIKH7wg8t0zfWTR6acw9mvIaJYFdiTnhMRlqrA/s1600-h/Mail-run-drop_081217.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_m5HIO-ftVSnooX_eWFvyKIwzQmeRH-1LVXvvPrIqXL8fKP1-G0MT1ql28OqKqmJj926rF1kHSUTjrDguH0knwVpFtflGxeERmQlINIKH7wg8t0zfWTR6acw9mvIaJYFdiTnhMRlqrA/s320/Mail-run-drop_081217.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307736988819372402" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Coming in to Glengyle Station. Compare this pic of Glengyle with the one in the "The floods are coming" post.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQn2NhCwg3x4WC_ySdqKmcrBJzYZOAYUEYwHrwxCijma7zAuO-AvKLD7VXs3zsCHYNRa14IbThuEIMdZrhQSyLN7XHakWFe0Te61iBiJN4N8v3I06rg-ogHT-BtC3iNuBzIw12te8vgko/s1600-h/Glengyle-Mail-run-0812170.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQn2NhCwg3x4WC_ySdqKmcrBJzYZOAYUEYwHrwxCijma7zAuO-AvKLD7VXs3zsCHYNRa14IbThuEIMdZrhQSyLN7XHakWFe0Te61iBiJN4N8v3I06rg-ogHT-BtC3iNuBzIw12te8vgko/s320/Glengyle-Mail-run-0812170.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307736988360553506" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Christmas morning at Chez Outback — champagne, panetone and pressies!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4XJ_LiYqmKLOr6p71zttLWyCB0AxpxainaWPO5lkvcSzn93qvTEXuJcx8RB2l1Hc6iuLxZAEPu8NG-PtD7sj_0YMwRJ-OzPCHxdYe_lCi0mYtqDTyeiDJNdgW2wxO-r1-f92h6l8Vbo/s1600-h/Christmass-morning.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4XJ_LiYqmKLOr6p71zttLWyCB0AxpxainaWPO5lkvcSzn93qvTEXuJcx8RB2l1Hc6iuLxZAEPu8NG-PtD7sj_0YMwRJ-OzPCHxdYe_lCi0mYtqDTyeiDJNdgW2wxO-r1-f92h6l8Vbo/s320/Christmass-morning.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307737677223929170" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Laser sailing at Andrewilla Waterhole.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ptXrrDgt4YdNqZkGYV1kShuBOrnIAiUU0Hyxcp7LGV1MssCf63u59fHg2U_sDw6EJTjxeP3FmZa2XcrJPzjDgCSdIfVTtzIXLSOmNtIzBsCH_PSveSDfCoDGoe1wvMRZKoT19iZJgEU/s1600-h/Sailing-081228_2327.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ptXrrDgt4YdNqZkGYV1kShuBOrnIAiUU0Hyxcp7LGV1MssCf63u59fHg2U_sDw6EJTjxeP3FmZa2XcrJPzjDgCSdIfVTtzIXLSOmNtIzBsCH_PSveSDfCoDGoe1wvMRZKoT19iZJgEU/s320/Sailing-081228_2327.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307736124179945362" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Relaxing in the shade shelter at Pelican Point after the car rally, New Year's Eve afternoon.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZUWqRai9_8ogu4nHZhN09Wd-83s18jpxYOVWVkeKj4CbYZPdqfNu6XmyLWLHH8vnCJsYzxGz7f8rb7Rz92XrwPA9mrfGkZek06N5pXosJn6FSAgxXbNZo-AAgMG_wicw7z5LPnhIRvM/s1600-h/NYE-at-billabong.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZUWqRai9_8ogu4nHZhN09Wd-83s18jpxYOVWVkeKj4CbYZPdqfNu6XmyLWLHH8vnCJsYzxGz7f8rb7Rz92XrwPA9mrfGkZek06N5pXosJn6FSAgxXbNZo-AAgMG_wicw7z5LPnhIRvM/s320/NYE-at-billabong.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307736126805367442" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Getting ready for the Men's Kayak Race.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKN3oT2Yu5Xt0dpIF9Siz_KGuIsqvUwbJMeN9rR_-pm7lqXbX9vt7wfyX9C29uJm-PW3RE1GTvakC82iRDN5YyT_DvQ_jcO5YwnP7YQy0RQdhkjxDtRjICemRNf4jqdMloQvYPuBaQFJI/s1600-h/NYE-kayaking.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKN3oT2Yu5Xt0dpIF9Siz_KGuIsqvUwbJMeN9rR_-pm7lqXbX9vt7wfyX9C29uJm-PW3RE1GTvakC82iRDN5YyT_DvQ_jcO5YwnP7YQy0RQdhkjxDtRjICemRNf4jqdMloQvYPuBaQFJI/s320/NYE-kayaking.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307736121359521026" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Midnight approaches on New Year's Eve at the pub.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YGIXzke247lBgFV7tvB-jVFsrMSEzGpk2FFz6k4qKrrw9C5vwLjoqe9Mo9dXQx2wbAlK-SjQW4UkbHSf1W45EQBVvvzZcOWKCxsfEKiMHbg8UBXEskwWLjyzb3I4zW5bVgI_nTsa6-Y/s1600-h/NYE-midnight.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YGIXzke247lBgFV7tvB-jVFsrMSEzGpk2FFz6k4qKrrw9C5vwLjoqe9Mo9dXQx2wbAlK-SjQW4UkbHSf1W45EQBVvvzZcOWKCxsfEKiMHbg8UBXEskwWLjyzb3I4zW5bVgI_nTsa6-Y/s320/NYE-midnight.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307736123104319698" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-11267666308511065642009-01-27T16:21:00.000-08:002009-01-27T18:24:01.991-08:00Australia Day in Birdsville<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdhySWl5If2BqwGQ8JyH-hSy1P9TOnhlzR1F1g5pVRAH_2roKsIooU1KuQg6aOvKzTCVilf9zUdP_9DworQhAnAa6O7p-tEMAYcX59SiVYh-jgBdYvG-gMwGnx4oo9VdlTwdMRPEfJ5B4/s1600-h/Cricket-Miranda.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdhySWl5If2BqwGQ8JyH-hSy1P9TOnhlzR1F1g5pVRAH_2roKsIooU1KuQg6aOvKzTCVilf9zUdP_9DworQhAnAa6O7p-tEMAYcX59SiVYh-jgBdYvG-gMwGnx4oo9VdlTwdMRPEfJ5B4/s320/Cricket-Miranda.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296160450718507554" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Pub chef Miranda shows us her bowling style.</span><br /><br />Australia Day was bright and clear, but very hot and humid. The weather station had 39.5 degrees, although it was 43 degrees on the verandah at the pub, with almost the same in humidity. Everyone kept a very low profile, but started coming out of the woodwork for the Pub Cricket Challenge, due to kick off at 4 pm. The game was remarkably enthusiastic despite the heat, and there were drinks breaks every few overs. My partner Katrina and I scored a very respectable 12 runs before we got retired, whereupon I proceeded to replace the gallons of sweat coming out of me with a cold Goldie in the air-conditioning of the pub. Evan very sneakily hit his first ball straight over the airport fence, incurring six runs and out — thereby avoiding running up and down in the heat. He then went off to organise a golf chipping contest on the oval — our neighbour Lynton hit the ball closest to the flag and came away $100 richer.<br /><br />The Social Club (Evan and Kay, helped out by me, Kay's partner Russ and fill-in policeman Dave) held a popular barbecue on the verandah in the evening, followed by the Awards presentation in the pub. The official Australia Day Awards were to be held in Bedourie this year, but since its cut off by the floods, they have been postponed until March, so the pub staff organised the unofficial awards instead — we now have six OBMs in Birdsville.<br /><br />A couple of guys turned up in the pub in the evening, they'd come across on the closed Windorah road, in the dark, hit a washout and totalled their car. They'd walked about 15 kms towards town when one of the station vehicles picked them up and brought them in. They were very lucky to be picked up — it would have been a long walk, and there's next to no traffic at the moment. They looked to be unhurt, although the Flying Doctor came in the next day.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Fiona steps up to whack the ball. Coen (green top, left), gets ready to run.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9p3PNYGRQP4vtvFToFky6M653bbkZ6Ys9mk7_bhuF5TOOcjiMEAUPbmQyIOu1tox1cd6y5odmVe6WRTJ3Z0a-_ivkNHqKMy_sOw1B1vrU3QmsFC2pmoTkSZ7dPKwjfKQl1NSUhk4rdiE/s1600-h/Fiona-cricket.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9p3PNYGRQP4vtvFToFky6M653bbkZ6Ys9mk7_bhuF5TOOcjiMEAUPbmQyIOu1tox1cd6y5odmVe6WRTJ3Z0a-_ivkNHqKMy_sOw1B1vrU3QmsFC2pmoTkSZ7dPKwjfKQl1NSUhk4rdiE/s320/Fiona-cricket.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296160451929573298" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Ref and scorer Jess keeps a close eye on the action.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjR6QPzp6J0-Lg1wI61l8YWsj9bBlWb1EabOUyAPquqK_C6U8zgDPYz0C357i1_4sM9m5GGnS7gz6ChAy6UgOPZ48vpvgemXgwdJlmU6pWpH6f_9bsJ7k-5SVOJVewF1xv09dk-8sk1Bs/s1600-h/Jess.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjR6QPzp6J0-Lg1wI61l8YWsj9bBlWb1EabOUyAPquqK_C6U8zgDPYz0C357i1_4sM9m5GGnS7gz6ChAy6UgOPZ48vpvgemXgwdJlmU6pWpH6f_9bsJ7k-5SVOJVewF1xv09dk-8sk1Bs/s320/Jess.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296160446924251410" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Evan and Kay (aka the Birdsville Social Club) clean up after the barbie.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8Gi6HEM0ylkzKkb_BpIDDbTpQ3Oh1UgOOAR4wcYh75mz_2kw3FBvIPEJ18xdRCAjzeuEQRMS-M4ICUmmZ828xe0CY4wnmc5Gq5HO-vM_aiLyfOY9JeE1AFmmby7VFaUIAn6ivJmvIaY/s1600-h/OzDay-barbie%C2%A9DBrook.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8Gi6HEM0ylkzKkb_BpIDDbTpQ3Oh1UgOOAR4wcYh75mz_2kw3FBvIPEJ18xdRCAjzeuEQRMS-M4ICUmmZ828xe0CY4wnmc5Gq5HO-vM_aiLyfOY9JeE1AFmmby7VFaUIAn6ivJmvIaY/s320/OzDay-barbie%C2%A9DBrook.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296160443648334642" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The OBMs pose with their certificates.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawQOqUtTfmot5U3u-iHP0kPo93yya5k03ujocrjcJPzb2e1MHJEseovAdiYOuvMDyRSAh8D2dkeHWCdt1lEHjUKerNbqtSHcMfSNGDIPw-aqjMX0zWmgzfyb9qcCR02BRKi3zy6pGAhw/s1600-h/OABs.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawQOqUtTfmot5U3u-iHP0kPo93yya5k03ujocrjcJPzb2e1MHJEseovAdiYOuvMDyRSAh8D2dkeHWCdt1lEHjUKerNbqtSHcMfSNGDIPw-aqjMX0zWmgzfyb9qcCR02BRKi3zy6pGAhw/s320/OABs.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296160441323090402" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This is why you don't drive on flood-closed roads at night ....</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ6wg8xqFpG2R3LS9uWEC20_jq1DcP7xpuPwrkajtMD3QLaVO0UNZNXOFxGMaIJE6iCOTbJZfciLh-lF4RoSF8MKzPHlZx85oYMdRcNoTfbRXjqJJo1kfNUOVDhUuEkjSqVgAbjZwPZRo/s1600-h/crashed-car.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ6wg8xqFpG2R3LS9uWEC20_jq1DcP7xpuPwrkajtMD3QLaVO0UNZNXOFxGMaIJE6iCOTbJZfciLh-lF4RoSF8MKzPHlZx85oYMdRcNoTfbRXjqJJo1kfNUOVDhUuEkjSqVgAbjZwPZRo/s320/crashed-car.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296129570043181538" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-33219972591097186942009-01-27T15:29:00.000-08:002009-01-27T16:32:35.780-08:00Flood Progress Report #2<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd0zhZWHjCu65T4thKZPWi093Jmi6KGxZ1fYAs1ij8k300503Gv-lQFkRRC5UmaOaeLvk9-NOowtTsvrQeblPsxGuzhleaxrR5dXvtAje7I5A2EINNzQOM4ob_F259XcAgKdks5flTzWg/s1600-h/Flooded-road.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd0zhZWHjCu65T4thKZPWi093Jmi6KGxZ1fYAs1ij8k300503Gv-lQFkRRC5UmaOaeLvk9-NOowtTsvrQeblPsxGuzhleaxrR5dXvtAje7I5A2EINNzQOM4ob_F259XcAgKdks5flTzWg/s320/Flooded-road.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296129570014925730" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Just out of town, on the road past the billabong and out towards the river.</span><br /><br />These pics were taken a day after Flood Report #1, the water is higher still. Since then, it has dropped and the water crosses the road in only a few places and its possible to drive out to the river again. There has been more rain to the north, the water is on its way back again. We expect the level to be at least as high as this again on Friday. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Taken from the grid at the edge of town. The water is much higher than yesterday.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiXywIG4Pg6urm3Waar3wcFvRyGg8e-bCNAFqWhRWIALoTPADFEtS655HdPCz_Bvg5fi-CgqIP43K1Q1WB9k_FD2Xzp-POMFspcoXAQEgXOTg3fwml-1KBwQMRkHpRDzpbQSnBknYQEIg/s1600-h/out-the-road.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiXywIG4Pg6urm3Waar3wcFvRyGg8e-bCNAFqWhRWIALoTPADFEtS655HdPCz_Bvg5fi-CgqIP43K1Q1WB9k_FD2Xzp-POMFspcoXAQEgXOTg3fwml-1KBwQMRkHpRDzpbQSnBknYQEIg/s320/out-the-road.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296128921856475010" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The flood boat, ready for action if it's needed. Note the houses of Birdsville in the background.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kOvjNiDfxZqsSyhV9AiiSsqp4XQAHw5914Rvxsm96GL_Ikt5l0cWm9o5LOftDEi0mtBFiwvL9bEHiNpN_vepk9Dc5zJxmylkU3QcxVLrY1L1Ktkn0L4z_rlMYHqT0e6Zj2qVkujSHWI/s1600-h/Flood-boat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kOvjNiDfxZqsSyhV9AiiSsqp4XQAHw5914Rvxsm96GL_Ikt5l0cWm9o5LOftDEi0mtBFiwvL9bEHiNpN_vepk9Dc5zJxmylkU3QcxVLrY1L1Ktkn0L4z_rlMYHqT0e6Zj2qVkujSHWI/s320/Flood-boat.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296128922447592962" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The pelicans cruise up from the billabong to check out what's new to eat.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiH0GesIxm1Dp_YeUWIgqxMywWXlaXZWSoOlaITAsoBK439rUhCBR18GEUCVC3eZN5Xg33sQlQVrpkRGpk066N5e9-PY0df7nU20-lLzHol-QlUaOAO9foehGgReRi8_431EYpS96OH7Q/s1600-h/Pelicans.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiH0GesIxm1Dp_YeUWIgqxMywWXlaXZWSoOlaITAsoBK439rUhCBR18GEUCVC3eZN5Xg33sQlQVrpkRGpk066N5e9-PY0df7nU20-lLzHol-QlUaOAO9foehGgReRi8_431EYpS96OH7Q/s320/Pelicans.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296128921269393682" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This is pretty self-explanatory.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtePwt6BjZ7ZUdrk9ulMJx8ek-uIfkLNkZ7j680OCiIv_lJlWJRMQSQ5PBNapCfZd8QU3HuBYyVBixHzFl7yI-FMevn5Dry3Z7dHm73vFDVPqmzJzpouY-xe4lPDpHV5IB5xWft-G3ewE/s1600-h/water-level.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtePwt6BjZ7ZUdrk9ulMJx8ek-uIfkLNkZ7j680OCiIv_lJlWJRMQSQ5PBNapCfZd8QU3HuBYyVBixHzFl7yI-FMevn5Dry3Z7dHm73vFDVPqmzJzpouY-xe4lPDpHV5IB5xWft-G3ewE/s320/water-level.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296128917087309682" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Looking across to the shade shed on Pelican Point, normally a spit out in the middle of the billabong.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkx7Y_CsVxN_1Gcgu7hX2ywtOieXQzvTtvwY_MyPdbjw5bgztupKaX-eHw35CBQ8iKZMrGhbWiYJ5VUnCtrevvvtmUIItlOIb9pkPS705M_3ZxfvD0YHqRbx1weIYLichHmoAnwarNyE/s1600-h/Pelican-Point-drowned.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkx7Y_CsVxN_1Gcgu7hX2ywtOieXQzvTtvwY_MyPdbjw5bgztupKaX-eHw35CBQ8iKZMrGhbWiYJ5VUnCtrevvvtmUIItlOIb9pkPS705M_3ZxfvD0YHqRbx1weIYLichHmoAnwarNyE/s320/Pelican-Point-drowned.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296128915820656018" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This is the same spot the day before.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXX1DROBWAINhlOgp2H5KBG52dSLtAST5gllQQ_3QZgTcc5E-MEMPGTtMDqdRZ2F5h_2hmlakx6-yqdJsoUnrSTeTKmCaZpXembJk5_bm8_JWHD4Fp9uApqLmB_mYEUvZ3MDo4h0q5dvc/s1600-h/Pelican-Point.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXX1DROBWAINhlOgp2H5KBG52dSLtAST5gllQQ_3QZgTcc5E-MEMPGTtMDqdRZ2F5h_2hmlakx6-yqdJsoUnrSTeTKmCaZpXembJk5_bm8_JWHD4Fp9uApqLmB_mYEUvZ3MDo4h0q5dvc/s320/Pelican-Point.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296129570831661586" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-77388239858462269842009-01-22T17:58:00.000-08:002009-01-22T18:55:34.647-08:00Flood Progress Report #1Some pics taken last night at about 6.30 pm, and some more from this morning at 9.30 am. Not quite as spectacular as the ones from the plane, but way more immediate. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The bridge across the Diamantina River, about 5 kms out of town on the Windorah Road, taken last night. <br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-E7PzznwlXQ2gyk1ndUwMx0u8B5ZRs_j3wF5i5P5cgDu6SnmK-191CippjDv8JDtMlrWosFy-e-muzZlH6GGzzw3bymdSvD1C_9oaSoP83biPlmB-E472RfBFOPr4t_a6C4GOU3pwsUw/s1600-h/bridge-side.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-E7PzznwlXQ2gyk1ndUwMx0u8B5ZRs_j3wF5i5P5cgDu6SnmK-191CippjDv8JDtMlrWosFy-e-muzZlH6GGzzw3bymdSvD1C_9oaSoP83biPlmB-E472RfBFOPr4t_a6C4GOU3pwsUw/s320/bridge-side.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294312947213865714" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Looking up the river from the bridge. The second pic was taken a while ago, this is the usual level of the river.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoGV_S_MTSiyYJPOUdYiLKuZKmVsoNIWHvy61N5FBdRH15jVgIqKCIqjlnTFf0g0wcB2_WPLgPBbwmgm7-ttKCyaYi03Ca8Zqcw9V2p4BBW9E8FBol1HKClGaTd_niZYlowBg4bE-ErQ/s1600-h/river-from-bridge.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoGV_S_MTSiyYJPOUdYiLKuZKmVsoNIWHvy61N5FBdRH15jVgIqKCIqjlnTFf0g0wcB2_WPLgPBbwmgm7-ttKCyaYi03Ca8Zqcw9V2p4BBW9E8FBol1HKClGaTd_niZYlowBg4bE-ErQ/s320/river-from-bridge.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294311874326360770" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKMKVPw8g2LUnTxYFxTPrMXSnj1HP-TpqOPSPK1jLGbTcDnuBVky74dPg3ylwWZU0MjTtEH992hxI8jDWC1CxCMsyhoTRhEcAygX-E99noC-9IwvcIbfUMnwHVtCbaMmI4TmaicWBcR1A/s1600-h/river-before.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKMKVPw8g2LUnTxYFxTPrMXSnj1HP-TpqOPSPK1jLGbTcDnuBVky74dPg3ylwWZU0MjTtEH992hxI8jDWC1CxCMsyhoTRhEcAygX-E99noC-9IwvcIbfUMnwHVtCbaMmI4TmaicWBcR1A/s320/river-before.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294311870821095554" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This road runs along the side of the river — or did. <br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTJoL1ZTspR1vYjDd3mVCDO_42E2lrOqj1DiX2JrmHkOOHwpftzXdOtRb4H0d2yFDdPgkn8tky1Xh1laZHQEUKgkfqKvW-Hb_DD1VsyZObBU0nd6VXfq3PL7a6hgskCzwhI_XZMNYMQk/s1600-h/dirt-road-drowned.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTJoL1ZTspR1vYjDd3mVCDO_42E2lrOqj1DiX2JrmHkOOHwpftzXdOtRb4H0d2yFDdPgkn8tky1Xh1laZHQEUKgkfqKvW-Hb_DD1VsyZObBU0nd6VXfq3PL7a6hgskCzwhI_XZMNYMQk/s320/dirt-road-drowned.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294311852573815650" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Two pics taken from the cattle grid that marks the edge of town, looking towards the billabong causeway. The first one is last night, the second was taken this morning.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnf0WDe1AltbUogYDh91QaIj30jL_mOpb0eQ8K3kDkRnncnqYUc_yXUXfQ-xhwj_VYBehQygza-R4-yvdYgZMlSAa1p6X2sqMs96Iqh6gtilMAE-DbgE1eLvNjMGfD1DQIj4tN8r2DJo/s1600-h/road-dry.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnf0WDe1AltbUogYDh91QaIj30jL_mOpb0eQ8K3kDkRnncnqYUc_yXUXfQ-xhwj_VYBehQygza-R4-yvdYgZMlSAa1p6X2sqMs96Iqh6gtilMAE-DbgE1eLvNjMGfD1DQIj4tN8r2DJo/s320/road-dry.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294311773858671474" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6Y7OkOGhjzl11o_lD0pyr4rMuRCJtGGeg4qu4imqpOlaQhANw4Q4B4OX5ZBkzA2QNwLarP1GXMlqzt2LQJWQq6CtljXNSdRM9kh2roX-j81TJ4Y3QqmITPAMqeJf_D-QiOmLa9xylyY/s1600-h/road-wet.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6Y7OkOGhjzl11o_lD0pyr4rMuRCJtGGeg4qu4imqpOlaQhANw4Q4B4OX5ZBkzA2QNwLarP1GXMlqzt2LQJWQq6CtljXNSdRM9kh2roX-j81TJ4Y3QqmITPAMqeJf_D-QiOmLa9xylyY/s320/road-wet.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294311775067402226" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Looking towards the billabong from the causeway, about where the vehicle is in the above pic.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqbBALIyCyBt-BCy4XqSNf9nUaALHkTsfZ3M5cPbU-r3fLPP5W9g9YzFYpQJ1sDQdtXoWReV0dxaDFQgVm7se4lA-LEt6dJ0RwfTSO5E8u33dWmDM0rPFz6wXX5BXqEWzmmEALm1Bni0/s1600-h/billabong.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqbBALIyCyBt-BCy4XqSNf9nUaALHkTsfZ3M5cPbU-r3fLPP5W9g9YzFYpQJ1sDQdtXoWReV0dxaDFQgVm7se4lA-LEt6dJ0RwfTSO5E8u33dWmDM0rPFz6wXX5BXqEWzmmEALm1Bni0/s320/billabong.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294312950076159058" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This little weir is on the outflow channel from the billabong, usually to stop all the water running out. This water is from the river, running back in to the billabong. <br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmhAavx0k-pUgiiuuNbkQyub2uWES7Fqk1w4ZP072aueF3fUF_86kz_R6C_EoYnu1_tF0xhwCfsttSoQA-N4tBTUCkV-E035-ZGpvkrbOZxjI-w_EfNtVwxOj3UQ7MmsSTVZ5zBjfmlk/s1600-h/weir.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmhAavx0k-pUgiiuuNbkQyub2uWES7Fqk1w4ZP072aueF3fUF_86kz_R6C_EoYnu1_tF0xhwCfsttSoQA-N4tBTUCkV-E035-ZGpvkrbOZxjI-w_EfNtVwxOj3UQ7MmsSTVZ5zBjfmlk/s320/weir.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294312951214274786" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-40022450630637214662009-01-21T21:38:00.000-08:002009-01-22T17:56:27.416-08:00The Floods are Coming<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXgEMD53vQCfrt4eF3_54O_txwjSxQDYRHaGz-vW9xMQEsLNRt4L9BvfAy98b60B8i7u_hQgp6tJYW0Boup_LfbhfGLkFPZU1lRs3tCW4TgSgTn9MB7gj8S74Hrw22vjuNh5P91-YNo4/s1600-h/Birdsville-clouds.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXgEMD53vQCfrt4eF3_54O_txwjSxQDYRHaGz-vW9xMQEsLNRt4L9BvfAy98b60B8i7u_hQgp6tJYW0Boup_LfbhfGLkFPZU1lRs3tCW4TgSgTn9MB7gj8S74Hrw22vjuNh5P91-YNo4/s320/Birdsville-clouds.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294093927453319282" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Lots of clouds around Birdsville, but bugger-all rain, except in the distance.<br /></span><br /><br />Actually, they've already started. After a very hot and dry end to 2008 (more about that in another post soon) it started raining — mostly not in Birdsville, but all around, and most especially in the north. I don't know if you've seen the news, but all across the north west of Queensland, prodigious amounts of rain have been falling, 8 and 10 inches in a day in places that don't normally get that much in a year and is being compared to the big wet of 1974. This link (http://www.abc.net.au/westqld/photos.htm) will show you more if you're interested. The station owners are very happy, it will bring on a very good season, a great relief after the years of drought.<br /><br />What all this means for us in Birdsville is that the water will eventually make its way down the complex channels of the river systems of the Georgina and Diamantina Rivers and Eyre Creek — and pass us by on its way to Lake Eyre, inundating everything on its way through. Birdsville sits just high enough not to be flooded out, but gets completely cut off from all directions for weeks at a time. Our only means of contact in that time is by air.<br /><br />We had a taste of it a couple of weeks ago when I was in Brisbane, on an unexpected but urgent visit to the opthalmologist. There had been quite a bit of local rain, which brought on immediate localised flooding that cut the roads north to Bedourie, our nearest town 200 km away, and east to Windorah, 400 kms away. We hadn't had a food delivery from Adelaide since before Christmas, and with the threat of a Big Flood coming, I was trying to organise food for possibly the next six weeks. It wasn't certain that the truck would be able to make it up the Birdsville Track before the flooding reached that far. It was quite surreal sitting in balmy Brisbane trying to get my head around placing grocery and fruit and veg orders in Adelaide to cover the next six weeks, to be delivered in a truck that may or may not make it. The old hands were very helpful, and assured me that if the truck didn't get past Pandie Station, 30 kms to the south, the flood boat would go down and bring the supplies back.<br /><br />In the end, I flew in from Brisbane the same day the truck arrived. It came in fairly late, dispensed all its load, and high-tailed it straight back to Adelaide while the going was good. Russ, who helped unload the truck, arrived bright and early the next morning with three boxes of dry goods, but I was still missing my fruit and veg order, and the frozen goods. The pub had my fruit and veg, and after visiting several people and making a couple of phone calls, found that the frozen stuff (packets of peas and broccoli, my stock of green veg) was still in the freezer at the supermarket in Adelaide. <br /><br />The localised flooding has been dropping since, but the flood water from the north is working its way down. Everyone is keeping a very close eye on the river levels, and predict that it will arrive here in the next few days, turning Birdsville into an island, possibly for weeks. Local landowner, David Brook, took us on a recce flight yesterday morning up to Bedourie and across to Muncoonie, on Adria Downs Station. The amount of water is unbelievable — most of the 200 km to Bedourie (and well beyond) is covered, and there's a lot more to come. <br /><br />I really hope I got that food order right. It's hard to believe, the weather is lovely, there are fluffly white clouds in the blue sunny sky, the temperature is mild(ish, for this part of the world), although very humid. The most noticeable change is the arrival of the sandflies, which attack in swarms every time we leave the house, and the amount of vegetation that seems to be leaping out of the ground. We will have more wildflowers at some stage, the summer ones are apparently quite different from the winter ones. <br /><br />PS: Just went out to the river to see how its going (6.30 pm) — the water's almost up to road level and is rising rapidly — we'll be cut off by the morning. Will keep you posted with more pics.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Birdsville after the localised rain a couple of weeks ago. Our place is marked by the arrow. The coming flood will be much bigger. Photo by Kay Ezzy.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAO3mesLA2yLPQ-xncMmrKofmlLjxjjDhC1uFFUUC6MBUxEMTu_pPWIiS9bepwkmNqSFEZp0pNNt32xN-JwxizMr4Dq2aXyy2cPQZ6eWQs2lB6k065Jrb_2y3g1ObM8xEMOpz82cvFAow/s1600-h/Birdsville-090109_KEzzy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAO3mesLA2yLPQ-xncMmrKofmlLjxjjDhC1uFFUUC6MBUxEMTu_pPWIiS9bepwkmNqSFEZp0pNNt32xN-JwxizMr4Dq2aXyy2cPQZ6eWQs2lB6k065Jrb_2y3g1ObM8xEMOpz82cvFAow/s320/Birdsville-090109_KEzzy.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294091267358407618" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Following pics heading north from Birdsville towards Bedourie.<br /></span><br /> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIsGD3avM2qLmTQLc_3VBM4LRM8w6yvEERSlL5aDNAer4RR-K81lbc7FxkXFul-K5Vb7WHo5opGHW2_VNG6iZrWy-o8EAFyvWQKz18hn7cnWXi43R8KR0eJIFom1B53TOUWasHhnw5tj8/s1600-h/Bedourie-Rd.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIsGD3avM2qLmTQLc_3VBM4LRM8w6yvEERSlL5aDNAer4RR-K81lbc7FxkXFul-K5Vb7WHo5opGHW2_VNG6iZrWy-o8EAFyvWQKz18hn7cnWXi43R8KR0eJIFom1B53TOUWasHhnw5tj8/s320/Bedourie-Rd.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294089201484029442" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQfcMa0uZX8jIvXHqWyjY-Mfe-coPqFmRB9zu9nFB_3axTlPRCfijIGTkYhX4-P4BVaJWfqwZGz19-o2T7LDQG40yFesYXTHSK8z1pVSMvLyQtjPaGjkaJjiUgeAkZbRddWIC8L1a8hs/s1600-h/Bedourie-Rd-1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQfcMa0uZX8jIvXHqWyjY-Mfe-coPqFmRB9zu9nFB_3axTlPRCfijIGTkYhX4-P4BVaJWfqwZGz19-o2T7LDQG40yFesYXTHSK8z1pVSMvLyQtjPaGjkaJjiUgeAkZbRddWIC8L1a8hs/s320/Bedourie-Rd-1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294089203378042242" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJ54dzzCtpUvj1YIbjLwoJW6bhGwtiRHbS-Skwc6kiv21SkNj5z3RKc80Ba8ZuZvhmNQzxEkf6Ag2oe0NAm4KTSbA7LaIYo-bG2vsnSqZJ5pHkoxLyKnMdgwgICNPDTp81X2WlnX94Wo/s1600-h/Bedourie-Rd-1a.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJ54dzzCtpUvj1YIbjLwoJW6bhGwtiRHbS-Skwc6kiv21SkNj5z3RKc80Ba8ZuZvhmNQzxEkf6Ag2oe0NAm4KTSbA7LaIYo-bG2vsnSqZJ5pHkoxLyKnMdgwgICNPDTp81X2WlnX94Wo/s320/Bedourie-Rd-1a.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294089205262643442" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUxB9Ats8QgTAB-jPtaP8tmCLw0j0GM-DJH7kLyzSFXjDaJjxd3bPrnHs3gVWuFyU7Wns2EO9vFOB8C6WYqCMNRPHa-xv_dkpYid-ann1SE0J5bEgPRTYBb7wrQQmQKX2gmbAMUmBgMs/s1600-h/Bedourie-Rd-2-creek.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUxB9Ats8QgTAB-jPtaP8tmCLw0j0GM-DJH7kLyzSFXjDaJjxd3bPrnHs3gVWuFyU7Wns2EO9vFOB8C6WYqCMNRPHa-xv_dkpYid-ann1SE0J5bEgPRTYBb7wrQQmQKX2gmbAMUmBgMs/s320/Bedourie-Rd-2-creek.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294089208361290690" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A station road runs across a small island in the flood.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRA9f8WQgrGC6_tQ8rYUSululr9ABEMzIZG-8l67TLln73JC0NKM5gFF_khBeiG838AojhWZYnC76T0z866DyRHv_NwTB1IkwoTy5HEKRq4DR_CqpY2ZBYFMzjGAQuNftcCCjkWZN0eo/s1600-h/Bedourie-Rd-4-island.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRA9f8WQgrGC6_tQ8rYUSululr9ABEMzIZG-8l67TLln73JC0NKM5gFF_khBeiG838AojhWZYnC76T0z866DyRHv_NwTB1IkwoTy5HEKRq4DR_CqpY2ZBYFMzjGAQuNftcCCjkWZN0eo/s320/Bedourie-Rd-4-island.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294093905441413618" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Glengyle Station, about halfway to Bedourie. The main Bedourie road runs across the top of Glengyle and disappears into the Eyre Creek.<br /></span><br /> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYhNRTWn4DLZwTcLicAE69SxCj1N22DGcm7WF-E-SE1pEwKay0w1nCdz1n5q7J8YHqS6vWDhtonFfvHbukmBPLuNibwlPYdKgOnHH0NFkMWUIgGdpxScYNlRBPX86_HVjiI2ytAt00_7g/s1600-h/Bedourie-Rd-3-Glengyle.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYhNRTWn4DLZwTcLicAE69SxCj1N22DGcm7WF-E-SE1pEwKay0w1nCdz1n5q7J8YHqS6vWDhtonFfvHbukmBPLuNibwlPYdKgOnHH0NFkMWUIgGdpxScYNlRBPX86_HVjiI2ytAt00_7g/s320/Bedourie-Rd-3-Glengyle.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294089207758990514" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Bedourie, totally surrounded by flood waters.<br /></span><br /> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOj3hW-rty2-SwIyaTDRZYUdP2iWsHu7Kfwa0o6ySt4F5rTn8MB7-eWuuhakgb0dGsF1Gnn-acyVYZYHySkBlLXstHGYrzrxE9xk7uKk0OkVPtdUYsoQz9WgCoeYN-dis5HUmajANuZzI/s1600-h/Bedourie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOj3hW-rty2-SwIyaTDRZYUdP2iWsHu7Kfwa0o6ySt4F5rTn8MB7-eWuuhakgb0dGsF1Gnn-acyVYZYHySkBlLXstHGYrzrxE9xk7uKk0OkVPtdUYsoQz9WgCoeYN-dis5HUmajANuZzI/s320/Bedourie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294092336206382002" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Heading west after Bedourie, towards Muncoonie, Adria Downs.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSWIHP4rzYotC4Qtlw7VVZloYtTxIPDWqlBq9ztdVx6YfeSTYbbjHbkkA71EZP5WyzdZiMYYi9gVPHfkzuUuLder9IgHvKkiRhqeVCVU0v6Yp-rJOZsy5nutpezi5joy03V4L6m_er1I/s1600-h/towards-Muncoonie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSWIHP4rzYotC4Qtlw7VVZloYtTxIPDWqlBq9ztdVx6YfeSTYbbjHbkkA71EZP5WyzdZiMYYi9gVPHfkzuUuLder9IgHvKkiRhqeVCVU0v6Yp-rJOZsy5nutpezi5joy03V4L6m_er1I/s320/towards-Muncoonie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294092327108261570" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Muncoonie — not much water at the homestead yet, but it's on it's way.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdtfBF0qWq2N20-yA8WoXs_rTBu9a4zIrdGy47gHlEwOOCsUr88PIy8BF0bx0x5p3V6myFFbnGMWWRJwwuZapgGVfd283tF2lodLCG8RJXD9w1erAKrZnSqfuEAKyWrzJI44_IbNq0LsI/s1600-h/Muncoonie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdtfBF0qWq2N20-yA8WoXs_rTBu9a4zIrdGy47gHlEwOOCsUr88PIy8BF0bx0x5p3V6myFFbnGMWWRJwwuZapgGVfd283tF2lodLCG8RJXD9w1erAKrZnSqfuEAKyWrzJI44_IbNq0LsI/s320/Muncoonie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294092334561238450" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">South of Muncoonie, the water is starting to spread out from the main channel into the lignum swamps. <br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtm84dO1yqkJ8tgcHswdoYtgnrZ1h4AZkj0yg52xxSGAK_pW2F076CFJ5ppGB02RepyR8q5pPhxbGnearCWQ0bZhUnq08Ngyk94nmDngGJIxFt_qNLMc2azwfnW6xtUspv1lOM1AQgad0/s1600-h/toards-Muncoonie_2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtm84dO1yqkJ8tgcHswdoYtgnrZ1h4AZkj0yg52xxSGAK_pW2F076CFJ5ppGB02RepyR8q5pPhxbGnearCWQ0bZhUnq08Ngyk94nmDngGJIxFt_qNLMc2azwfnW6xtUspv1lOM1AQgad0/s320/toards-Muncoonie_2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294093905439988818" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Listore Creek runs into a lake at Nappernerica stockyards, a very rare occurence, one sand dune across from Big Red, west of Birdsville. <br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLGaNYJ02dXjhmvRUHVTdK2rIIzozoj4Anw7-wobaFEABVqoWxPfs-qXpJgcTM-kT1YTsWif-kPMkx_xT8MkuuP6HWsg1Iw2Wa4ceG0fqsDHry0vZv9ln5WFDxxlwWYJnGtCBu4_p9Rkk/s1600-h/Nappanerica.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLGaNYJ02dXjhmvRUHVTdK2rIIzozoj4Anw7-wobaFEABVqoWxPfs-qXpJgcTM-kT1YTsWif-kPMkx_xT8MkuuP6HWsg1Iw2Wa4ceG0fqsDHry0vZv9ln5WFDxxlwWYJnGtCBu4_p9Rkk/s320/Nappanerica.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294092328553694818" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-44925488303445470002008-11-05T23:17:00.000-08:002008-11-25T23:24:15.210-08:00Innamincka, Outamincka<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBeDMI9nPB8WozpPwiZzbU32eI-gj4s1G3UNMVoZ-sPIxLb1WX6pbMfSCzRfyQma40KT_ciyAE36Bu7bDS0z904hPX_PE3VycAEEBI-Ljckz1jUrBjClA2xZqqUtHCw7dLPfkgGIyiYaQ/s1600-h/Inside-Innamincka-pub.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBeDMI9nPB8WozpPwiZzbU32eI-gj4s1G3UNMVoZ-sPIxLb1WX6pbMfSCzRfyQma40KT_ciyAE36Bu7bDS0z904hPX_PE3VycAEEBI-Ljckz1jUrBjClA2xZqqUtHCw7dLPfkgGIyiYaQ/s320/Inside-Innamincka-pub.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272833596644470738" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The original bar at the Innamincka Pub.<br /></span><br />Since I got back from Sydney, things have been so quiet Dusty has shut the Bakery for the summer, so I have a fair bit of spare time on my hands, although its now so hot I don't feel like going outside in the middle of the day.<br /><br />The owners of the pub at Birdsville also own the pub at Innamincka, and have been renovating. The opening for the new bar, the Outamincka Bar, was held a few weekends ago, and gave us the perfect excuse to do some sight-seeing. We went down via the Birdsville Track and Walker's Crossing, and came back via Burke and Wills' Dig Tree and Cordillo Downs, which boasts the country's biggest shearing shed. There hasn't actually been any sheep at Cordillo since about the 1940s, but the building is still there and very impressive. It was a round trip of about 770 kms.<br /><br />The road got more interesting once we turned off the Birdsville Track and headed for Walker's Crossing. At first it was just vast empty gibber plain with the odd sand dune thrown in, but as we got into Coongie Lakes National Park, there were lots of trees, although around the lakes they were mostly dead because the lakes were dry. The road was bendy and undulating, and our line of vision very close for a change. The ground was mostly white, a stark contrast to the red sand dunes. We passed Walker's Crossing, a very drab and dry creek bed (I don't know why I keep expecting water in these places) and decided to detour via the Tirrawarra Oil and Gas Fields, which had interesting plumes of black smoke coming straight from the ground, where they were burning off condensate. There is also water associated with this and there was an unexpected large, very green swampy area in the middle of vast expanses of nothing — such contrasts are part a of the wonder of this part of the world. More lots of nothing, then the Geodynamics Thermal Hot Rocks drill site — Geodynamics plan to supply geothermal energy to Immamincka by March next year, an exciting small start to bigger things. Not too far past that we saw a line of trees which usually indicates a watercourse, and came upon Wills' Grave on the banks of the Cooper Creek.<br /><br />Cooper Creek is a large body of (mostly permanent) water, formed from the meeting of the Thomson and Barcoo Rivers near Windorah. It was a lovely spot, with huge River Red Gums and grassy banks. I wanted to pitch the tent right there, but we pressed on to Innamincka. We headed straight for the pub, where we had a very cold beer with Birdsville artist Wolfgang John (also down for the opening) and checked out the lay of the land. The new bar was a very impressive modern addition to a rustic old building, and the staff were gearing up for the evening. We looked around town, which took about 5 minutes — it's very small, population about 12 plus the bar staff, and set on a hot dry gibber plain above the flood line of the Cooper Creek. Camping was on the town common along the creek bank, and was just as nice as the area around Wills' Grave. We set up the tent, and Wolfie, who had put out his swag a bit further along, turned up with more beers, so we sat down by the water and watched the pelicans and corellas and parrots while the sun went down. <br /><br />It was so pleasant there we were almost late for the festivities at the bar, where a large crowd had turned up from nowhere. A lot of them had flown in earlier that afternoon, and been on a tour of the Geodynamics site. It was a very pleasant evening, with lots of good food, wine, and interesting people to talk to. We retired to our tent for a good night's sleep, but woke to the noise of the corellas at dawn. After making ourselves bacon and eggs and coffee on our little stove for breakfast, we went swimming in the creek. <br /><br />We got away about 11 am and headed off for the Dig Tree. By the time we got there it was a bit like a blast furnace — very hot and windy. If B&W were walking around in that, I'm not surprised it killed them. (Actually, they had beri-beri or some such dietary failing.) We had planned to stop for lunch, but after a fairly quick inspection we jumped back into our air-conditioned car and headed north. Parts of the road were extremely rough and rocky and shortened the life of our tyres quite a bit, and other parts were soft red sand tracks. We passed a road train with a shredded tyre, and chased a camel off the road not much further along. <br /><br />Cordillo Downs sat baking on another gibber ridge, there are no trees to be seen anywhere. The shearing shed is a very impressive building, and the homestead beyond also looked interesting but was private so I didn't get to check it out. Back on the very rocky road, and eventually came upon the ruins of Cadelga Station, where we stopped for coffee and our late lunch of peanut butter sandwiches at about 3pm. We still had a long way to go, and when we hit the main Birdsville-Windorah Road, it felt like a highway in comparison to the rough track we had been travelling on.<br /><br />We were treated to a spectacular sunset as the sun dropped from a clear sky to a dust haze on the horizon, and when we finally got back about 7.30 pm, we felt like we'd been travelling a long long time.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A red sand dune disappears into a heat mirage behind some cattle not long after turning off the Birdsville Track. It's difficult to see how cattle survive out here, but they looked to be in good condition.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvi-SntM3cOtKxyTtbmW59itmoU1pUS3mzUAlMvbU_jZUWyagbxHgNcGo8FtBAP4gFqDZGITd4fjXhyphenhyphens_OAH4uj0PdAYCkrgAp86FUZiavLKYTf8suDwY1XOSqjTHndM-CiN9uFvmqo_4/s1600-h/cows&mirage.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvi-SntM3cOtKxyTtbmW59itmoU1pUS3mzUAlMvbU_jZUWyagbxHgNcGo8FtBAP4gFqDZGITd4fjXhyphenhyphens_OAH4uj0PdAYCkrgAp86FUZiavLKYTf8suDwY1XOSqjTHndM-CiN9uFvmqo_4/s320/cows&mirage.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272816837898450722" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The red sand dunes contrast with the white road.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoY-oW0AYmHM3jgPOrkDVzVGxmiRJtB5QhGfcATq3GahJ2WRDPMPE4LyxEJfZW6_6S1v_aRw-M3dQIMDuE2akOTciSBzyxGS2oq0MjBlAUV0naX8E8yL6-m6O4_aJP9kfF6PDqEVlquBA/s1600-h/road&dune.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoY-oW0AYmHM3jgPOrkDVzVGxmiRJtB5QhGfcATq3GahJ2WRDPMPE4LyxEJfZW6_6S1v_aRw-M3dQIMDuE2akOTciSBzyxGS2oq0MjBlAUV0naX8E8yL6-m6O4_aJP9kfF6PDqEVlquBA/s320/road&dune.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272816840038800706" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Coongie Lakes. They do get a lot of water after a big rain further north and it eventually makes it way down the Cooper Creek.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh74Dq2oCBi7DQqJbYqD5cg6NgrP1IQaFT9_PsW_oW6awa8Bb-8n9WX6nxZd3WV61pJaujUnKvcP0IFRKVtoDMfXFBuqK9vVJW2QxZ51sj8V7UnWt5e5dEgomdPTcM33_O_-7trpFoINm0/s1600-h/Coongie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh74Dq2oCBi7DQqJbYqD5cg6NgrP1IQaFT9_PsW_oW6awa8Bb-8n9WX6nxZd3WV61pJaujUnKvcP0IFRKVtoDMfXFBuqK9vVJW2QxZ51sj8V7UnWt5e5dEgomdPTcM33_O_-7trpFoINm0/s320/Coongie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272816846357623682" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A plume on the plain — Tirrawarra Oil and Gas Field burning off.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitg1t5948MzKNZ-zxohyphenhyphenBO56B0Ud-DribTAOLNb-87dCciq0h_tRBqAIg8pahPDgUf1dDeTE6Ptqdi4d4wqkSbuHeBFpZhXAYfLbl7dusuZ0gxT89x8RwfGQW8Z1d0EMlwrU5JRNKfK94/s1600-h/Tirrawarra.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitg1t5948MzKNZ-zxohyphenhyphenBO56B0Ud-DribTAOLNb-87dCciq0h_tRBqAIg8pahPDgUf1dDeTE6Ptqdi4d4wqkSbuHeBFpZhXAYfLbl7dusuZ0gxT89x8RwfGQW8Z1d0EMlwrU5JRNKfK94/s320/Tirrawarra.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272816851940278914" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Miles of nothing — seriously!<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHwW19EBHuZiqnlbXbHSpzV_ybsyTvUw5_0OVzP-JT8jgVonwdb56llEFOakQmCTWnv6g4dPwCPyEffIsVWtEmWWhFPzrI4DuT81sP33jvq98yUwDdzbIOAduyNybVD9VCSg0wAJlVfs/s1600-h/miles-of-nothing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHwW19EBHuZiqnlbXbHSpzV_ybsyTvUw5_0OVzP-JT8jgVonwdb56llEFOakQmCTWnv6g4dPwCPyEffIsVWtEmWWhFPzrI4DuT81sP33jvq98yUwDdzbIOAduyNybVD9VCSg0wAJlVfs/s320/miles-of-nothing.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272816853773560898" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Geodynamics thermal hot rocks drill.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaa4dY2DUJIovMZOFdACAP1pOJrKtwWPsur9JEBxFJfWmNgwR1NulO0WGQathY3n03m-F2mV1-smGg4IPUiGgV0Dd9PHZoExLBthhVC_rcUTp8IfLveBy93bB1_Te6YgZLtuxARIdzDS8/s1600-h/Geodynamics.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaa4dY2DUJIovMZOFdACAP1pOJrKtwWPsur9JEBxFJfWmNgwR1NulO0WGQathY3n03m-F2mV1-smGg4IPUiGgV0Dd9PHZoExLBthhVC_rcUTp8IfLveBy93bB1_Te6YgZLtuxARIdzDS8/s320/Geodynamics.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272818248767155458" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Cooper Creek at the Wills Grave just outside Innamincka — a lovely and surprisingly big watercourse in the middle of the desert.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphBWmTdJ7m3jrprrGw3G2WdTxlilAZrMMisb3nJO_msQp0p38iUzUxjUpRXRZNR9xem2WzbN8UnGpn6m653HQz3aEE6JgVUwPcoh49eu5IyaO2oJfJPNWz24oaBn55s7oi7L9UKhaHSc/s1600-h/Cooper-Ck-Wills.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphBWmTdJ7m3jrprrGw3G2WdTxlilAZrMMisb3nJO_msQp0p38iUzUxjUpRXRZNR9xem2WzbN8UnGpn6m653HQz3aEE6JgVUwPcoh49eu5IyaO2oJfJPNWz24oaBn55s7oi7L9UKhaHSc/s320/Cooper-Ck-Wills.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272818246408657602" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Setting up camp along the Cooper Creek at the Innamincka town common. There is a pelican floating past in the creek.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsatAAVrTN79W0oNFtyUSI45_FVs9Uqvijf-rVypVW0HbC_-XQVgsuFmo-oXatJ-5RU-20ejId_6tE3YGEnV38xaXXRkbIdWaHG7inV182hocilPhv2scSFsZbx3LDu4WHICOXU-JNbyo/s1600-h/tent.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsatAAVrTN79W0oNFtyUSI45_FVs9Uqvijf-rVypVW0HbC_-XQVgsuFmo-oXatJ-5RU-20ejId_6tE3YGEnV38xaXXRkbIdWaHG7inV182hocilPhv2scSFsZbx3LDu4WHICOXU-JNbyo/s320/tent.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272818251171514162" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The original part of the Innamincka Hotel.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju8kp8qu2b-OfvezhDunjidZQ_zrgANQZlbX13CEyfVWxzfVBqaUgBq6-zo0w4UgJeIxG0XJVuc0RKA_vrl1F3z6T36ZPmPFXBClRNFlpfUB-Dxmf-fPmcfc6gIAA_edtZr9qb4MbqxIE/s1600-h/Innamincka-pub.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju8kp8qu2b-OfvezhDunjidZQ_zrgANQZlbX13CEyfVWxzfVBqaUgBq6-zo0w4UgJeIxG0XJVuc0RKA_vrl1F3z6T36ZPmPFXBClRNFlpfUB-Dxmf-fPmcfc6gIAA_edtZr9qb4MbqxIE/s320/Innamincka-pub.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272818252697025506" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The opening of the Outamincka Bar — hard to believe outside there's hundreds of miles of desert to the next town — but was definitely worth the drive. <br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffcl2V7zvLEbayzF61Gr17V0U7_xOpehmTQdOhifgNBP_6DqySG70wPlpKWokIC81XvKQbK1GL_n5MhfK2VfOJkjpSnjNI-aG2uWX7XZi8nzeL4ANTuRMQdpAMDJLETjR_qPQW4tO8xs/s1600-h/bar.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffcl2V7zvLEbayzF61Gr17V0U7_xOpehmTQdOhifgNBP_6DqySG70wPlpKWokIC81XvKQbK1GL_n5MhfK2VfOJkjpSnjNI-aG2uWX7XZi8nzeL4ANTuRMQdpAMDJLETjR_qPQW4tO8xs/s320/bar.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272818258463295714" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Innamincka sits on a gibber ridge above the floodline of the Creek. The big building on the left is the Australian Inland Mission hospital, built in 1929, and now has tourist information. Then the pub, the Trading Post and some tourist cabins, a private house or two, and that's about it.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCl9bnRhnCYTh0lV6nbEfj-OMvw0JG-mu4PEpNVksEXN87eqsGwdahvY_ziAkt8hD6Bvof0BWKjNgedGfRKwuYZwbOgqx6d_g23taN2b1GFnONb37WRoLtRaXPfw-CGQ563ugiY1aWA-w/s1600-h/innamincka.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCl9bnRhnCYTh0lV6nbEfj-OMvw0JG-mu4PEpNVksEXN87eqsGwdahvY_ziAkt8hD6Bvof0BWKjNgedGfRKwuYZwbOgqx6d_g23taN2b1GFnONb37WRoLtRaXPfw-CGQ563ugiY1aWA-w/s320/innamincka.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272820194503336386" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Burke & Wills Dig Tree, north of Innamincka.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj90Y47NAkjvUo3JwGDBwf2GA8HBchsOljDw3jLy9ieLCzsuKDxeXZ1v-NF8OBiS8gBG1XSjNL-hE0atYrBM5VxQ70nRG83u21o0l6xm5dlwkyGBkVqyGwKoEdnXK75NMKy_l8XF9uQNi0/s1600-h/dig-tree.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj90Y47NAkjvUo3JwGDBwf2GA8HBchsOljDw3jLy9ieLCzsuKDxeXZ1v-NF8OBiS8gBG1XSjNL-hE0atYrBM5VxQ70nRG83u21o0l6xm5dlwkyGBkVqyGwKoEdnXK75NMKy_l8XF9uQNi0/s320/dig-tree.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272820193948150674" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This guy thought he owned the road.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS9xSdtua9HIKuPvt4LcvEoO816qmT3xy-96kZzfQzs9Kyt5ZiR410jRrlbdp3ob7wf99sk4jFHuCLBHgGAcn39ulPa_mk2j9UT5Gb5ZARXQ5uIK479GEgFuaL0Mot_vaZuIyG1atvnbA/s1600-h/camel.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS9xSdtua9HIKuPvt4LcvEoO816qmT3xy-96kZzfQzs9Kyt5ZiR410jRrlbdp3ob7wf99sk4jFHuCLBHgGAcn39ulPa_mk2j9UT5Gb5ZARXQ5uIK479GEgFuaL0Mot_vaZuIyG1atvnbA/s320/camel.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272820186530243794" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The old shearing shed at Cordillo Downs. It's a very large building and was built with the curving roof because it required less structural support.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQSLzBzztA-XkXgvxLE1mA7a5HOyHb9r9SKdvSrhaKo7fESKZ9EpgEqaxvotpWdxdkWG3He4MGJ6rFoaIEN0vT1VokvTHLv3_Euk86yKKm3rTSUupuvQTdpQQGVw20K5UCHmVq2oyF3U4/s1600-h/Cordillo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQSLzBzztA-XkXgvxLE1mA7a5HOyHb9r9SKdvSrhaKo7fESKZ9EpgEqaxvotpWdxdkWG3He4MGJ6rFoaIEN0vT1VokvTHLv3_Euk86yKKm3rTSUupuvQTdpQQGVw20K5UCHmVq2oyF3U4/s320/Cordillo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272820179504687138" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Cadelga Station ruins.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmYErSCjXnrcIwq6deZnZwj70B-hUVKtaMlZJmKpBdRVNxTgel2ewmb4qSMjCgOhyphenhyphenIb0n4nHVaQljYfHm1nR8B2N6RlwkPV0LuqQoCx2Aa4a4XD1OG1fAO6ww_czAyMJMf3lxw8H5row/s1600-h/Cadelga.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmYErSCjXnrcIwq6deZnZwj70B-hUVKtaMlZJmKpBdRVNxTgel2ewmb4qSMjCgOhyphenhyphenIb0n4nHVaQljYfHm1nR8B2N6RlwkPV0LuqQoCx2Aa4a4XD1OG1fAO6ww_czAyMJMf3lxw8H5row/s320/Cadelga.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272820174999041746" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The sun sets into a dust haze.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gAFNIjbT4vyustHIWcQkcb5dSJaj1deXQYcTrhlLotFjqW6DsJ6Vl1DGJ5x8iBdMBrNDDC6C2tWX1nJUpgBmM2EElyJsmOTGIQgeXYJcl7mfW-kyLqamKcMjKsfFtKSErQD5qPilg6c/s1600-h/sunset.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gAFNIjbT4vyustHIWcQkcb5dSJaj1deXQYcTrhlLotFjqW6DsJ6Vl1DGJ5x8iBdMBrNDDC6C2tWX1nJUpgBmM2EElyJsmOTGIQgeXYJcl7mfW-kyLqamKcMjKsfFtKSErQD5qPilg6c/s320/sunset.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272833601642704434" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-4642681410360978212008-10-29T22:34:00.000-07:002008-10-30T00:25:30.680-07:00The Melbourne Cup comes to town<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ-ZsuJKFuToC3nqg5wxNlf2EIL8b2SMF1ucBHiBvtdoLcs1qlkwn3B0zkUqLHM8lNm72TCm69DzfdWIJaTtLLG3drTapF9ODUjvVPPe2sNQU9ujdvfX4ZBY4gDcoM2w-cK6aKxQS6dno/s1600-h/Marshall&cup.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ-ZsuJKFuToC3nqg5wxNlf2EIL8b2SMF1ucBHiBvtdoLcs1qlkwn3B0zkUqLHM8lNm72TCm69DzfdWIJaTtLLG3drTapF9ODUjvVPPe2sNQU9ujdvfX4ZBY4gDcoM2w-cK6aKxQS6dno/s320/Marshall&cup.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262831290999270802" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Ex-Melbourne Cup-winning jockey John Marshall poses with the Cup on the front of one of Tom Kruse's Birdsville Mail trucks, a 1940s Chevrolet Blitz. The current owner drove it up from Quorn (South Australia) for the occasion.</span><br /><br />Not the race, the actual Cup!<br /><br />The Emirates promotions people decided to raise some awareness of the Cup's history by taking the Cup on a tour of outback Queensland, and Birdsville was one of the towns to be honoured. Quite a few people around the area are involved in racing (hence the Birdsville Cup) and one local horse, Pandie Sun, came third in the 1957 Melbourne Cup. <br /><br />The Cup and its entourage of three plus another three Channel 7 camera crew flew in a couple of Sundays ago, made an appearance at the Pub, did a tour of all the businesses of the town (five plus the school), visited the race course, mounted one of Tom Kruse's old mail trucks for a parade with some locals on their horses and retired to the Wirrari Centre for drinks and finger food, and speeches. <br /><br />Locals had provided a lot of racing memorabilia to decorate the Wirrari Centre, including an impressive array of cups, lots of photographs and a colouring competition from the school kids. There was a great turnup, despite several of the locals heading off for a wedding in Charleville that weekend. Everyone had their photo taken with the Cup, and the star jockey, Alan Marshall, said he thought it didn't get photographed that much at the actual Melbourne Cup Races.<br /><br />Someone suggested the Cup should go out to Big Red to be photographed a bit more, and since they were due to depart at 8 am the next morning, several intrepid locals volunteered to take the official party and the Cup out for the sunrise. We all gathered at the Bakery at 5.30 am and had coffee to fortify ourselves, then roared off in the semi-darkness and got to Big Red just in time to set up. Lots more pictures were taken, then we jumped back in the cars and delivered all safely to their plane for their next visit to Jundah.<br /><br />PS Weather today: 42.8 degrees C (109.4 F) at 12.44 pm, overcast and windy. There looks to be rain falling in the distance, but it's probably so hot none of it is making it to the ground. Yesterday, 42.2 hottest, coolest overnight 26 degrees at 3 am. We spend a lot of time inside with the aircon .... the sparrows and crows sit around outside panting with their beaks open. The kites float overhead on the thermals.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">John (left) and Brian, the publican, with the Cup at the Pub.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKra-7f2zOmJDvJOY2x5k5xMmG9lg8tRkR4_k65gnYv1A_zGyisChQgmajCqeqOOCdCJcjgkY3yV75EZsyHmPySr2eSoNmnx2MoKicWyNoQ4fyhPaXi8bn6Ds0_IqVlkyEAd7rC7YT-1Y/s1600-h/John-&-Brian.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKra-7f2zOmJDvJOY2x5k5xMmG9lg8tRkR4_k65gnYv1A_zGyisChQgmajCqeqOOCdCJcjgkY3yV75EZsyHmPySr2eSoNmnx2MoKicWyNoQ4fyhPaXi8bn6Ds0_IqVlkyEAd7rC7YT-1Y/s320/John-&-Brian.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262831290677652162" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"> John Marshall (holding cup) poses with John Menzies, owner of the Birdsville Working Museum, and his mule Bella. Bella is a very large animal — she is a cross between a donkey and a Belgian Draught horse.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYxNd_E4NyPgH-3nWWKc2EOM9jj7S4JUxtKwXzzLcEixoxXolBZE7sCkY1lA3SD6JXejQ1B4xSpV6t8gdUmihXTH2MA9nSefObfDuvqORykc78nrgFOzKzG82sbCWxzSgqhYC7gUf25s/s1600-h/cup&menzies.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYxNd_E4NyPgH-3nWWKc2EOM9jj7S4JUxtKwXzzLcEixoxXolBZE7sCkY1lA3SD6JXejQ1B4xSpV6t8gdUmihXTH2MA9nSefObfDuvqORykc78nrgFOzKzG82sbCWxzSgqhYC7gUf25s/s320/cup&menzies.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262831288563434770" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">My moment with the Cup ....<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolr6okZEYFbEYDi6jip3b62yYvrBx9iJtFEqEKsJLpeQLI6FCp2e8ev744a3xcKVD10GNyClahHgbB3gqyGcLkO7EicNStTu6YiwHSqdnshFjEfcOxxRlXGItH-nDP-Z1rZw_ambDNZM/s1600-h/me&cup.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolr6okZEYFbEYDi6jip3b62yYvrBx9iJtFEqEKsJLpeQLI6FCp2e8ev744a3xcKVD10GNyClahHgbB3gqyGcLkO7EicNStTu6YiwHSqdnshFjEfcOxxRlXGItH-nDP-Z1rZw_ambDNZM/s320/me&cup.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262831295032593938" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Cup Parade sets out.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LDgnTj9M6pMNymWmIjR-kd91Q8hIj5Qnul-U8gOBosckcLEyUPhJ_MVUfPKMjqrnKj8CdHrdMr1gy9fs5GHNw1_9T_LCjYc320VBzql-P9VpyQ-6halLgKygW9qWPTZLWAHZDs3SgBg/s1600-h/parade.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LDgnTj9M6pMNymWmIjR-kd91Q8hIj5Qnul-U8gOBosckcLEyUPhJ_MVUfPKMjqrnKj8CdHrdMr1gy9fs5GHNw1_9T_LCjYc320VBzql-P9VpyQ-6halLgKygW9qWPTZLWAHZDs3SgBg/s320/parade.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262831293978179586" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"> Locals from the parade on their horses pose in front of the crowd at the pub.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLv6WX1tsmIrtsyTNB3o_sJAGes-kOPWyjT2gm0fq40hyphenhyphenIndsUM78wBkdL1z4MjDEr7qOIWanr7y3_MbOHJJ2WkD62_wC9aTYkOsnvxGV7jrF4WkkxYwd9zy8zVPMC58_7YrBA0Tf4XY/s1600-h/horses&pub.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLv6WX1tsmIrtsyTNB3o_sJAGes-kOPWyjT2gm0fq40hyphenhyphenIndsUM78wBkdL1z4MjDEr7qOIWanr7y3_MbOHJJ2WkD62_wC9aTYkOsnvxGV7jrF4WkkxYwd9zy8zVPMC58_7YrBA0Tf4XY/s320/horses&pub.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262837872961783666" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"> Local school kids get in on the action.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirC5u395MYw4K_j3docim4AKVvEYuQ3YLAkS3SiuSgYBcqMGgxyUm-pF8uAparAC54WritAK9yHFBMdtJuZqKqvf5kIA8bn2FNtJz6qFGTiUVfYR_geHDsWc7j3a9KydB4ECbXdgJsoi8/s1600-h/cup&kids.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirC5u395MYw4K_j3docim4AKVvEYuQ3YLAkS3SiuSgYBcqMGgxyUm-pF8uAparAC54WritAK9yHFBMdtJuZqKqvf5kIA8bn2FNtJz6qFGTiUVfYR_geHDsWc7j3a9KydB4ECbXdgJsoi8/s320/cup&kids.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262837872057178594" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"> Mixing it with the locals at the pub .....<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF47pYr4AV8foSp1BkKOXV13sobP5oByCRWKzbX6iXaswK5epHxhFsuPWxXm-31LUCwoWbLaVgTdCKK15nPt6C46JZVYT0LLK0r4Ka5YRhX97lT93bUSnMx3jflw_TbwgyuY28AEOfRs0/s1600-h/cup&dog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF47pYr4AV8foSp1BkKOXV13sobP5oByCRWKzbX6iXaswK5epHxhFsuPWxXm-31LUCwoWbLaVgTdCKK15nPt6C46JZVYT0LLK0r4Ka5YRhX97lT93bUSnMx3jflw_TbwgyuY28AEOfRs0/s320/cup&dog.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262837877535374866" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"> A selection of cups and photographs of winners from Pandie Station.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg96Dz6bJuFttIj8VuAAjtHnqqEmIsCYt-nnHA-EqX0z7uL87CubC6YWG_WKmMvPGKUlKwN9laGOCMZc88VIOM7xIFY4sPlTwrvlGHDw1gWIZawV1wcIDmjoM5_la3idTUf8EPGCeT8nfo/s1600-h/pandie-cups.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg96Dz6bJuFttIj8VuAAjtHnqqEmIsCYt-nnHA-EqX0z7uL87CubC6YWG_WKmMvPGKUlKwN9laGOCMZc88VIOM7xIFY4sPlTwrvlGHDw1gWIZawV1wcIDmjoM5_la3idTUf8EPGCeT8nfo/s320/pandie-cups.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262837876324817970" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Jane, from Pandie, won the best hat prize.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2wxVei0TT2SpKL64FjUKmCa1otUtSTGoJEM8FE6DZAdbjDRxj71zsN_QGP9yIamH0sKlfFL9V0Lqj8kAei2FztLdRt-v7P-u-s7JSuUWNdltGZ6yn6fGj2qRNJzBzBrgSx2FwGVLHa1Y/s1600-h/jane&audience.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2wxVei0TT2SpKL64FjUKmCa1otUtSTGoJEM8FE6DZAdbjDRxj71zsN_QGP9yIamH0sKlfFL9V0Lqj8kAei2FztLdRt-v7P-u-s7JSuUWNdltGZ6yn6fGj2qRNJzBzBrgSx2FwGVLHa1Y/s320/jane&audience.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262837883360343058" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"> Filming the cup against the sunrise on Big Red. Bigger than Ben Hur, really ....<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtcJdEIlhOs0Z5_w4P_OQVYg7Xj1gFA-AG4BWcTwYLdEJDpETpm08lZ29HYYMfyWbLjFppsMUSGzV-EAyFug-Z9DFNdQNo7VI0_Xn2ukeXwYXD8rqyg4q-HIzVdR4xdpb7rDXITYmc78A/s1600-h/filming-at-BR.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtcJdEIlhOs0Z5_w4P_OQVYg7Xj1gFA-AG4BWcTwYLdEJDpETpm08lZ29HYYMfyWbLjFppsMUSGzV-EAyFug-Z9DFNdQNo7VI0_Xn2ukeXwYXD8rqyg4q-HIzVdR4xdpb7rDXITYmc78A/s320/filming-at-BR.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262840943253593938" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"> The Cup in all it's glory.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_MWOBml27Y_FhY1HGdoPQduV3RCNB_mdEPUY21-dXi9XX1CpeYbfDtpTv8qeBr6CR2fAnyt61cKZn09vRSbpjLv6z29sIsL_Oo9HEoGRxIoOLtQxUr6aczGbW3kOshy_Ni48q6SlbvJw/s1600-h/cup-at-BR.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_MWOBml27Y_FhY1HGdoPQduV3RCNB_mdEPUY21-dXi9XX1CpeYbfDtpTv8qeBr6CR2fAnyt61cKZn09vRSbpjLv6z29sIsL_Oo9HEoGRxIoOLtQxUr6aczGbW3kOshy_Ni48q6SlbvJw/s320/cup-at-BR.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262840949780989778" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-41858788942654238182008-10-28T00:22:00.000-07:002008-10-28T22:30:28.958-07:00A trip to Sydney<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO1wzA3NXLYhVCog6O1-orwCv-Y_xOniVHxmXIg29bOhckt1317oF_XQbiuC34Oor83eJ1Z1q7MwmFO_tlpyZwblqH4RAP7lPS3tOVJzcvoS5XVLpOIeFYq1kNfBnHUm343g02iGfuhlA/s1600-h/cafe-view.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO1wzA3NXLYhVCog6O1-orwCv-Y_xOniVHxmXIg29bOhckt1317oF_XQbiuC34Oor83eJ1Z1q7MwmFO_tlpyZwblqH4RAP7lPS3tOVJzcvoS5XVLpOIeFYq1kNfBnHUm343g02iGfuhlA/s320/cafe-view.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262438104276449298" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The view from the cafe near Mark & Janene's place — a million miles from Birdsville ....<br /></span><br />I've been a bit distracted since the last blog, but here goes ....<br /><br />A couple of weeks after the races, we had a car rally of 300 people come through Birdsville, for which Dusty was cooking dinner. The Bakery only holds about 40-50 people at best, so dinner was to be at the recently-finished, newly enlarged Wirrari Tourist Information Centre, overlooking the oval. Despite Dusty losing a lot of sleep, huge amounts of food were prepared, and we served up lots of cold roast meats and salads, three different curries and rice, and hot corned beef with baked veg. Tables and chairs were set up in the area outside, every available local was roped in to help and it all went off very well, with lots of good feedback from the rally people.<br /><br />Two days later, I packed my bags and headed off to Sydney for a wedding and, two weeks after, a yacht race at Lake Macquarie. Evan was driving down for the yacht race and we would travel back together. MacAir (locally known as SlackAir) was true to form, and arrived five hours late. Luckily, I had decided to go via Mt Isa and catch the plane to Sydney the next day, rather than trust MacAir to get me to Brisbane in time to make my Sydney connection directly. All in all, it took about a day and a half to get to Sydney .... <br /><br />My friends of many years, Anne and Carson, had finally decided to tie the knot after years of living together, and Anne's daughter Kate did a fabulous job of organising it at a very flash boutique hotel, The Establishment, near Circular Quay. It was a lovely wedding, and I met people I hadn't seen for years and enjoyed myself very much. I had decided to splurge and stay at the hotel, expensive but worth every cent. It was a great way to start my visit back to Sydney.<br /><br />The next two weeks were a whirl of shopping, eating and socialising, and boy did I make up for lost time! I also did a barista course, and now I am a qualified barista. I stayed with friends Mark and Janene, who have a grand old terrace house just off King St, Newtown, so I was in the thick of the action. Evan arrived unexpectedly after the first week for his old skipper's wake, a sad day for him but a welcome surprise for me. We really enjoyed ourselves catching up with friends and the time went very quickly. So much to do, so little time to do it! It was great to be back in Sydney, but I was starting to miss the quiet and space of Birdsville by the time it we had to leave, not to mention the ability to park anywhere, any time .... <br /><br />Neale arrived from Birdsville Friday evening, so we picked him up from the airport and headed straight up to Lake Macquarie, two hours north of Sydney, for the <span style="font-style:italic;">Heaven Can Wait 24-hour Yacht Race</span> where we were crewing for Mark and Janene, who have a Van der Stadt 34 ft cruising yacht. Lake Macquarie is a huge waterway, four times bigger than Sydney Harbour, and we managed to get around the 28 nautical miles (approx 42 kms) course three and a half times in the 24 hours. Despite a brilliant start, we had a mediocre result (we had a huge handicap). We really enjoyed the sailing despite the cold wet weather, and breakfast of bacon and egg sandwiches prepared by Janene on the galley stove was the envy of several of the sports boats as they passed us. <br /><br />The three of us jumped in the car as soon as we got off the boat on Sunday afternoon and headed straight back to Birdsville. We got as far as Gilgandra that night, through pouring rain, and set off again early the next day. We drove all the way through to Birdsville Monday, and arrived at 2.30 am Tuesday morning — a huge trip of 2,000 km in 36 hours. Driving into Birdsville in the wee small hours was strangely moving and I was quietly glad to be back .... <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The rally cars lined up outside the Wirrari Centre and oval.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMCU4doBqNuQcQv-E-lq4qbYiUtASpqdPX1cTOy2p38-HqHK2uqgqHwynYX9KoSmsFUJdUDTfEJACFl9QaoIEqPHyPkdmY_BJZMe8WpQwEr4hsZ6xaIX97lGthX3bSesm0-KxU67N4mF4/s1600-h/cars&wirrari.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMCU4doBqNuQcQv-E-lq4qbYiUtASpqdPX1cTOy2p38-HqHK2uqgqHwynYX9KoSmsFUJdUDTfEJACFl9QaoIEqPHyPkdmY_BJZMe8WpQwEr4hsZ6xaIX97lGthX3bSesm0-KxU67N4mF4/s320/cars&wirrari.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262409314098695170" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Tables for dinner all set up and ready to go.<br /></span> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RwF5aNiza0Rj6HrmN90sToNBREn3NXsBbE-q8OMBGUe4cLe7SgaAP7zqBe9TrsP_MULK8cBfLFoZiYu3bPcu8D7k6KeK1RwwEp-eu-ZPI5X0q752gsvlwpz8eyK85bRxOXpkOhNEDms/s1600-h/tables_rally.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RwF5aNiza0Rj6HrmN90sToNBREn3NXsBbE-q8OMBGUe4cLe7SgaAP7zqBe9TrsP_MULK8cBfLFoZiYu3bPcu8D7k6KeK1RwwEp-eu-ZPI5X0q752gsvlwpz8eyK85bRxOXpkOhNEDms/s320/tables_rally.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262409315913786034" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Carson and Anne tie the knot with great style.<br /></span> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii1SN_3swA93AGSZQiKm0MaVWr4Getz14BwFJRJ5PhnHRZQIcxxIw-DOHPXFWSS8QCDeqdt2k3ZZrsQkANymEUc6BTlzP20H1e_rfDc5CT0jJWUieZZEN1iETtlnbY7t9a1zWlrGqmCaI/s1600-h/anne&carson.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii1SN_3swA93AGSZQiKm0MaVWr4Getz14BwFJRJ5PhnHRZQIcxxIw-DOHPXFWSS8QCDeqdt2k3ZZrsQkANymEUc6BTlzP20H1e_rfDc5CT0jJWUieZZEN1iETtlnbY7t9a1zWlrGqmCaI/s320/anne&carson.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262409315633266082" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">My room at The Establishment — what luxury!<br /></span> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHHB02buzGiljIlf8nKtdP0SpQZAEb71NV2k59zIWwO63qLGeFRTZrVuQB9gCk-vCnFSvncQkRavi-6jWgw8jIkvYl6sw2i6cjn_WoSaAt53UocLNhq92S9NZAr70UgZvsLQfJXXd1OmM/s1600-h/hotel-room.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHHB02buzGiljIlf8nKtdP0SpQZAEb71NV2k59zIWwO63qLGeFRTZrVuQB9gCk-vCnFSvncQkRavi-6jWgw8jIkvYl6sw2i6cjn_WoSaAt53UocLNhq92S9NZAr70UgZvsLQfJXXd1OmM/s320/hotel-room.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262409315987389458" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Learning the tricks of the trade at the barista course.<br /></span> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSAqoP_VikMcb8tJ0a3BkjlihsJ1OVMFmTrfabGgS0cZ1XQjl9K-1vQx4ChuJ7o9-chTQqJBoxGLERr5yoLgm_08TaGeKnVxxXdW3sYvZoB4cG1dzOgPwpPq-n9zPLLb01aWA0XZ3r3lc/s1600-h/barista!.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSAqoP_VikMcb8tJ0a3BkjlihsJ1OVMFmTrfabGgS0cZ1XQjl9K-1vQx4ChuJ7o9-chTQqJBoxGLERr5yoLgm_08TaGeKnVxxXdW3sYvZoB4cG1dzOgPwpPq-n9zPLLb01aWA0XZ3r3lc/s320/barista!.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262421537415230626" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Janene gets things into order on the bow of </span>Windchaser.<br /></span> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXxCt2FRGQ02jHNcrbeMNNz4x1vXW6YaXUOZQWm-6o8wIb-el14nhyphenhyphenBw2E2h0eYjiY7O_XodgKzEOKVYJyd7Z0axP5dvnsXtcIBmKz03boSZa0IefTQPAfWqa8JJPHPoEmo_1eCscyLI/s1600-h/Janene-on-bow.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXxCt2FRGQ02jHNcrbeMNNz4x1vXW6YaXUOZQWm-6o8wIb-el14nhyphenhyphenBw2E2h0eYjiY7O_XodgKzEOKVYJyd7Z0axP5dvnsXtcIBmKz03boSZa0IefTQPAfWqa8JJPHPoEmo_1eCscyLI/s320/Janene-on-bow.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262421539761320450" /></a><br />Umbakumba, <span style="font-style:italic;">another Balmain boat, finally overtakes us again after we have held them off for about four hours.<br /></span> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtlwHhkmlnJinH0JKup6lg3_Uwigqzx289HoQgGcdNusjrV653jJpdoXoQGVBpBKarMEP5oQfb5LX8j6qFNTx8ZCgVy7ITMxquEo33P9YQErJrjHjTOc_qfqTBtspDa8iR3-kdjbhMEVY/s1600-h/Umbakumba.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtlwHhkmlnJinH0JKup6lg3_Uwigqzx289HoQgGcdNusjrV653jJpdoXoQGVBpBKarMEP5oQfb5LX8j6qFNTx8ZCgVy7ITMxquEo33P9YQErJrjHjTOc_qfqTBtspDa8iR3-kdjbhMEVY/s320/Umbakumba.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262421594618343746" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Skipper Mark (second left) and crew still in good spirits after 24 hours of wet and cold racing.<br /></span> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUW4if9PmBtFbRHzcuQzNcsOc39conSmf-Xrtvk3Ud-3zotPusWGPl-iI-7QCj0hpD9nLM6tvgnJLrtabF3AI61Y3BPQo918FCDfEc515Tme2KTruL6HLOJhfhXOpNOEU0GUMoG_aHD4/s1600-h/crew.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUW4if9PmBtFbRHzcuQzNcsOc39conSmf-Xrtvk3Ud-3zotPusWGPl-iI-7QCj0hpD9nLM6tvgnJLrtabF3AI61Y3BPQo918FCDfEc515Tme2KTruL6HLOJhfhXOpNOEU0GUMoG_aHD4/s320/crew.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262421584008061810" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-36164757177135755192008-09-15T01:46:00.000-07:002008-09-15T02:21:39.676-07:00A storm on the road<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1n0KOquXrW45UoYACgAFIq6yyHT5__WryXiuxxIiztBzBLNuBqhjvzGLz2EbfG-jhylgaVqW0PudcDmHs5G6bxNeuq8xup4RzTGnD9dvcFfHzjuUm8AHCLx_rVr58ujHRdjReGO0N4w/s1600-h/sunspot-on-road.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1n0KOquXrW45UoYACgAFIq6yyHT5__WryXiuxxIiztBzBLNuBqhjvzGLz2EbfG-jhylgaVqW0PudcDmHs5G6bxNeuq8xup4RzTGnD9dvcFfHzjuUm8AHCLx_rVr58ujHRdjReGO0N4w/s320/sunspot-on-road.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246168533320544386" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A sunspot on the road as the sky darkens. There is rain in the distance.<br /></span><br />A couple of weeks back we took friends Mark and Janene up to Mt Isa to catch their plane back to Sydney. We had been keeping a close eye on the weather because rain had been predicted that afternoon, and we didn't want to get caught on the road back to Birdsville. What did catch us was most unexpected — a dust storm associated with the storm cell, basically a mini hurricane.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The wind picks up, with sand gusting across the road.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifw0a_G7Gpz1zcMffGKR2tVT1VyUXMpKMkCj7lD9JjlcJocoT_4Mp2Fe2KTcVE1dyaPC0zu74QeYcjbD4JeNCtmvzC1qKM2vCPZl7eBSp1i_BKX9f7wWHib3k5qMKIV8bpKhLreDjTw74/s1600-h/wind&dust.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifw0a_G7Gpz1zcMffGKR2tVT1VyUXMpKMkCj7lD9JjlcJocoT_4Mp2Fe2KTcVE1dyaPC0zu74QeYcjbD4JeNCtmvzC1qKM2vCPZl7eBSp1i_BKX9f7wWHib3k5qMKIV8bpKhLreDjTw74/s320/wind&dust.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246168535530092578" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">And then we see a very ominous red dust cloud in the distance.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu7G4AdJo8-fkNwyKTcMEFftCL2p_ryVJ3Q60l6Zd0IyBJQIO4b11v3rW_f6KaI7jWlHXDioleUI0ikz7ywLRmY_hL7eNTPiT0-P7HtwqGyQOurIgKrJrai4CdvGxg2XSueOsDicF1uE4/s1600-h/distant-dust.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu7G4AdJo8-fkNwyKTcMEFftCL2p_ryVJ3Q60l6Zd0IyBJQIO4b11v3rW_f6KaI7jWlHXDioleUI0ikz7ywLRmY_hL7eNTPiT0-P7HtwqGyQOurIgKrJrai4CdvGxg2XSueOsDicF1uE4/s320/distant-dust.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246168540083718818" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A very large dust cloud. This is the far end of it<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqsEsbZSnIdZJnr32hp6Wg5iDY8bq2tj-UitOxeEyay7dHh4dl3rhyDgQ1a3UhiGR7jUUbX3T41DomoSWefNpcb1ESBOJ4E8qAMUAE3L9WAmbOnEcNZo_PCTl2t-zeOqzaXltB0P44so/s1600-h/end-of-storm-cell.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqsEsbZSnIdZJnr32hp6Wg5iDY8bq2tj-UitOxeEyay7dHh4dl3rhyDgQ1a3UhiGR7jUUbX3T41DomoSWefNpcb1ESBOJ4E8qAMUAE3L9WAmbOnEcNZo_PCTl2t-zeOqzaXltB0P44so/s320/end-of-storm-cell.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246169140003246866" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">And getting closer all the time.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht6ZZFIQvkOMdQi60es1DQs3ors4J51uL1anSCBPNIH5EAZGmxs47snN5yEf6Gj6aeE14KrsF5R6zPbMK2s_hOjwG0-LRNIIjIaxqSon6Q6Pqj4YB3VP7qlRd86oy7gH1uPlOwg6FbTQA/s1600-h/dust-storm-approaching.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht6ZZFIQvkOMdQi60es1DQs3ors4J51uL1anSCBPNIH5EAZGmxs47snN5yEf6Gj6aeE14KrsF5R6zPbMK2s_hOjwG0-LRNIIjIaxqSon6Q6Pqj4YB3VP7qlRd86oy7gH1uPlOwg6FbTQA/s320/dust-storm-approaching.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246168537943620658" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Then it hits us.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP8-k21iA0ltye__LZuNuhXSEO3q4WOaMfmz9avNo6zyn4ut6olMrJmmOpUtrwJLUvdqA5Y9kn5sOphFdYOP8Sov86vw_lUBHE7QsgPjh33vhtOjw3bUoMUmtF2btVdcPghio__nBoc3o/s1600-h/dust-storm-hits.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP8-k21iA0ltye__LZuNuhXSEO3q4WOaMfmz9avNo6zyn4ut6olMrJmmOpUtrwJLUvdqA5Y9kn5sOphFdYOP8Sov86vw_lUBHE7QsgPjh33vhtOjw3bUoMUmtF2btVdcPghio__nBoc3o/s320/dust-storm-hits.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246168544005958802" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">We crawled along with minimal visibility for about 15 minutes.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDDrCWki3CeKABhcMNaA7Eh7U8kpsS-3VKXgVz8ARq6ey0n_Md4lA1226XkqrOl2Ui61MAhSd83Yf2OemDFgl1IINREl4DFpNN-7iWiLdU729GkMB-n90XztXI6gbWbSpGrddMrbhxgxY/s1600-h/bushes-in-storm.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDDrCWki3CeKABhcMNaA7Eh7U8kpsS-3VKXgVz8ARq6ey0n_Md4lA1226XkqrOl2Ui61MAhSd83Yf2OemDFgl1IINREl4DFpNN-7iWiLdU729GkMB-n90XztXI6gbWbSpGrddMrbhxgxY/s320/bushes-in-storm.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246172491772728514" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Finally we come out of the dust.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC5GUC8Hj7m6jbElRw_ihN3doPjjA4YLLfMN6O-YS1JaT8odvU2LdQu1nvWMmVy34Bn7NSpFMWbmmhEf36zgW8Ks0zLRJ2sEOXqXWWlpfNoruuPecvP3MxNhdooav2E5g-aOoCJsMfDc8/s1600-h/coming-out.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC5GUC8Hj7m6jbElRw_ihN3doPjjA4YLLfMN6O-YS1JaT8odvU2LdQu1nvWMmVy34Bn7NSpFMWbmmhEf36zgW8Ks0zLRJ2sEOXqXWWlpfNoruuPecvP3MxNhdooav2E5g-aOoCJsMfDc8/s320/coming-out.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246169141418873314" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">And find we have missed the rain behind it.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDrSkUbVO7vGoigVNoD9itWiALs3p8DXgeqJttO1-T41xK99onyQHI7SZftKacO_F08k1vYW_cNayj3wE9z6VG0mJ-6Fs8YnPsE43hfpBpGPIM2OZ0qa3GwJA8gtHdkJSDy8o5eDvrkM/s1600-h/water-on-road.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDrSkUbVO7vGoigVNoD9itWiALs3p8DXgeqJttO1-T41xK99onyQHI7SZftKacO_F08k1vYW_cNayj3wE9z6VG0mJ-6Fs8YnPsE43hfpBpGPIM2OZ0qa3GwJA8gtHdkJSDy8o5eDvrkM/s320/water-on-road.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246169145467062610" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">About an inch fell — none of it on Birdsville, although this was the rain that cut the Windorah road directly before the Birdsville Races.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjEPD-6Rt3X7JLu_loKyPzT-p9izeIry777jc3GOyj4kZGQxIdkSTT_E4GzhcyGFoBi_ev4IKcS-xE8OUlxhlOPHUjcho3GBIpAMy8VQlOL__KfAQwxdysZEllVC5LylKFZD2f8yozM64/s1600-h/rainbow.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjEPD-6Rt3X7JLu_loKyPzT-p9izeIry777jc3GOyj4kZGQxIdkSTT_E4GzhcyGFoBi_ev4IKcS-xE8OUlxhlOPHUjcho3GBIpAMy8VQlOL__KfAQwxdysZEllVC5LylKFZD2f8yozM64/s320/rainbow.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246169145162339538" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-58531834736038946512008-09-14T21:33:00.000-07:002008-09-15T00:51:55.193-07:00The blur that was the Races<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKxU_Eq_26vp7T3u_cQIwPLhrTBQuQLW5UDKGfSOTeTEM2w-iJsV5KXlMgdgm_PYahPm2bZIKHgys5eC2SKDQeGGHOmgQ2YaVESRalEPuOcvLNw99dNNdECrwkfgjZnjceDxvP-a3Fl0/s1600-h/approaching-finish.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKxU_Eq_26vp7T3u_cQIwPLhrTBQuQLW5UDKGfSOTeTEM2w-iJsV5KXlMgdgm_PYahPm2bZIKHgys5eC2SKDQeGGHOmgQ2YaVESRalEPuOcvLNw99dNNdECrwkfgjZnjceDxvP-a3Fl0/s320/approaching-finish.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246125197566603730" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The catchphrase for the Birdsville Race advertising is "The dust never settles".</span><br /><br />The races were a little over a week ago now, and it's hard to believe it happened at all, except for the persistent flat feeling now that it's all over after the weeks of build-up for the biggest event in the Birdsville year.<br /><br />The Bakery was frantically flat out, Dusty's friends and rellos did a fantastic job. I made coffees for four hours solid one morning, and bacon and eggs for three hours solid the next morning, so I missed out on a lot of what was going on in town and at the track. We did pizzas Thurs-Sun evenings as well, so the days were long, and it didn't help that I had the flu through most of it. But it was fun, and very exciting, lots of adrenalin, and a very definite party atmosphere all round. <br /><br />Normie Rowe came in for a pie and coffee, as did Bill Peach. Tom Kruse (now 94 and in a wheelchair — he was in Birdsville to unveil a bust in honour of himself) and a bunch of dignitaries came for lunch — they sat in the back of the Bakery while the craziness continued out the front. The TV crew for the Australian <span style="font-style:italic;">Top Gear</span> show came in to film Dusty on Friday morning. I think there was a group from the ABC in as well. Dusty was very nervous for the <span style="font-style:italic;">Getaway</span> crowd the day before, but was rapidly becoming quite blasé by this stage. He went out to Big Red with the <span style="font-style:italic;">Top Gear</span> guys on Friday morning — they'd driven a very expensive Audi sports car slowly up the Birdsville track and then took it out and drove it up Big Red! It came back rather battered and scratched. Keep an eye out for it on TV ....<br /><br />Went to the pub after work to check it out, the place was pumping with live music, and lots of people, mostly talking, but quite a few energetic dancers in front of the stage out back. Fred Brophy's boxing tent was pulling them in too, lots of drumming and spruiking to get the punters in. We went in, it wasn't as blood-thirsty as I thought it might be, and watched as a couple of the young barmen from the pub got flattened. No major damage done, and some very enthusiastic encouragement from the crowd.<br /><br />Dusty gave me Saturday off, which astounded me considering how busy things were, so I got to dress up and go to the Races with Evan, his sister Helen and her friend Therese, who were staying with us. Managed to lose some money on the first race, won some of it back on the last race. The weather was fabulous, blue skies and 30 degrees, and not too many flies. But lots and lots of people. And police. I went back into town to pick up Theresa when she got a break from the Bakery, and got breathalysed on the way there and again on the way back 10 minutes later. When we left at the end of the day, the traffic queue was long, as they were breathalysing every 3–4 drivers, including Evan. Amazingly, only one person in the whole weekend returned a positive reading. <br /><br />People started leaving first thing Sunday morning, we were still very busy at the Bakery as lots of people wanted breakfast before they headed off. By lunchtime, most of the stalls and hot food vans were gone, and by Monday, Birdsville was back to it's usual sleepy little self. So we shut the Bakery after lunch and all went and had a barbecue by the river for Dusty's 60th birthday.<br /><br />PS Today's weather: Hot, very windy and very dusty. Dirty grey sky, horizon gone, "raised dust". 32 degrees today, 36.8 a couple of days ago. Still over 30 degrees when we went to bed, so we left all the doors and windows open. We were woken to the roaring of wind at 2 am, so scampered over the already dusty floors to shut everything up.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The house of pain — Fred Brophy has the last travelling boxing tent in Australia.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxGy-AFuGxfJ6UNjHeGn57o2lmcsTmacLHcQNv9FqNhi8VRKGW8-U7_ecwcKbdp_9JXw6d4LVi1wLr43UrRbBh1iKYTUvhkPfJA65cRD8WBfcujwroHDuIWxriC5hhv-kfnH0EuS5GIU/s1600-h/Boxing-tent.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxGy-AFuGxfJ6UNjHeGn57o2lmcsTmacLHcQNv9FqNhi8VRKGW8-U7_ecwcKbdp_9JXw6d4LVi1wLr43UrRbBh1iKYTUvhkPfJA65cRD8WBfcujwroHDuIWxriC5hhv-kfnH0EuS5GIU/s320/Boxing-tent.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246125196388888898" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Sideshow Alley — normally a vacant lot opposite the Oval.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizP4GOD7e7Ai5mvabmMcs2cokf3dwy-JcF_huVj42IMgPve6Ry8z5wY0xQMcZAz5tW1K6rDPmyM8sCT0YWy3t8OFkLHPF8aT9w-MvRuSfbL1lAxQi_wx7DX4yvAc3fVJU3zAHpcd74HO0/s1600-h/outlets.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizP4GOD7e7Ai5mvabmMcs2cokf3dwy-JcF_huVj42IMgPve6Ry8z5wY0xQMcZAz5tW1K6rDPmyM8sCT0YWy3t8OFkLHPF8aT9w-MvRuSfbL1lAxQi_wx7DX4yvAc3fVJU3zAHpcd74HO0/s320/outlets.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246125203878017138" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">How to stand out in a crowd ....<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYjSSlSZ5560OWGQrRQrcA56JJEVlQEW1e1ThGetc5-7jc7NbnjEZEJ7vVic9eS5Mf42JIfie4oq3DIHVtS09J6ZOF4AEx_FZwtmKLKIv1DzmXcZbGmqPxKH5Fr2hNjE0e0WyrOlTqpbg/s1600-h/pub-crowd.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYjSSlSZ5560OWGQrRQrcA56JJEVlQEW1e1ThGetc5-7jc7NbnjEZEJ7vVic9eS5Mf42JIfie4oq3DIHVtS09J6ZOF4AEx_FZwtmKLKIv1DzmXcZbGmqPxKH5Fr2hNjE0e0WyrOlTqpbg/s320/pub-crowd.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246125201242200594" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Welcome to the Birdsville Races!<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdU6lzaLTkNpsRVJkJWikY6EGRTGW5CUsqbYPCogq8hNAFoLjQ39hjP-N9RS2-JzZeMvuWpy8-xMqwMuBsucGPmu0wmY-51dRpmChkdkdVQtH5h81poFptygKAMC1yHWvNg8mfgwZa7E/s1600-h/race-entry.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdU6lzaLTkNpsRVJkJWikY6EGRTGW5CUsqbYPCogq8hNAFoLjQ39hjP-N9RS2-JzZeMvuWpy8-xMqwMuBsucGPmu0wmY-51dRpmChkdkdVQtH5h81poFptygKAMC1yHWvNg8mfgwZa7E/s320/race-entry.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246125202548348258" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Our bookies — Therese and Helen's friends Terry and Effie.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYSmfn3DcCTFTGg9viAT4IVS0uQtscERzxLhqydB4Yz_5Iy9rsh0R20Tcm3l9e0645L_MGemu4VUOPnBoj1zBn4bqg_3rWN0bdh_BMFgjWPwlfgNAjYy86dOS2Tny31Mr-nPaNwnAgRgM/s1600-h/bookies.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYSmfn3DcCTFTGg9viAT4IVS0uQtscERzxLhqydB4Yz_5Iy9rsh0R20Tcm3l9e0645L_MGemu4VUOPnBoj1zBn4bqg_3rWN0bdh_BMFgjWPwlfgNAjYy86dOS2Tny31Mr-nPaNwnAgRgM/s320/bookies.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246128682966255138" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">And the winner is ......<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTLXU1jVCQpgWkLGqUSYDDV02ko8XUQYYTs9apiWMSbDJmrQuioIS04AqS5UJHpYhCAaJZx7IxXWhpxLu9c8JuR08t9Ju5pqpF-wYYzUKdhpTbULDqHwy4yMwZVH5J9WzDJRojTVGegI/s1600-h/yes!.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTLXU1jVCQpgWkLGqUSYDDV02ko8XUQYYTs9apiWMSbDJmrQuioIS04AqS5UJHpYhCAaJZx7IxXWhpxLu9c8JuR08t9Ju5pqpF-wYYzUKdhpTbULDqHwy4yMwZVH5J9WzDJRojTVGegI/s320/yes!.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246128683939996802" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This pair won the Best Dressed Couple in the Fashions in the Field competition.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYwG9iinsOy13UAh3AxjWX6Zwb3FIiBYi35FxcVW_6tmkLPclNdqhJAcqKS7Ae4FLo_feHM98piMCdirAFtajKRgPdkU_cpwO6CLM43bfzDEMn7VXXHuR-_kbvZmP4FRgUX9lRdu2XFM8/s1600-h/best-dressed.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYwG9iinsOy13UAh3AxjWX6Zwb3FIiBYi35FxcVW_6tmkLPclNdqhJAcqKS7Ae4FLo_feHM98piMCdirAFtajKRgPdkU_cpwO6CLM43bfzDEMn7VXXHuR-_kbvZmP4FRgUX9lRdu2XFM8/s320/best-dressed.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246128684346374818" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The caravan park was chockers.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBTjGQS4RkgQXVncxjdP19qfN6Qt-7k-w-_W-GOAy3R6pq1G0-x2G9nBrTsYzYXxAqE3d_ddSfNhqqDE2H38u9fauixdekBYdolpdAxKnysDLsIHtkWIE8okYobyXF0rKE5njFyQP9Kw/s1600-h/caravan-park.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBTjGQS4RkgQXVncxjdP19qfN6Qt-7k-w-_W-GOAy3R6pq1G0-x2G9nBrTsYzYXxAqE3d_ddSfNhqqDE2H38u9fauixdekBYdolpdAxKnysDLsIHtkWIE8okYobyXF0rKE5njFyQP9Kw/s320/caravan-park.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246128685193068802" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">People fly in and camp under their plane's wings.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX-dGZzsVAstrEKrjbAPFmAJ1kT6qEvox4HxuTxGnBXUlC5OMoS98IPSXJ9-GvTpjMVZD83POg45FotdalD8BPcvw4NIq7V3SmOvgkmtCRjAAhuURv3ztTRgskNSEUxDlRKjTYreovIOQ/s1600-h/planes.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX-dGZzsVAstrEKrjbAPFmAJ1kT6qEvox4HxuTxGnBXUlC5OMoS98IPSXJ9-GvTpjMVZD83POg45FotdalD8BPcvw4NIq7V3SmOvgkmtCRjAAhuURv3ztTRgskNSEUxDlRKjTYreovIOQ/s320/planes.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246128690123900770" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Happy Birthday, Dusty! (far right)<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwoMGAMa3v7dkCVLhvZwLO_yVS-Bm3MtQphZ_F5QvzCYHYv0oCD5UgHk3nQTxG-5KdEjGSskHsP9X48RYzRr6S1yfpW18UjQZcmVsQoKS4zZTe9xaqigVMyws1Af-5a_sjbfh6NrK5la0/s1600-h/Dustys-b-day.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwoMGAMa3v7dkCVLhvZwLO_yVS-Bm3MtQphZ_F5QvzCYHYv0oCD5UgHk3nQTxG-5KdEjGSskHsP9X48RYzRr6S1yfpW18UjQZcmVsQoKS4zZTe9xaqigVMyws1Af-5a_sjbfh6NrK5la0/s320/Dustys-b-day.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246132627708021922" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-65262367522145265352008-09-03T22:20:00.000-07:002008-09-03T22:50:04.303-07:00The Races are comingTomorrow is the first day of the Birdsville Races. There are people everywhere and the town is starting to look like Shideshow Alley at the Easter Show. There are all sorts of hot food vans and people selling stuff around the main area of town (adjacent to the Pub and the block up to the Shell servo), the caravan park is totally packed and the areas between the town and the race track are covered with vans and people camping out, especially along the river. The area along the river on the Race course side has lots of yards and camping areas for the horses and trainers. This year, there are 170 horses entered.<br /><br />Fred Brophy's Boxing Tent is set up near the oval opposite the pub, and there is the Nakadoo Rodeo next door, two places you can get yourself seriously hurt for not much money, but very popular nonetheless. The Pub has stripped all its furniture and the wall decorations and is just a large, very crowded barn, and apparently the thing to do is to throw your beercans in the street when you finish with them, and they will get cleaned up at some stage. I'm told the place is awash with beercans by the end of the races.<br /><br />There was a bit of a scare on Saturday, with some unexpected rain, enough to close the Windorah-Birdsville Road until Wednesday, and a radio announcer foolishly quipped "Looks like the Races will be called off again". Several irate local business people, not to mention the head of the Race Committee, immediately rang, and quite a few announcements re the upcoming races went to air over the next couple of days. Meanwhile, the traffic was backed up in Windorah, which is no bigger than Birdsville, with people sleeping in the Community Hall and on verandahs and all over the place. The police at Quilpie (the next town before Windorah) stopped any more people coming, and Quilpie was filling up too. The road was finally opened Wednesday morning, the story being there was a queue of traffic a kilometre long waiting, with Fred Brophy at the head of it.<br /><br />Things have been building up at the Bakery, thousands of pies have been going into the freezers in preparation. A whole bunch of Dusty's friends and relatives have turned up to help out, we were tripping over each other to start with, but now its a well-oiled machine. It was deadly quiet Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday when the crowd started to arrive from Windorah was very busy, and today has been non-stop. We're starting to wonder is we've got enough pies after today's crowds.<br /><br />The TV program <span style="font-style:italic;">Getaway</span> was in this morning to interview Dusty, right in the middle of a rush, it was pretty crazy, but all very exciting. The gang got their T-shirts signed by Dermott.<br /><br />Evan has been entertaining his sister Helen who arrived on Tuesday, I think they've gone off to see some people get thrown off calves .... I have to go back to work, we're doing pizza this evening. I'll get some pics up as soon as I have a chance.Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-16714339234622796092008-08-21T02:09:00.000-07:002008-08-22T00:40:40.944-07:00The wildflowers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipL3VxlPoxKi0EY07ZmNXWsS-hEoqSQ0My9Mv8GiiUd6zZ4ahBEL4-9lqYMtmKN8NgF0yUo1epDpuOUrJNlOkl7yVeRkTiJG_NCzJ-WevM9bZnw-3l3QRFXkgc6fSoDbo_E_kohcfEzZo/s1600-h/Evan-yellowtops.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipL3VxlPoxKi0EY07ZmNXWsS-hEoqSQ0My9Mv8GiiUd6zZ4ahBEL4-9lqYMtmKN8NgF0yUo1epDpuOUrJNlOkl7yVeRkTiJG_NCzJ-WevM9bZnw-3l3QRFXkgc6fSoDbo_E_kohcfEzZo/s320/Evan-yellowtops.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237229704310872498" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Evan stands in a vast expanse of Annual Yellowtops, on the sand dune at the back of the golf course.<br /></span><br />And then the wildflowers came. Whilst fairly modest little flowers in their own right, they appear in such profusion they take your breath away. I have taken hundreds of photos over the last few weeks, every time we go out it seems there are more and more and its always exciting to discover a new one we haven't seen before.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Wild Stocks on top of the sand dune.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhviAmdR_rGcSFZHAIFAqDo5gYAlwp8DNuq2-lXwJmPiLShMAHXA0rvIQYEx7Ze257YXMXd7dxcuUp1rbj3hTBW2V-5xQyTyDyeano79g6F7ovwiZvUubDBLzViLNToReO6Cb3hmHwvUs4/s1600-h/wildflower-sand-dune.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhviAmdR_rGcSFZHAIFAqDo5gYAlwp8DNuq2-lXwJmPiLShMAHXA0rvIQYEx7Ze257YXMXd7dxcuUp1rbj3hTBW2V-5xQyTyDyeano79g6F7ovwiZvUubDBLzViLNToReO6Cb3hmHwvUs4/s320/wildflower-sand-dune.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237229712794913442" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Another shot in the same area.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvLEzl-qF9aE6EoRWdZ9j-6YECGzqvHdCHXWBYCnrZWNlhM_iLsyDXpgMPT4wuqRFMzuZ7_nkcPsRosqzEWRmyUnH00ce8OxzcTfdkxitodG8etHj61pAumEUpmqZSXwrz4ibabambnQ/s1600-h/wildflower-sunset.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvLEzl-qF9aE6EoRWdZ9j-6YECGzqvHdCHXWBYCnrZWNlhM_iLsyDXpgMPT4wuqRFMzuZ7_nkcPsRosqzEWRmyUnH00ce8OxzcTfdkxitodG8etHj61pAumEUpmqZSXwrz4ibabambnQ/s320/wildflower-sunset.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237229720151399074" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">More Yellowtops and Wild Stocks on Pandie Pandie Station, south of Birdsville.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPUZOPB4U_9714L0-Qr9LzHTPcn2cuNhe0T_151qzKzufpgfl8k8naDQKl4lndr2ddGYTAlzPhdCKGPuDxIA-D7e71g6pq7FBLzsCN6Uku9wWvi4-6IZS8N0jmFWHyIa7uX3SpMPy82Q/s1600-h/Pandie-flowers.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPUZOPB4U_9714L0-Qr9LzHTPcn2cuNhe0T_151qzKzufpgfl8k8naDQKl4lndr2ddGYTAlzPhdCKGPuDxIA-D7e71g6pq7FBLzsCN6Uku9wWvi4-6IZS8N0jmFWHyIa7uX3SpMPy82Q/s320/Pandie-flowers.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237229722632990818" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Yellowtops bloom amongst a long dead bush near Andrewilla.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sCPK41eX1wayy62S4LOIaC5sgG1dzH-Ok91YPSy0h2XAF91EUDzAJbip7Q8bGa-BbPgLU-PhyphenhyphensylIm5W8CLZvRrawTUqzmdyi_GsJ33UW2Lbkah15l7zjDtSfR4y63OH-pT0OHVNuWc/s1600-h/yellow-flower&stump.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sCPK41eX1wayy62S4LOIaC5sgG1dzH-Ok91YPSy0h2XAF91EUDzAJbip7Q8bGa-BbPgLU-PhyphenhyphensylIm5W8CLZvRrawTUqzmdyi_GsJ33UW2Lbkah15l7zjDtSfR4y63OH-pT0OHVNuWc/s320/yellow-flower&stump.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237229726240412274" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A photo taken by Evan of a sea of tiny white Minnie Daisies.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySaXS0jnR8bT7A32ZPkh5wCZN4vfWatpAZHpJkopX_5upadKk73kZBioUyiE8MRZ19ttwgo6X87jgvubBd0q9QHu2g6qCYltDZag0PJTCFfsJGOqJNpsd8TdVcd3HeA30gus91p_rr90/s1600-h/white-daisies.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySaXS0jnR8bT7A32ZPkh5wCZN4vfWatpAZHpJkopX_5upadKk73kZBioUyiE8MRZ19ttwgo6X87jgvubBd0q9QHu2g6qCYltDZag0PJTCFfsJGOqJNpsd8TdVcd3HeA30gus91p_rr90/s320/white-daisies.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237230808415606786" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">And a photo taken by Cathy of Evan taking the above pic.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPToZZR_eq46b7bHWGeyRQDjHJ5O360MbrSDTkhqsl1bHQHhL6z_phyphenhyphenkJ7zwtddPyO-TldlGJP4xa_ibJzDXCDlAu8f5VkD5euYLohtKIWv5JlWHYie2-0hXcwLS6bvwioHMxm_66JKA/s1600-h/Evan-in-daisies_CGray.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPToZZR_eq46b7bHWGeyRQDjHJ5O360MbrSDTkhqsl1bHQHhL6z_phyphenhyphenkJ7zwtddPyO-TldlGJP4xa_ibJzDXCDlAu8f5VkD5euYLohtKIWv5JlWHYie2-0hXcwLS6bvwioHMxm_66JKA/s320/Evan-in-daisies_CGray.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237230813551568754" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">These are Poached Egg Daisies, for obvious reasons. This lot came up in our front garden by themselves.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg700PZNH8NsajLioLjY4ez-VVOorym9HQwHHajFuup5kjgn3a3SOLTQb-Rf5qxW76RtCl88hb-eptaZPFUyTPbqSl79hfN2kJW7uacEF_JSI73Xsr2UppwtoN1PV7QSxMmSYb8U406LX0/s1600-h/poached-egg-daisies.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg700PZNH8NsajLioLjY4ez-VVOorym9HQwHHajFuup5kjgn3a3SOLTQb-Rf5qxW76RtCl88hb-eptaZPFUyTPbqSl79hfN2kJW7uacEF_JSI73Xsr2UppwtoN1PV7QSxMmSYb8U406LX0/s320/poached-egg-daisies.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237230815517653138" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Dwarf Swainsona. The wildflowers seem to come in yellow, white, and more rarely, purple/pink/mauve.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBpIUoxv_LboI_b_bjy_J3wTmK9YbCayaNomiyT6HhmQKQEqALbq372iBsa483bDMVlFc0SqaqBpDS0z2KrHlzyZbKoSmzuTl2sm61rKcbGatE7YXfSJNfOj3vmdL_n3dudoWAlE1Rm8/s1600-h/pink-peas.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBpIUoxv_LboI_b_bjy_J3wTmK9YbCayaNomiyT6HhmQKQEqALbq372iBsa483bDMVlFc0SqaqBpDS0z2KrHlzyZbKoSmzuTl2sm61rKcbGatE7YXfSJNfOj3vmdL_n3dudoWAlE1Rm8/s320/pink-peas.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237232104000597074" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Except for this alien-looking one, Cunningham's Rattlepod.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ1RauYORGCP_vJ7zwENhb1zLfDj-3cuoU5wdkRStl8nDsUMpKO8s2H-lCVtWyC59KoF_lv-tUIvQXwXVsSYW8hE1894-mPu-web19decWrRvCIyz7d9tD_PiL6z0e67r9x3XhNo1QzmI/s1600-h/rattlepod.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ1RauYORGCP_vJ7zwENhb1zLfDj-3cuoU5wdkRStl8nDsUMpKO8s2H-lCVtWyC59KoF_lv-tUIvQXwXVsSYW8hE1894-mPu-web19decWrRvCIyz7d9tD_PiL6z0e67r9x3XhNo1QzmI/s320/rattlepod.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237230819739353970" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Another weird one, I'm not sure it counts as a wildflower, but came up as a result of the rain so I've included it. I think it is a variety of Samphire, we saw it near Lake Machattie, north of Birdsville.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS64P2BehK8-_OtZkKbpsOc1DvkxEzCd6TL8r9LuDPfrLAoxq5l0wABJ5J6B2XNaNcebtSTm3WFW_nKC8JXqvdICL0JntV43DS2yw1Losc3CminSK8k6QfN-726CaRYtkiEHhA46n1U8E/s1600-h/samphire.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS64P2BehK8-_OtZkKbpsOc1DvkxEzCd6TL8r9LuDPfrLAoxq5l0wABJ5J6B2XNaNcebtSTm3WFW_nKC8JXqvdICL0JntV43DS2yw1Losc3CminSK8k6QfN-726CaRYtkiEHhA46n1U8E/s320/samphire.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237232103365813186" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This one REALLY doesn't count, as it has been nurtured very carefully since it was a seed by Dusty and has pride of place in front of the Bakery.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKAL0iuTqBR8YJlNf1uAXM03wJZE725uqPCOinOf7dxVRLLXr3yo1_eKWlVTtzpsVTjoZPEnoaxBZU9I4uinP7l190gZjP6VP2U5uasRukD-Fp9itvQ4J6yG-hWAn_XmpklOjuQWK76M/s1600-h/desert-peas.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKAL0iuTqBR8YJlNf1uAXM03wJZE725uqPCOinOf7dxVRLLXr3yo1_eKWlVTtzpsVTjoZPEnoaxBZU9I4uinP7l190gZjP6VP2U5uasRukD-Fp9itvQ4J6yG-hWAn_XmpklOjuQWK76M/s320/desert-peas.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237232105534931426" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-85917667285447517832008-08-20T23:27:00.000-07:002008-08-21T02:02:12.227-07:00The Greening of the Desert<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4phVnh4NRjKQbEPeP_LWh-3sc0f-xSAVX4vDab2MzI8TICvnmhgyRw5_ibQhNeEiJFbPd5ujY8SfZPiX6RQO_Cl4q4yWfHAdKr26FzkVruk70VIN8lriPPJMEhNMdBwDFLuCv-F9NKzE/s1600-h/truckie_Bedourie-Rd.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4phVnh4NRjKQbEPeP_LWh-3sc0f-xSAVX4vDab2MzI8TICvnmhgyRw5_ibQhNeEiJFbPd5ujY8SfZPiX6RQO_Cl4q4yWfHAdKr26FzkVruk70VIN8lriPPJMEhNMdBwDFLuCv-F9NKzE/s320/truckie_Bedourie-Rd.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236880223441122610" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The bare brown plains along Bedourie Road start to get a green tinge.<br /></span><br />Just to backtrack a bit, here are some pics showing the receding of the floodwaters from the rain in early June, and the green carpet that has appeared, slowly covering the usually red-brown sand, gibbers and dunes. It's taken almost three months for the first of the wildflowers to appear (coming soon), and in the meantime, the roads have been a dodgy prospect. Even after the roads were re-opened to traffic there was still a lot of water around, the Birdsville Track in particular became badly chopped up, and there were quite a few rescues of vehicles stuck in the mud. The cardinal rule is to stay in the middle of the road, no matter how much water there may be on it. Generally the roads have a hard gravel base, and venturing off the road into the soft mud shoulders is much more hazardous.<br /><br />Gradually the water has been drying out, and the landscape has been getting greener and greener. It's hard to remember how arid and bare it was when we first arrived, but the constant amazement of the tourists coming through the Bakery is a regular reminder.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A small lake formed at the base of a sand dune along the road to Big Red. We saw three black swans near here.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMKk8epPozvJRVJzBxvLmdi536uVIflTWY9gNTRRlg4nYqQnn62VBf9AEqT8o5UXSn9R-GkXkDkRpIUMncay6nI5QNfOEOcNW9bxXKQOaKYEDzqx6UYzYEIXCSqu-XuwfM_E3nJ47AYe0/s1600-h/waterhole-sunset.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMKk8epPozvJRVJzBxvLmdi536uVIflTWY9gNTRRlg4nYqQnn62VBf9AEqT8o5UXSn9R-GkXkDkRpIUMncay6nI5QNfOEOcNW9bxXKQOaKYEDzqx6UYzYEIXCSqu-XuwfM_E3nJ47AYe0/s320/waterhole-sunset.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236880228108952738" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This is the road adjacent to the pic above.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1B7IKFgglgXiW8FILyl95ikmhPzFODMt3QoKignVypk1CpHGZEaBeid3ITXk4UvNE37KzzVf9intH8Cw_HToY8cJsLsnH3L26YZXVcI0sIQPD9A9OUlX7M23Xt_jkvfl3-KgoVM-SMgc/s1600-h/boggy-road-to-BR.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1B7IKFgglgXiW8FILyl95ikmhPzFODMt3QoKignVypk1CpHGZEaBeid3ITXk4UvNE37KzzVf9intH8Cw_HToY8cJsLsnH3L26YZXVcI0sIQPD9A9OUlX7M23Xt_jkvfl3-KgoVM-SMgc/s320/boggy-road-to-BR.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236880235377151506" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">More water along the Big Red road.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jTi12sLFQ8_s3VUF8wxqsJsYbySFa_O2PXu4H5-BLizygpM2Zvk7hQNsVgsjpu3XQMGbka6mjMpzPmqVjIrfG1PhtvjvLDegKVnbn65plu_vcTX83x4rfmDv6J0AeZnDzlhBi87NR-k/s1600-h/BR-roadside-water.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jTi12sLFQ8_s3VUF8wxqsJsYbySFa_O2PXu4H5-BLizygpM2Zvk7hQNsVgsjpu3XQMGbka6mjMpzPmqVjIrfG1PhtvjvLDegKVnbn65plu_vcTX83x4rfmDv6J0AeZnDzlhBi87NR-k/s320/BR-roadside-water.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236880239577951730" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">These primordal-looking creatures appeared in the water. The locals call them shellbacks.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxFyBrk9qzfcUhJJDKc5MtazTsV7-i1j1BWrhLbB-c4iQy0IShCzaCWZqIfQkuc8zOCvWqGdeK7RiWsFWYRhLkhyphenhyphent59j7_gdsrY7nBv2iYFBUzSXrAPLAKAa7O09jIuRPN7VzPXzkQz9c/s1600-h/shellbacks.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxFyBrk9qzfcUhJJDKc5MtazTsV7-i1j1BWrhLbB-c4iQy0IShCzaCWZqIfQkuc8zOCvWqGdeK7RiWsFWYRhLkhyphenhyphent59j7_gdsrY7nBv2iYFBUzSXrAPLAKAa7O09jIuRPN7VzPXzkQz9c/s320/shellbacks.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236880237445851682" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Dusty from the Bakery in his desert rescue hat. This vehicle burnt out its clutch and had to be towed back to Birdsville.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtWK6PI-K3hhRedMd3d_EbrFY5eiN12g6nbNhDF8PGUoMdhaxNQzOhQzsEMzastt0EbNupsMFNt6edXApa6CmUjlnGJFVGcJtLKmlXOVHU6uPY47NJqKPim1g6Xkj7yji2HaLblSGxRls/s1600-h/dusty-towing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtWK6PI-K3hhRedMd3d_EbrFY5eiN12g6nbNhDF8PGUoMdhaxNQzOhQzsEMzastt0EbNupsMFNt6edXApa6CmUjlnGJFVGcJtLKmlXOVHU6uPY47NJqKPim1g6Xkj7yji2HaLblSGxRls/s320/dusty-towing.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236881277165546354" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Birdsville Track all chopped up from traffic after the rain. It has since been graded.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYrcmtXvSxFpfHLaPO3G7filiX3pes9_jOZ59djID0NT9xgbAIxP61QPa3yzhnol67fb3euuUqyXEfsAfP7I4yvo2HYx332a0JdLByyYUjpoW2e0hrBkHHrzdmlEfZoihwO-AdhQA-T20/s1600-h/Birdsville-Rut.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYrcmtXvSxFpfHLaPO3G7filiX3pes9_jOZ59djID0NT9xgbAIxP61QPa3yzhnol67fb3euuUqyXEfsAfP7I4yvo2HYx332a0JdLByyYUjpoW2e0hrBkHHrzdmlEfZoihwO-AdhQA-T20/s320/Birdsville-Rut.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236881268238645266" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Ben the baker broke the rule and went round the boggy patch on the road. He had to be pulled out.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Bcrm4FRDtlHVelceHk583gNK4QMM_-5dIucPjVzqEazWr6pqOQfgPErg4mtstP4N3zqkxTRsEr7wBhjIRiji_RoAWGUwQNYAdq1Dg33FTfURKMU0VToWQWGa7j9Ui-zu8AKLq4j_rgg/s1600-h/ben-bogged.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Bcrm4FRDtlHVelceHk583gNK4QMM_-5dIucPjVzqEazWr6pqOQfgPErg4mtstP4N3zqkxTRsEr7wBhjIRiji_RoAWGUwQNYAdq1Dg33FTfURKMU0VToWQWGa7j9Ui-zu8AKLq4j_rgg/s320/ben-bogged.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236881271532886210" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A green sprout appears among the gibbers on Bedourie Road.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMdukp6wOdRGc32li3nCQlQVsJgG4JhXCEBqVu2pQn-np44Y3toA6phhIaqi1nY0_LIvO6lPw-ESh4rw-ZB14iEoEMq6Ww6DxAWy5a6ii0l_VtOL9lvIa0YbR-8_4_-YvRe0jnaax31ts/s1600-h/sprout&gibbers.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMdukp6wOdRGc32li3nCQlQVsJgG4JhXCEBqVu2pQn-np44Y3toA6phhIaqi1nY0_LIvO6lPw-ESh4rw-ZB14iEoEMq6Ww6DxAWy5a6ii0l_VtOL9lvIa0YbR-8_4_-YvRe0jnaax31ts/s320/sprout&gibbers.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236881276390644258" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Green sprouts start multiplying everywhere.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK1_ZYpL3Y621b1G3eSfJq6SeFilb0wHAR55Zqu1v9G3TkKFcsXtLjNRe46yAwiemSRRdDu_1tpd3M5cssqH_-REu2rfrHI0xMD9T_JlXMkXIyzmMuRg32vneP7d2eDkJ01A1aZrrI5Ys/s1600-h/green-sprouts.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK1_ZYpL3Y621b1G3eSfJq6SeFilb0wHAR55Zqu1v9G3TkKFcsXtLjNRe46yAwiemSRRdDu_1tpd3M5cssqH_-REu2rfrHI0xMD9T_JlXMkXIyzmMuRg32vneP7d2eDkJ01A1aZrrI5Ys/s320/green-sprouts.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236883807585782466" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A green strip along the water line out from the Dingo Caves.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3SA9Ghw7c0LK-DECk9Gwgsf-SC6SznRtuPBQyz0ukqgFrs1wdkRX7otk7rotPVVrMfy8k-5VT9SJFPt_KnkS2-OS-4aYZMid9FtJmtUadz2X8IvK5cyZQjVgBawxfPzv6r8adC1FmZVA/s1600-h/greening-Dingo-Caves.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3SA9Ghw7c0LK-DECk9Gwgsf-SC6SznRtuPBQyz0ukqgFrs1wdkRX7otk7rotPVVrMfy8k-5VT9SJFPt_KnkS2-OS-4aYZMid9FtJmtUadz2X8IvK5cyZQjVgBawxfPzv6r8adC1FmZVA/s320/greening-Dingo-Caves.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236881280763424114" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Inside Track greens up.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeUQQP9-3CjWVK9iPP1jT4N39k9e87yVED7w-45s1WC8OWR5AZMXNsE7qMzIHM_vvhr5sFiZHBmuLiOyJiiH-myj9F04sO0oy4cLEDkBbs2NMavOeTwF3AKkP7zSdrjhLyXNdISgTVw5U/s1600-h/road-&-greenery.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeUQQP9-3CjWVK9iPP1jT4N39k9e87yVED7w-45s1WC8OWR5AZMXNsE7qMzIHM_vvhr5sFiZHBmuLiOyJiiH-myj9F04sO0oy4cLEDkBbs2NMavOeTwF3AKkP7zSdrjhLyXNdISgTVw5U/s320/road-&-greenery.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236883094617070370" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">And this is just unbelievable. This lush meadow is on the normally sparse banks of the Diamantina River south of Birdsville.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYL6-MB03EMGYtsuVLyP_karUqMRnzqqpTG5uB6J0Uc7lN3eKOSD2Eln8AYVNTBZsdJkuQo7yqwJJQQe7i75JECzDf-AzrCeHM4gem24SkfwnC_d2l3Uh0-i7zch0mvAGNxAuVnZ0TcuY/s1600-h/river-meadow.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYL6-MB03EMGYtsuVLyP_karUqMRnzqqpTG5uB6J0Uc7lN3eKOSD2Eln8AYVNTBZsdJkuQo7yqwJJQQe7i75JECzDf-AzrCeHM4gem24SkfwnC_d2l3Uh0-i7zch0mvAGNxAuVnZ0TcuY/s320/river-meadow.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236883099584139202" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-40880945143896526172008-08-16T21:38:00.000-07:002008-08-16T22:23:30.429-07:00Big Skies and Sunsets ....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjprjIFChOy3b9H0ve6EKvtyNHPpc5cSgEZfufivy9IQGJCuxXyCKlYY-XL6ov2NtBeX1S9Ipn3qGY20Ht9IujXmNOFucy-tfdD6w2fiTlsvH5cTNW7Ti121yYkkerPg3lmD7s0vo2ZBcg/s1600-h/truckasaurus-sunset.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjprjIFChOy3b9H0ve6EKvtyNHPpc5cSgEZfufivy9IQGJCuxXyCKlYY-XL6ov2NtBeX1S9Ipn3qGY20Ht9IujXmNOFucy-tfdD6w2fiTlsvH5cTNW7Ti121yYkkerPg3lmD7s0vo2ZBcg/s320/truckasaurus-sunset.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235342116277540786" /></a><br /><br />.... And the odd sunrise and moonrise. Just a collection of photos of this endlessly fascinating part of the world. The pic below is the only one where I've fiddled with the colour to add some light to the front of the stove, all others are unretouched. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Bedourie Road. The stove was there originally (don't ask me why) and the other bits have been added gradually since.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieN4gYjJgbE9eFWcB3lNBV6x8OsnNeUqog4WYFgtbwYfVzwQcfYNGdCpWz8WsekyzSi5rxj36J2fWLbFC9ptg8Ay-eBALAFXasYZ7O0hQyh4wI-JoJKjvuHEMPwuf4f3kRYrQu3EW1lxY/s1600-h/bbq-dreaming.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieN4gYjJgbE9eFWcB3lNBV6x8OsnNeUqog4WYFgtbwYfVzwQcfYNGdCpWz8WsekyzSi5rxj36J2fWLbFC9ptg8Ay-eBALAFXasYZ7O0hQyh4wI-JoJKjvuHEMPwuf4f3kRYrQu3EW1lxY/s320/bbq-dreaming.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235342113994696834" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Bedourie Road. The sun is so low, it shines under the car ...<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGsF5ypk_9iBuyj2tJfN7xiNGp1ajoOVeU_ewS5ltqq84Xa3kR6E8HeZzmDTPuhQFVD37-o-WC7xct0m-O5gWFuOkwSz5j0VrW-JmOr__HKBASnZ_KDeSdtSAwBJ3VBTI9Ygg1GwAaAU0/s1600-h/car-shadow.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGsF5ypk_9iBuyj2tJfN7xiNGp1ajoOVeU_ewS5ltqq84Xa3kR6E8HeZzmDTPuhQFVD37-o-WC7xct0m-O5gWFuOkwSz5j0VrW-JmOr__HKBASnZ_KDeSdtSAwBJ3VBTI9Ygg1GwAaAU0/s320/car-shadow.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235342115204778866" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The following three were all taken last night at the Dingo Caves, where the moonrise was followed by a spectacular sunset.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhButgGtTmkFXsMsXc-u1clpcCg_kdRzS8zNnKUxvQI5e7CFzIuVye2o3IV1L0brvH5PBvp8wsG0VgpiiGBw8jdTBhDAu4ZRB5cNttEUar-VLo9OJcvlAVcAWarn_P08y2vLHluci4mrFM/s1600-h/full-moon-dingo-caves.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhButgGtTmkFXsMsXc-u1clpcCg_kdRzS8zNnKUxvQI5e7CFzIuVye2o3IV1L0brvH5PBvp8wsG0VgpiiGBw8jdTBhDAu4ZRB5cNttEUar-VLo9OJcvlAVcAWarn_P08y2vLHluci4mrFM/s320/full-moon-dingo-caves.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235345240693933522" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_hKVlPkfnSeZLZszgRObOibnLeRFrLpnwW0qP2Nm5Si6d6ODhqLI-XDNsR7wjUqBLpaIgKiF-TCXqeTM3pf2zl3BH1qEzs7u_pXgOWzDfxgOeSoZjmqxP0UJ-b8ecpxSgoxRCpWts6o/s1600-h/dingo-caves-080816.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_hKVlPkfnSeZLZszgRObOibnLeRFrLpnwW0qP2Nm5Si6d6ODhqLI-XDNsR7wjUqBLpaIgKiF-TCXqeTM3pf2zl3BH1qEzs7u_pXgOWzDfxgOeSoZjmqxP0UJ-b8ecpxSgoxRCpWts6o/s320/dingo-caves-080816.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235342121743810914" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_s8I7Ol_tmp5tL5TQIH727Ww4goKhmHUfAo1Wpo4fvPiJOCukRjRRPpNh0YhSwGSmFnrkMtDFp2Aa5eqh17XPDVCgyLQhi5WtFdE3R6vZ60Q4vqUOW6MZyqBGS6fAUNXvcWWxQVGe1Lg/s1600-h/dingo-caves2-080816.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_s8I7Ol_tmp5tL5TQIH727Ww4goKhmHUfAo1Wpo4fvPiJOCukRjRRPpNh0YhSwGSmFnrkMtDFp2Aa5eqh17XPDVCgyLQhi5WtFdE3R6vZ60Q4vqUOW6MZyqBGS6fAUNXvcWWxQVGe1Lg/s320/dingo-caves2-080816.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235342117847462018" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A gibber plain about 90 kms south of Birdsville just off the Birdsville Track. That's Evan on the horizon.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9nzGoz0gx6I0YtlwDohfyy6daTPfC-I24DpTx0II6HzNSoVhDMTr6zEelEl6qZBDxYMeypQadq3LsTopXwjdNaF9ZEYn_Bmit_dWcmHWatU2QJKdJDRgU9oJHvig6MQYMzixixe7ejMU/s1600-h/gibbers.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9nzGoz0gx6I0YtlwDohfyy6daTPfC-I24DpTx0II6HzNSoVhDMTr6zEelEl6qZBDxYMeypQadq3LsTopXwjdNaF9ZEYn_Bmit_dWcmHWatU2QJKdJDRgU9oJHvig6MQYMzixixe7ejMU/s320/gibbers.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235345240785923506" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A couple of really nice cloud pics out along the Bedourie Road again. Evan calls this bit "the surface of the moon".<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-1XgtRgWJ8YNHhcxaq-hAvNd4mhgCxQtegZLGB2sr5BiAl-ZRAC7bdn8xRsWtp2KePJkQAmhp2QaY2ef-lSvpM5Ej3TSfKaCVmWosSjrxaonTsKaa7Ttc1nd0iLVp57h3BYaJZHqoCDw/s1600-h/moon-surface.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-1XgtRgWJ8YNHhcxaq-hAvNd4mhgCxQtegZLGB2sr5BiAl-ZRAC7bdn8xRsWtp2KePJkQAmhp2QaY2ef-lSvpM5Ej3TSfKaCVmWosSjrxaonTsKaa7Ttc1nd0iLVp57h3BYaJZHqoCDw/s320/moon-surface.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235345242633059922" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU70odfrohM5N0k4Nq0vu6v1jNziQS5I1VJ5ZFnj0xfQ5bVDxngjPJWTdV0TByQJtg8TTEjfD9ZT-pY1Ke-SnhfA_DTTUoLoRtnuN5V2yn7iB6n8wdfj8CfkTg62KLnuc4MHLfJXMRXDM/s1600-h/pink-clouds.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU70odfrohM5N0k4Nq0vu6v1jNziQS5I1VJ5ZFnj0xfQ5bVDxngjPJWTdV0TByQJtg8TTEjfD9ZT-pY1Ke-SnhfA_DTTUoLoRtnuN5V2yn7iB6n8wdfj8CfkTg62KLnuc4MHLfJXMRXDM/s320/pink-clouds.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235345246931817538" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Another sunset at the Dingo Caves. This is called "raised dust". <br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDXdb7MfM65V88Tw5hRrTvWZASBRVBVX0FGrclTalEnKdUDhI78Mw5h6ysSE5ToH0mOs_7_eglhFgyWwkuIh8uuK6_cAyqua2cd9CB-xlmIBrPat_bJj_iHXfMWa1OY-oYHnCm7s5Nyw/s1600-h/raised-dust.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDXdb7MfM65V88Tw5hRrTvWZASBRVBVX0FGrclTalEnKdUDhI78Mw5h6ysSE5ToH0mOs_7_eglhFgyWwkuIh8uuK6_cAyqua2cd9CB-xlmIBrPat_bJj_iHXfMWa1OY-oYHnCm7s5Nyw/s320/raised-dust.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235349032159813890" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A sunrise from outside our unit.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiarH2I26yaDeqpP-zBDrxNlHEPFLLiS3grstFgzlw50ESXI69tb0q0dobRzQmoxUuLbktYf1z6VpeR6iTVRINBwVKjC823zxVi5ZYPDZ2gKB4ZqhANSFKOwGFL7oZlaLZ5h-97qp9stW8/s1600-h/sunrise-220508.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiarH2I26yaDeqpP-zBDrxNlHEPFLLiS3grstFgzlw50ESXI69tb0q0dobRzQmoxUuLbktYf1z6VpeR6iTVRINBwVKjC823zxVi5ZYPDZ2gKB4ZqhANSFKOwGFL7oZlaLZ5h-97qp9stW8/s320/sunrise-220508.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235349028653488626" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The following two were taken the same evening at the playground across the street.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuHYrDLnKoesS-0KXFaagDgjgvC_sg-BqOBhyphenhyphenNVDz-70FgA7fwjJ2HDA-b0OFj-SLP1NMBTOhsdgMeHEX0hMXa28C0fyNbx4cGfsccsc1WlbEnCNawxQ9PhkXuEaNtJ6H8goUNb76kMA/s1600-h/playground.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuHYrDLnKoesS-0KXFaagDgjgvC_sg-BqOBhyphenhyphenNVDz-70FgA7fwjJ2HDA-b0OFj-SLP1NMBTOhsdgMeHEX0hMXa28C0fyNbx4cGfsccsc1WlbEnCNawxQ9PhkXuEaNtJ6H8goUNb76kMA/s320/playground.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235349033123622114" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-cTcd1EEthckfSCPgreGUunsLL9x6gaTbV7Ap4MguD86lpVpUJNGRTXWByxXmuNzjbYfsKWygszGAe04-xQADrjGW86PmWPCQiGnpO5xCLlu-K9wKUlisGvv8VQ1JHJSfT5mkseCw5Vw/s1600-h/sunset-playground.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-cTcd1EEthckfSCPgreGUunsLL9x6gaTbV7Ap4MguD86lpVpUJNGRTXWByxXmuNzjbYfsKWygszGAe04-xQADrjGW86PmWPCQiGnpO5xCLlu-K9wKUlisGvv8VQ1JHJSfT5mkseCw5Vw/s320/sunset-playground.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235349036756591218" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Clouds do make for a very spectacular sunset ....<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNaW7_O2OjDtnAGTdWXQCzW14wl43A1LX64JNrCooTfQf3DXGIIqmCd6YnYt-NiXJoqr-mgsmEjDWTYyrZYfNRweIn8UMmD2Rtii9FTbg2WlYOaaqu7rmT2PQplUm7K_1E8nH82XtZthc/s1600-h/tennis-sunset.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNaW7_O2OjDtnAGTdWXQCzW14wl43A1LX64JNrCooTfQf3DXGIIqmCd6YnYt-NiXJoqr-mgsmEjDWTYyrZYfNRweIn8UMmD2Rtii9FTbg2WlYOaaqu7rmT2PQplUm7K_1E8nH82XtZthc/s320/tennis-sunset.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235349033003320946" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This is a vapour trail from some plane far overhead. <br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiE13OQdj_GDw_WZ0qFbVdPrJ4duevDMZzFx99S3pRofE_RvBOuaHOJEtfKwV6aQr2dcbK7voCb82ZvIc0csJ9AvWZ82vkB92emfr2f-cT0ROqr5g4NtMFWnhB2mKeWIgaAwvXgxK9LlM/s1600-h/tree-silhouette.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiE13OQdj_GDw_WZ0qFbVdPrJ4duevDMZzFx99S3pRofE_RvBOuaHOJEtfKwV6aQr2dcbK7voCb82ZvIc0csJ9AvWZ82vkB92emfr2f-cT0ROqr5g4NtMFWnhB2mKeWIgaAwvXgxK9LlM/s320/tree-silhouette.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235349327247236738" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-60857700919699695052008-08-14T01:11:00.000-07:002008-08-22T00:37:26.799-07:00Meanwhile, back at the ranch ...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9edxOVB4ekz1Ftv6xZtdHUmOSshQ8pgVx4-vLYwfbYUdIPSzgy50Lp9NPKMyLXOJmGoTDgZ-KS6tmwDPVNq5xttIGsq8TM71WlvlDBciIVcmKJofTolLpq479_oEdHXSjuHwOrdLmi4Y/s1600-h/Mum&Lyn_pub.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9edxOVB4ekz1Ftv6xZtdHUmOSshQ8pgVx4-vLYwfbYUdIPSzgy50Lp9NPKMyLXOJmGoTDgZ-KS6tmwDPVNq5xttIGsq8TM71WlvlDBciIVcmKJofTolLpq479_oEdHXSjuHwOrdLmi4Y/s320/Mum&Lyn_pub.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234308894157578162" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Me with my sister Lyn and mum Yvonne doing the tourist thing outside the Birdsville Pub. Photo by Evan.<br /></span><br /><br />I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted, it's been very busy here. There's been school holidays and the main tourist season is kicking in, making hours in the Bakery much longer, plus we've had visitors! My sister Lyn and mum Yvonne drove up from Smithtown, just north of Port Macquarie, a huge 2,000 km (each way!) drive, and a week later Evan's mum Carroll and our good friend Cathy flew in from Canberra and Sydney, respectively.<br /><br />We've really enjoyed having family and friend(s) here, and being able to show them around — it's hard to explain what it is about Birdsville that makes it such an interesting place to be, its not just the scenery but the whole atmosphere. To quote Cathy, who emailed after she returned to Sydney, she had "Big Skies and Sunsets in my head for days afterwards". <br /><br />We did the usual touristy things like the sunset champagne on Big Red and the Dingo Caves, beers at the pub and of course, coffee and pies (and pizza) at the Bakery. Lyn was lucky enough to be able to go on a plane flight to see from the air what a difference the rain has made to the place, and we went for picnic lunch to the Andrewilla Waterhole with Cathy and Carroll, about 80 kms down the Inside Track, a very beautiful drive through sand dunes with wildflowers all around. Just walking around and taking in the vast open spaces and quiet is an experience in itself, and there's no shortage of those.<br /><br />PS Its VERY cold here at the moment — and I thought Birdsville was supposed to be hot ...<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Sunset viewing with the tourists at Big Red. Note clothing — its freezing!<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rtjQhapIDF3ADZ6t26TlNV8jC3P4aClHTlQCooexjb8T5vbhjT5U2ev7NOPLwIKxGneZxLuOd-babG3ru7IHwI8WwPPyCp6meyB89y6goqd81yme_jIeTXvDAjbqqPO54ezfD0V6Vpc/s1600-h/Mum&Lun-at-BR.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rtjQhapIDF3ADZ6t26TlNV8jC3P4aClHTlQCooexjb8T5vbhjT5U2ev7NOPLwIKxGneZxLuOd-babG3ru7IHwI8WwPPyCp6meyB89y6goqd81yme_jIeTXvDAjbqqPO54ezfD0V6Vpc/s320/Mum&Lun-at-BR.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234308900961601890" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Over Birdsville — the billabong has lots of water in it at the moment.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPaLLoj7bRAmKcliMC-JXiqhq1CtjbeRyfz-wlOeXnFK3_EK3frhmzxMBA9Yv0cfcOYBOcXWqFWm2uLYTE281LlyB_L3SwTlTndu9GPAgmtDxdVxBBei7LBWZM5ilVQ6FjySyHRyvMCk/s1600-h/over-Birdsville.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPaLLoj7bRAmKcliMC-JXiqhq1CtjbeRyfz-wlOeXnFK3_EK3frhmzxMBA9Yv0cfcOYBOcXWqFWm2uLYTE281LlyB_L3SwTlTndu9GPAgmtDxdVxBBei7LBWZM5ilVQ6FjySyHRyvMCk/s320/over-Birdsville.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234308902616229746" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">About 100 km north of Birdsville.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisPHCu8Z5-vsT_z8cL1zXA-3MOWn5rrCsO5pM4Oq0Be3HOGL7roHal-XLdW_iK0PFcGGd9GnDPreSqChfGX-RD42isjDehvzVmLnTfmSdl3BncV4-YZpBnrOwDb_8SAxu44pdTPSKNrjw/s1600-h/green-nth-of-Bville.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisPHCu8Z5-vsT_z8cL1zXA-3MOWn5rrCsO5pM4Oq0Be3HOGL7roHal-XLdW_iK0PFcGGd9GnDPreSqChfGX-RD42isjDehvzVmLnTfmSdl3BncV4-YZpBnrOwDb_8SAxu44pdTPSKNrjw/s320/green-nth-of-Bville.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234308907091041074" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The floodwaters surround a dam.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixIqWsIcSo-f4K_IUIJTy10rgsfcwnfq4WTay6_SsHQ2kLyDfZWYUDOP3CdttlbTbYG0OKGRtFTwIN8ssdo4QAGjrq7ZiLyVuWSDlCr-DdbF1YKOt5VCLz5c-EbT-KzPsvvuuLHMQs27g/s1600-h/drowned-dam.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixIqWsIcSo-f4K_IUIJTy10rgsfcwnfq4WTay6_SsHQ2kLyDfZWYUDOP3CdttlbTbYG0OKGRtFTwIN8ssdo4QAGjrq7ZiLyVuWSDlCr-DdbF1YKOt5VCLz5c-EbT-KzPsvvuuLHMQs27g/s320/drowned-dam.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234308908812081010" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Pizza round the fire at the Bakery — the warmest place in town. Photo by Cathy.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjx02hrEPIpxu7-HQUvvzNljd_VwSwpUSMTm3SjC17Ddf_kxISgvBdayriRrkQU5WGNHganCqJVZzaFS8WXC58oklsQHXRraWr7QGUSTV_fWX_kmrHjwv99XMDyzqDwRAXy2Yq1kfbso/s1600-h/pizza-night_CG.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjx02hrEPIpxu7-HQUvvzNljd_VwSwpUSMTm3SjC17Ddf_kxISgvBdayriRrkQU5WGNHganCqJVZzaFS8WXC58oklsQHXRraWr7QGUSTV_fWX_kmrHjwv99XMDyzqDwRAXy2Yq1kfbso/s320/pizza-night_CG.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234309786909954642" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Lunch at Andrewilla Waterhole with Cathy and Carroll.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJNXdS2JUjy7ywKnvJpzJ86sJBC5IdcU_qJPptiMAkLepHALd3_sWlfwBFQGQ96i5WDMDHbwap4nXdkCxrHFQTN2zRNCiO_-vn0ThWIP4rK411vtPR8pqFlPPTLicRx7YxUFI5wlqDwE/s1600-h/Andrewilla-lunch.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJNXdS2JUjy7ywKnvJpzJ86sJBC5IdcU_qJPptiMAkLepHALd3_sWlfwBFQGQ96i5WDMDHbwap4nXdkCxrHFQTN2zRNCiO_-vn0ThWIP4rK411vtPR8pqFlPPTLicRx7YxUFI5wlqDwE/s320/Andrewilla-lunch.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234309789256626338" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">We found the lasers! We'll be back for sailing when the weather's warmer.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnYU0h2GrI4n0T3FzvcXSHNK8GDx1AAL1H77Lh29TSw7rMr4EpgyUoRTQHTZKFgaS7tBLLOKne4eRrkg3QpsC74WiTYWVe_YYDCgguEuS23_AL8BjnPd7X9Z7_MADeWjsgFfF2urH7DSE/s1600-h/lasers-Andrewilla.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnYU0h2GrI4n0T3FzvcXSHNK8GDx1AAL1H77Lh29TSw7rMr4EpgyUoRTQHTZKFgaS7tBLLOKne4eRrkg3QpsC74WiTYWVe_YYDCgguEuS23_AL8BjnPd7X9Z7_MADeWjsgFfF2urH7DSE/s320/lasers-Andrewilla.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234309790658567314" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Near Andrewilla — wildflowers everywhere.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8UmkFJWBnhd9zmGs4MlEFBKQYFLRJ-ybSKY5AajN-muYGTzGFKn-LzRjjZFq1wP5U_PiD5HwmKrkHHxUg4ZqIyUbvae13Nyz64WFiWSjYWIyGJMX6jc26quFWV6-CVOI0uPX1b8MRI0Q/s1600-h/truckie-at-Andrewilla.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8UmkFJWBnhd9zmGs4MlEFBKQYFLRJ-ybSKY5AajN-muYGTzGFKn-LzRjjZFq1wP5U_PiD5HwmKrkHHxUg4ZqIyUbvae13Nyz64WFiWSjYWIyGJMX6jc26quFWV6-CVOI0uPX1b8MRI0Q/s320/truckie-at-Andrewilla.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234309796059658370" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Cathy and Carroll heading off on the Macair plane. That blur near the back of the plane is a fly.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhijK3qvYci6DH_8aSPg6RL64-0Mw1e0RESLbwXYAKfgZ89pZReErGFmtMGgD57vbnv5kIQ53GRD9SHfNiWSgv_VpDgq73RLEdDjv42g8-sSquNJoshBWiCjVGfI2Pd_p1eJVlrN_M3VcA/s1600-h/macair.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhijK3qvYci6DH_8aSPg6RL64-0Mw1e0RESLbwXYAKfgZ89pZReErGFmtMGgD57vbnv5kIQ53GRD9SHfNiWSgv_VpDgq73RLEdDjv42g8-sSquNJoshBWiCjVGfI2Pd_p1eJVlrN_M3VcA/s320/macair.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234640949429941634" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-61002319170550031382008-07-02T21:44:00.000-07:002008-07-03T22:21:49.513-07:00Logistics I: Food<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JD62coV0asNGOAVZ2wWsyfdEb5XHAN2jjsKPGYcwfRC1oslFRxalFSV4XGp9DTUtQYJgx34NHegxS6dnUciLewGxm9tVS_iVsJd7qs4S1d-280iCE5X2gIV-_RypF4NWslRaaiuFhz0/s1600-h/toms-truck.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JD62coV0asNGOAVZ2wWsyfdEb5XHAN2jjsKPGYcwfRC1oslFRxalFSV4XGp9DTUtQYJgx34NHegxS6dnUciLewGxm9tVS_iVsJd7qs4S1d-280iCE5X2gIV-_RypF4NWslRaaiuFhz0/s320/toms-truck.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218667761181342674" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Tom Mackay's truck — he delivers the food orders from Adelaide via the Birdsville Track.<br /></span><br />The thing that most worried me about coming to Birdsville was where I was going to buy food. The service station here has limited essentials which are very useful, but tend to be expensive. The nearest supermarket is 700 kms away in Mt Isa — a three day trip, and about $300 worth of fuel, so not a practical option. After some fairly frantic emails and a phone call or two, I established that what happens is you fax your order down to Woolies in Mawson Lakes, Adelaide, they do the shop and deliver your order to the truck depot, and it's delivered to Birdsville — every second week, and even less often in summer when everyone leaves town because its too darn hot. Orders must be in by Monday 9 am, the truck heads up the Birdsville Track from Adelaide on Wednesday and you pick up your groceries from the truck at the vacant lot opposite the servo where it pulls up on Friday morning.<br /><br />Jackie, who ran the Big Red Cafe when we visited last year was really helpful — she and her partner Karsten decided not to open this year (they live on the NSW south coast during the summer) and not only did she give me all the information I needed to ease my worried mind, she sold me a freezer, a piece of kitchen equipment that I have not had a need for previously.<br /><br />In Sydney, I just nipped out to the shops anytime I needed anything, and routinely went to the supermarket several times a week. I had at my fingertips the Asian supermarkets and Greek bakeries in Marrickville, not to mention Paesanella, a fresh Italian-style cheese factory, the Italian coffeeshops and delis of Leichhardt and Newtown, the french patisserie around the corner, fresh produce from Flemington markets via our local fruit and veggie co-op (hi Fruitloopers!) and a group of friends who are all enthusiastic and very good cooks (you know who you are), and have dinner parties on a regular basis. I think I reached an all-time low the other week while I was watching Maeve O'Meara interview Tetsuya Wakuda (with appropriate fabulous Japanese food demonstrations) on the TV while I was cooking curried sausages for dinner. I was very depressed for a bit.<br /><br />Probably the thing I miss most is the ability to be spontaneous with cooking. I need to think well in advance what I will cook over the next two weeks, and most meat comes frozen and at the mercy of whoever in Woolies gets to do my shopping. Mince features on the menu fairly regularly these days, I really need some recipes in my repertoire beyond spag bol, meatballs in tomato sauce, chilli con carne — all suggestions gratefully received, keep them simple. Fresh fruit and veg are in short supply too, although Dusty has a very good garden which features silverbeet, pumpkin, rocket, basil and coriander, which I raid as often as I can. Our own fledgling garden is coming along quite well too (thank you Jamie for the seeds) the rocket is ready to pick already (ideas for things to do with rocket also gratefully received) and the womboks are getting bigger daily. I think I just need to treat it as a challenge to see how creative I can be with limited means.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Evan watering the garden — the rocket is ready to pick. The big blue-green plants at the back are broccoli, which Dusty gave us when he was thinning his crop out. Evan's since planted poppies and more herbs in the front garden, but they haven't made an appearance yet.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJk8k0WCVfTybBAHIVHoWT63A-S9XSftuTYhvxy1KYcDdXyjeAqjvZIT939X8eBDgDt5GJVCPc39cbq61PXYjQwQ9PCHYQJiEgcA0RWLCkYzYoJHs_CT9tNvVpWTO5O-DNWZX-2d6hDI/s1600-h/Evan-watering.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJk8k0WCVfTybBAHIVHoWT63A-S9XSftuTYhvxy1KYcDdXyjeAqjvZIT939X8eBDgDt5GJVCPc39cbq61PXYjQwQ9PCHYQJiEgcA0RWLCkYzYoJHs_CT9tNvVpWTO5O-DNWZX-2d6hDI/s320/Evan-watering.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218667765460467954" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvOSlz23H2l6HXe1-8WGNTtWmyQBTvZq8Un3T3avptjDdJ1iCAE3i8VIlbBfWI_wwfFZIcV34DqrKy1crz2Kr6qH57tEnqrn8HNlXQhyO7THCIhjxqChyphenhyphenG4eB6x6eqmGFxX3O9PWjvvI/s1600-h/garden.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvOSlz23H2l6HXe1-8WGNTtWmyQBTvZq8Un3T3avptjDdJ1iCAE3i8VIlbBfWI_wwfFZIcV34DqrKy1crz2Kr6qH57tEnqrn8HNlXQhyO7THCIhjxqChyphenhyphenG4eB6x6eqmGFxX3O9PWjvvI/s320/garden.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218667764617803394" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-81139732058264232582008-06-17T19:16:00.000-07:002008-06-29T22:36:15.200-07:00At the Bakery<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyR6TpGrBpwS3BMT-ollph4V1_4e-DZJRCvhQfTdT6Ris_tV-V0cxn_dvhskQVxKmcYPpjLyGuKChbFHTXlmgIDczNYgjC2DevVgUDV4hpN_Az5Wzmobg1nKzFEDZda9AaV4CuJ0k3gE/s1600-h/pizza-night.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyR6TpGrBpwS3BMT-ollph4V1_4e-DZJRCvhQfTdT6Ris_tV-V0cxn_dvhskQVxKmcYPpjLyGuKChbFHTXlmgIDczNYgjC2DevVgUDV4hpN_Az5Wzmobg1nKzFEDZda9AaV4CuJ0k3gE/s320/pizza-night.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213076082092535490" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The fire at the front is lit for Pizza Night on Sundays. Ben, the baker, sits with his sister Naomi, who is visiting.<br /></span><br />To backtrack a little ... during the first week I was checking out work opportunities — the school was looking for a part-time administration assistant (but the teacher was out of town), there was rumour of work at the Information Centre, and Blue the Plumber was looking for a new offsider for three weeks to drive the backhoe. "How hard is it to drive a backhoe?" said I. Not hard at all, Blue assured me, but I wasn't convinced, especially when I found out what a backhoe looked like. I'd offered my services to Dusty, the owner of the bakery, every time we'd been in for coffee as well, and he finally said he could do with some help in the van at the Bronco Branding, where I got a swift lesson in pie floaters and hot chips. I must have done alright, because he said would I like to help out in the Bakery the next morning, since there were so many extra people in town for the Branding, whereupon I got another swift lesson in making cappucinos. <br /><br />By lunchtime I was a dab hand at the coffee machine, had sold a lot of pies and bread, and washed up a a pile of dishes. I have been in regularly ever since, and now can make pizzas for the Sunday evening Pizza Night, cook hot breakfasts (bacon, eggs & tomato melange, savoury mince, lambs fry and eggs on toast) and a myriad other things it takes to keep a bakery working, such as restocking the fridges and sweeping up the constant red dust. Its a very long way from sitting behind a computer laying out magazines, and surprisingly physical — I was ready for bed by about 8.30 pm the first week or so, but I'm getting used to it now.<br /><br />Ben the Baker gets in at 4 am to make the bread fresh for the mornings, and does most of the pie making as well, although Dusty cooks the fillings. The pie menu includes Kangaroo and Claret, Curried Camel, Butter Chicken, Chunky Beef and Mince pies, plus pasties and sausage rolls. Teresa, his partner, has the pie warmer stocked by 8 am, and makes the sweet things, like quandong tarts, fingerbuns, and a delicious lemon slice, and Ben makes a very good Lamington. <br /><br />The thing I like most about helping out at the Bakery is the chance I get to meet the locals who stop in for coffee and a feed, as well as all the people passing through on their travels. Without exception, they're very nice people, and are always happy to tell you where they're coming from and where they're off to, and as much about their travels as you've time to listen to. And then there are the regulars, the builders who are working on the new Information Centre (young blokes who consume enormous quantities of pies and sausage rolls), contractors who are in town for a job, station hands, and pilots who are doing regular runs.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Teresa and Dusty, who owns the Birdsville Bakery.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6HmzzOEYlkXUDkGbr2L_uPjcygY3WcMR-kydyWOw5NUWP5FbLg9Y2C6tB5tifHV_hpjqleFwiZLfey8vku3fnP0YLwNBelPfJGcbrT0H5GmsKvud7M7EKvI9p8xVBsdso-j0qMAmW7Jg/s1600-h/Dusty-and-Teresa.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6HmzzOEYlkXUDkGbr2L_uPjcygY3WcMR-kydyWOw5NUWP5FbLg9Y2C6tB5tifHV_hpjqleFwiZLfey8vku3fnP0YLwNBelPfJGcbrT0H5GmsKvud7M7EKvI9p8xVBsdso-j0qMAmW7Jg/s320/Dusty-and-Teresa.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213076082629995266" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Locals nurses, Bev and Ross, from the Birdsville Clinic, are regulars.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_vHTWCFf5lfl9UxE3mNHwFkX3ilLVViXBEifeECqJhUix-KP3yNBWQVxmOr-9E4SSNGyuSCIjnAF5im9a21ZO2E7_xguxPnALK1EsPKoVGiF3FIqwBAtCK4yOBU653O0Zg8mNoeBM2ck/s1600-h/Ross-&-bev.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_vHTWCFf5lfl9UxE3mNHwFkX3ilLVViXBEifeECqJhUix-KP3yNBWQVxmOr-9E4SSNGyuSCIjnAF5im9a21ZO2E7_xguxPnALK1EsPKoVGiF3FIqwBAtCK4yOBU653O0Zg8mNoeBM2ck/s320/Ross-&-bev.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213076080832040370" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Inside the Bakery. Rusty has built it to look like a tin shed, which it pretty well is, albeit a well fitted-out and air conditioned one. It has an old windmill as a centrepiece, with its blades decorated by local aboriginal artist, Fiona.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCVIOEp0gc_AC4zcuMChipAqFvEJYRckMTNO6lJHsRVRZt2OWa431G4oVYb50hXrnNSv0PAejrm3ZL8WguqMks8IhyV4K-OwGi8z-FxBN7myCIugMw00R2zMTEuSuxYMYYsq74F1smcI/s1600-h/in-the-bakery.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCVIOEp0gc_AC4zcuMChipAqFvEJYRckMTNO6lJHsRVRZt2OWa431G4oVYb50hXrnNSv0PAejrm3ZL8WguqMks8IhyV4K-OwGi8z-FxBN7myCIugMw00R2zMTEuSuxYMYYsq74F1smcI/s320/in-the-bakery.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213076087091954258" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Michelle, the cappucino queen.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjeUk_fa4Pma4ZqVkvU9M7i6RGKNKj49QuHxuHFzQypqYURjvF05xy1AJRKKiM6OCY0zU5gpW4AhsfbWe_4JqFCWHhuWguDtr-kx0TNDz_hWMOrlLCKFKAmLhRSEDF71UM_r7FILk7XGk/s1600-h/cappucino-queen.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjeUk_fa4Pma4ZqVkvU9M7i6RGKNKj49QuHxuHFzQypqYURjvF05xy1AJRKKiM6OCY0zU5gpW4AhsfbWe_4JqFCWHhuWguDtr-kx0TNDz_hWMOrlLCKFKAmLhRSEDF71UM_r7FILk7XGk/s320/cappucino-queen.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213076088047269138" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Dusty's pride and joy, his Sturt's Desert Peas.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnC-OD3Z7Klaun6slJ9iU7uCwZq05yOhQDKb1YkWVS0rQS-_NyzhEdd1ti-tBLv4aqZ3qDdWbc-JP-j0R_D-ejq6Qx0ZxTzxr1l1STDc9yHCL3mR3isvE-yJcBhPbUFffF9Zl8cZPUtE/s1600-h/desert-peas.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnC-OD3Z7Klaun6slJ9iU7uCwZq05yOhQDKb1YkWVS0rQS-_NyzhEdd1ti-tBLv4aqZ3qDdWbc-JP-j0R_D-ejq6Qx0ZxTzxr1l1STDc9yHCL3mR3isvE-yJcBhPbUFffF9Zl8cZPUtE/s320/desert-peas.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213079877509520162" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">And his wheel rim collection.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9rThdGbKe5UVUpM293R8xb2gQV3x3Jh65E2d7RqnSEt-JeJ7d9gllAz1GkVtz227t-HkTYI2mimtRXtueDkR2uSPIaxJqpfN8LoSiWZ3cYeNrKzvgOn6ubdLPj_CAEPuyQvM4wkwN_CQ/s1600-h/hubcaps.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9rThdGbKe5UVUpM293R8xb2gQV3x3Jh65E2d7RqnSEt-JeJ7d9gllAz1GkVtz227t-HkTYI2mimtRXtueDkR2uSPIaxJqpfN8LoSiWZ3cYeNrKzvgOn6ubdLPj_CAEPuyQvM4wkwN_CQ/s320/hubcaps.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213079879286722114" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-33231782001353161252008-06-10T22:09:00.000-07:002008-06-10T22:42:55.086-07:00After the Flood<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOmxEbcGu55K3bnMdNVVSrX9kppNCv-DamaVCrce3PMaAaDyT_RMFylOV-uFHGWv28nL5FRk1dsGBHgxE0CvDPjWaGDXK0xuiy1lwwBDkYlHfW_7dZmEJYwGy_1MiI5-woyRhjvLZm2Wo/s1600-h/billabong-flooded.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOmxEbcGu55K3bnMdNVVSrX9kppNCv-DamaVCrce3PMaAaDyT_RMFylOV-uFHGWv28nL5FRk1dsGBHgxE0CvDPjWaGDXK0xuiy1lwwBDkYlHfW_7dZmEJYwGy_1MiI5-woyRhjvLZm2Wo/s320/billabong-flooded.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210494219690232994" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Looking across to the Billabong — its spilling over its banks everywhere.<br /></span><br />Well, its pretty much back to normal in Birdsville — clear blue skies, lovely sunny days. The mud's drying out, although you still need to be very careful where you tread, its very boggy under that nice hard-looking but thin crust. The roads are all open to "high-clearance 4WDs", which means its still very wet and boggy in patches. The marooned campers are all starting to venture out, and the ones who've been stuck on various roads for the last three days are starting to find their way back in. The 30 km stretch between Big Red (start of the Simpson Desert) and Birdsville is apparently a nightmare, people are being warned not to try the Desert for another week. The runner's bus is still here, the Windorah road has been very wet, and the bus doesn't have a lot of clearance. Five of the runners have had to fly out, they've had commitments they couldn't miss. Graham Connors got away with minimal delay, as did Neil (the policeman) and Blue (the plumber), both of whom missed the first couple of days of their holidays, waiting for seats on the (small) plane. The food delivery truck reckons he'll only be a day late getting to Birdsville up the Track. There's supposed to be another front coming through tomorrow, I don't think there'll be much rain here, but may well be further down the Track, so he could have fun getting back again. There's still quite a lot of water around, and I'm told there will be a mass of wildflowers in the next few weeks which I'm looking forward to. In the meantime, here's a few pics ....<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This is the Diamantina River at the bridge on Sunday, while it was still raining.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURhNGG6FPqOOk3IUf79BAfhF9kL8HH3oDYAIojahhQfbcvXqlA_fg9kVmljhMLl20M1enirc1QjSUX8SetcFNiajJ7Tz7WGzm8nkaVhUsTZ7FR5a74BjOaP2DXjWWrgt9G7-p0SMn_48/s1600-h/river-Sunday.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURhNGG6FPqOOk3IUf79BAfhF9kL8HH3oDYAIojahhQfbcvXqlA_fg9kVmljhMLl20M1enirc1QjSUX8SetcFNiajJ7Tz7WGzm8nkaVhUsTZ7FR5a74BjOaP2DXjWWrgt9G7-p0SMn_48/s320/river-Sunday.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210491941444076114" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">And this is on Tuesday — its risen four metres.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkcER_vpKDEgFaEcmY5gxg0OfyhiL-9lBCPWWgrHj1mqmRvdwaaXY-VQhWyni7oOxcZrEv8Ka1ZIy4M1K4N4vKHraxBY6t6UJloouMyGI17REXPyFi-6Pli7lWH2QzFJLnD6YuvunxkJ4/s1600-h/river-Tues.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkcER_vpKDEgFaEcmY5gxg0OfyhiL-9lBCPWWgrHj1mqmRvdwaaXY-VQhWyni7oOxcZrEv8Ka1ZIy4M1K4N4vKHraxBY6t6UJloouMyGI17REXPyFi-6Pli7lWH2QzFJLnD6YuvunxkJ4/s320/river-Tues.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210491948384229410" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Lots of water where its usually very dry.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsEHVUra6-8YNKVE5CWQZkFGHYrmUuC3fHDtZFGGryzRvj3wo441pkZwCRYz4GvtwP1UtFADcBMjukXWg0sD6HzIvUbcOKSqDTRNouWZXZvteWxiRbODTswn2Ns0R9CXfOe59-oG2jnJM/s1600-h/fence.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsEHVUra6-8YNKVE5CWQZkFGHYrmUuC3fHDtZFGGryzRvj3wo441pkZwCRYz4GvtwP1UtFADcBMjukXWg0sD6HzIvUbcOKSqDTRNouWZXZvteWxiRbODTswn2Ns0R9CXfOe59-oG2jnJM/s320/fence.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210491956814586946" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEMp1bszUsk1hkeQ46HY-wODSdDJWMxnUNgxmSeozVVVGjxI-NQtUq940J-RjUaQNgNiZmQBLWQFHzrYVzz_f0aLDsusbQW3oxFJtjjz2LOrGC3NtxNQDRgs454reDuEVtKScu0oMfttU/s1600-h/ford.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEMp1bszUsk1hkeQ46HY-wODSdDJWMxnUNgxmSeozVVVGjxI-NQtUq940J-RjUaQNgNiZmQBLWQFHzrYVzz_f0aLDsusbQW3oxFJtjjz2LOrGC3NtxNQDRgs454reDuEVtKScu0oMfttU/s320/ford.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210491965540496626" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Nuui8A9tFdcyWlwKAvV5e3GqdwbnLuIqshdhvKRuR6w3mqDnvbH0XFSKEKuwW7SZVWgGjceV-2w8lp8lAfTGNpkrwVfhcwpi3w3xUDUUNTNhW1tWQ2SCCccVrDXdM42VNuptdYMWscg/s1600-h/gnarly-tree.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Nuui8A9tFdcyWlwKAvV5e3GqdwbnLuIqshdhvKRuR6w3mqDnvbH0XFSKEKuwW7SZVWgGjceV-2w8lp8lAfTGNpkrwVfhcwpi3w3xUDUUNTNhW1tWQ2SCCccVrDXdM42VNuptdYMWscg/s320/gnarly-tree.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210491972913298306" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-15813233342663031832008-06-07T23:19:00.000-07:002008-06-08T01:05:59.007-07:00The Big Wet<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrIWVrzR1pNxwLL1iTRfwtMU4KQn36fOauS1PRa4orFnCyj8wYAFVzfwY8JoMjGSX110cHf4pplvUPz6w0P1d3eIhvr1gli57j8jZMNcLlDK2riujhtpSTu4Ju5wjV38fGr30xkd8bTcg/s1600-h/Racetrack.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrIWVrzR1pNxwLL1iTRfwtMU4KQn36fOauS1PRa4orFnCyj8wYAFVzfwY8JoMjGSX110cHf4pplvUPz6w0P1d3eIhvr1gli57j8jZMNcLlDK2riujhtpSTu4Ju5wjV38fGr30xkd8bTcg/s320/Racetrack.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209410984261614418" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Birdsville Racetrack — or should I say Lake ....<br /></span><br />Something very unusual is happening outside at the moment — it's raining! I know it's been raining everywhere in Australia (practically), but it's been a good six months since there's been a drop of rain out here. In the last day we've had two and a half inches, which is a LOT. The station owners will be very happy, but there are some very unhappy campers around here. Not only is the camping ground rapidly disappearing under a lake, but all roads out of here are shut, so they're well and truly stuck and may be for some time, particularly if it doesn't stop raining soon. <br /><br />I'm sure it was caused by the "Birdsville Gift", an annual sports carnival that was held yesterday. A bunch of professional runners was bussed out here Thursday to compete for $10,000 prize money (why is still a mystery to me), plus a bunch of less serious events for the locals. I competed in the Over 40 Women's 80 metre race, and came 4th — alright, there were only four people in the race, but I was roundly cheered for giving it a go. The Beerbelly Cup was fun, but the golfing event was most popular, around 40-50 people whacked golf balls across the oval, (some several times, at $5 a ball, or $10 for 3) the winner being the person to hit their ball closest to the flag. The prize was $2000, so worth a go, though some people barely managed to hit the ball at all, to the amusement of onlookers. All good fun. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The winner of the 1600 m race — looking very professional indeed.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MgsseDkzqphBwZIF8VYUUIcVT7I23e6AKxXMduzNmQREAz7jS9fV6x7KPYX2UCLJdNKH771AslceeAf9i-pTpg7R5MHsAo7lmmAkKT1hy4E62aNOaynSx8G6bvZnDX5jU_ThKnXesqQ/s1600-h/P6070023.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MgsseDkzqphBwZIF8VYUUIcVT7I23e6AKxXMduzNmQREAz7jS9fV6x7KPYX2UCLJdNKH771AslceeAf9i-pTpg7R5MHsAo7lmmAkKT1hy4E62aNOaynSx8G6bvZnDX5jU_ThKnXesqQ/s320/P6070023.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209414179887054530" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The winner of the Beerbelly Cup — not quite so professional, but enthusiastic.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL5qytnYldukcQ4npJALfrQZ6_EVhKHZAvEk6X-KsUTZUNle_BJj1lT2Qiwfp7dFrrx04wZSG9Ma25RELu1UhSFA58807e9qSxClMyZ8Jb0lRWB7tdJiXB-nDV9cpnQIZoPh0GLAmrJtA/s1600-h/Beerbelly-cup.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL5qytnYldukcQ4npJALfrQZ6_EVhKHZAvEk6X-KsUTZUNle_BJj1lT2Qiwfp7dFrrx04wZSG9Ma25RELu1UhSFA58807e9qSxClMyZ8Jb0lRWB7tdJiXB-nDV9cpnQIZoPh0GLAmrJtA/s320/Beerbelly-cup.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209414178275283186" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Even less professional — me, bringing up the rear of the Over 40 Women's event.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQTYGhIJuqHIzDrTOz_jjd8RuHAt32xmFvuR7mqiBMfi-ZFCsoA2JST1G4_WSjU5i-wilWUnStLrOFOC-p_WANku_gydK3VgIxJVRnuhow-QfcQcjCBQ75UV9Q3Ft2x-d_zQ34LhHqbw/s1600-h/over-40s-women.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQTYGhIJuqHIzDrTOz_jjd8RuHAt32xmFvuR7mqiBMfi-ZFCsoA2JST1G4_WSjU5i-wilWUnStLrOFOC-p_WANku_gydK3VgIxJVRnuhow-QfcQcjCBQ75UV9Q3Ft2x-d_zQ34LhHqbw/s320/over-40s-women.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209414183514975522" /></a><br /><br />It started sprinkling about 10 am, and gradually worked up to a major downpour by about 7 pm, when people were heading to the Graham Connors concert in the Community Hall. It was still a novelty at this stage, no-one minded. Graham Connors was very entertaining, he's very popular in this part of the world. One lot of people came up from Langhorne Creek in SA (about 1500 km), another group came over from Windorah, only 400 kms away. There was lots of singing along and dancing in the aisles, washed down by large amounts of FourXXXX Gold. (I love going to the pub and asking for a pot of Gold!)<br /><br />The novelty was wearing off by this morning when the bedraggled campers started coming in to the Bakery for breakfast and coffee. About 10 am, Neil, the local policeman, phoned to say all roads out of Birdsville were shut. Some people had left earlier for Windorah, and are now stuck out there for the duration, possibly days. The runners' bus is still outside the Motel, and Graham Connors plane isn't going anywhere tomorrow. There's no use me putting in a grocery order this week, the truck won't be coming up from Adelaide with the Birdsville Track shut. Good thing the freezer's reasonably well stocked, although I could really use a few fresh green veg — frozen veg just aren't up to scratch, I've decided.<br /><br />Latest weather report at 5 pm today, nearly 3 inches, half Birdsville's annual rainfall, and still raining solidly. I'll keep you posted.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">It's raining — there's a lot of water around. <br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioYzu2wNTM_lvARz2Pv-G6ORfWeBG3Vc8Tl16CNp6x1rju_OmW6QMpMBXNhVC_edVaPvOH_p3CoNNozol6TNDHMrMKxobKP0UAPaPvqfBLksMY6bTIN9F9Tlcj-pyH7oKoTdUDsZkJpv8/s1600-h/Track-sign.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioYzu2wNTM_lvARz2Pv-G6ORfWeBG3Vc8Tl16CNp6x1rju_OmW6QMpMBXNhVC_edVaPvOH_p3CoNNozol6TNDHMrMKxobKP0UAPaPvqfBLksMY6bTIN9F9Tlcj-pyH7oKoTdUDsZkJpv8/s320/Track-sign.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209410963455218258" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtlxQwGgQhBhr5CidSSzwNaPFal5-rtDAkXhact6uVBNAxMVl0_P0z8QvsrxX-f5CFykbAyHCxOfOO9mOcyB01rY6VF9MopGDeUL1MJN2OAIvx2g3k3_Izs8rXnEbaeukFb_vd0QM2SRg/s1600-h/Birdsville-Pub-wet.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtlxQwGgQhBhr5CidSSzwNaPFal5-rtDAkXhact6uVBNAxMVl0_P0z8QvsrxX-f5CFykbAyHCxOfOO9mOcyB01rY6VF9MopGDeUL1MJN2OAIvx2g3k3_Izs8rXnEbaeukFb_vd0QM2SRg/s320/Birdsville-Pub-wet.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209410993240905858" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJJVRRXDd7Z7I-YInaVLZDNrUxv4XF0Oa2cR_H76wO_EBS75uHb4bnzRH7xgFNH52ZHT2JbPrGujDWJRqmIotEeeOSs6SvgpllXR5tgr4NAicQKu20fCLojmDqvHmyAwSJaB81vZq12g/s1600-h/Bakery-wet.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJJVRRXDd7Z7I-YInaVLZDNrUxv4XF0Oa2cR_H76wO_EBS75uHb4bnzRH7xgFNH52ZHT2JbPrGujDWJRqmIotEeeOSs6SvgpllXR5tgr4NAicQKu20fCLojmDqvHmyAwSJaB81vZq12g/s320/Bakery-wet.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209411004026851138" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9VyDiZBnleeUtW9dicG5NViSI7lOl6w7efO03SGJsCK7_U5uVv9AJVgqS13zQgGYOITAjApm0YFGf1jvKq4G8u0nqZRYcZ-wqkTk5m5kF31VyZ2cfdh3pvFI2UCPYGIZTs1i3l4hIY24/s1600-h/caravan-park.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9VyDiZBnleeUtW9dicG5NViSI7lOl6w7efO03SGJsCK7_U5uVv9AJVgqS13zQgGYOITAjApm0YFGf1jvKq4G8u0nqZRYcZ-wqkTk5m5kF31VyZ2cfdh3pvFI2UCPYGIZTs1i3l4hIY24/s320/caravan-park.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209411013295156498" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The rain will do wonders for our garden — if it doesn't drown first ....<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYDGNmEWxAeYSnH9RyB9BzH3g6WhWkBlluXrMRfNRWqAdIZkD6vUMYv3bubHR9T_3qE7NpJXcNuYllssArqxAn38Rhgm0-H86O2O9DUTDRlGmIlI8PIdc3qAQCWiqfBNSf6wTZu9RiyU/s1600-h/Home-lake.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYDGNmEWxAeYSnH9RyB9BzH3g6WhWkBlluXrMRfNRWqAdIZkD6vUMYv3bubHR9T_3qE7NpJXcNuYllssArqxAn38Rhgm0-H86O2O9DUTDRlGmIlI8PIdc3qAQCWiqfBNSf6wTZu9RiyU/s320/Home-lake.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209414172848196082" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-85183340885149875172008-06-03T22:06:00.000-07:002008-06-03T23:27:58.195-07:00The hunt for Big Red<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjynaEr3qy23kAwRfi_jVwq1Yyi_R50NrcJZVTsqmG6oEvQYhQnnwp_djH-XUx-uX0ethINOB2spa9O7avfWn_l2uFkkdLtPHgrSEzSCw_lY31rYNOX4Um0Xq0w8YaAmb1C6aq0sFKUPG4/s1600-h/little-red.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjynaEr3qy23kAwRfi_jVwq1Yyi_R50NrcJZVTsqmG6oEvQYhQnnwp_djH-XUx-uX0ethINOB2spa9O7avfWn_l2uFkkdLtPHgrSEzSCw_lY31rYNOX4Um0Xq0w8YaAmb1C6aq0sFKUPG4/s320/little-red.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207908363266387666" /></a><br />Big Red, the Simpson Desert's biggest sand dune, is the major tourist attraction around Birdsville (and pretty well the only one ....) — the caravan park runs sunset tours out there most days. It's the start (or the finish, depending on your direction) of the Simpson Desert, and a good test. If you can make it over Big Red, and the next couple of sand dunes, you won't have any problems with the rest of the dunes in the Simpson (theoretically). We were keen to take the truckasaurus out there and test it out. We packed our requisite supply of water, plus a bottle of champagne and some cheese, olives and Jatz, and headed out there. <br /><br />We'd invited Dusty and Teresa to join us for the sunset champagne after they'd closed up at the Bakery, which gave us some time to explore around. It's 30 kms out, with the scenery getting progressively flatter and rockier (the gibbers, it really is a desert of stones) and then some smaller sand hills start. Big Red is indeed pretty big, while Evan was letting air out of the tyres in preparation I decided to walk up, it's amazing how much higher it looks from the top — you can see for miles, and the car looks a long way down. It took Evan three goes to make it up, but finally he got there, parked the car on the top and got out the folding camp chairs in preparation for the sunset viewing. <br /><br />Another car load of people arrived, they were from one of the further stations and had come up for the bronc branding, and were looking around while they were there. The kids raced up and down the dune, and rolled around in the sand, and generally had a good time. "Take your shoes off, it feels great!" they said, so I did. The sand is amazingly fine, and quite cool, it feels lovely on your feet. I was enjoying myself until I trod on one of the enormous burrs that are everywhere, so retreated to the camp chair to pull the thing out. <br /><br />Dusty and Teresa arrived just as the sun was setting, so we toasted our new adventure, stood around going "How's the serenity?" and drove carefully back to Birdsville, watching out for livestock on the road. Dusty had a large vat of filling for his delicious butter chicken pies which he invited us around to eat some of, with rice and a salad on the side. It's all good .... <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">It didn't look that hard from the bottom ...<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01_jcKJcViePQ6zC8omSxl-KPZkbl_Eu4qvXO0P7FGqMuAwpQF15UrWIn-mH3yLDHgiLiIwyTIgIhOTeAGXOPUuFEvQDKe9C671a8I2sIhFt0-5eCVOulK50pS3T_mqLZS_jirBMSykI/s1600-h/looking-up-little-red.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01_jcKJcViePQ6zC8omSxl-KPZkbl_Eu4qvXO0P7FGqMuAwpQF15UrWIn-mH3yLDHgiLiIwyTIgIhOTeAGXOPUuFEvQDKe9C671a8I2sIhFt0-5eCVOulK50pS3T_mqLZS_jirBMSykI/s320/looking-up-little-red.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207901375691792946" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">... but it took three goes to get there.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWC-tkpQFZDSfyR7Ew6oJTEcj45x94_tD1LjZqFwhLtsj_TZ2HrrUVspzlZ1IpU2u9ccdd7KdiAnfB4Fd5gNo7v3VJRsO6YOlV4WeGm7Q8fyWPqZv7DDkvg-Fw02pAonc9XmjxUjp5Wo/s1600-h/coming-up-lr.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWC-tkpQFZDSfyR7Ew6oJTEcj45x94_tD1LjZqFwhLtsj_TZ2HrrUVspzlZ1IpU2u9ccdd7KdiAnfB4Fd5gNo7v3VJRsO6YOlV4WeGm7Q8fyWPqZv7DDkvg-Fw02pAonc9XmjxUjp5Wo/s320/coming-up-lr.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207901380776723554" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The truckasaurus has conquered Big Red!<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0aF309_5NADHP1yR4KILhAlbY5GUUmMa7dlElso0gJoT0Ial3a2CHWuLdjMJtViJgYAdPOqU2Cpb94ZzPBusNqQ0KPRfmzEG87FFYgro8NS_rQVbA-4FhwmGvGWfLfH_wlRg9IA5Hvh0/s1600-h/truckie-on-top-lr.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0aF309_5NADHP1yR4KILhAlbY5GUUmMa7dlElso0gJoT0Ial3a2CHWuLdjMJtViJgYAdPOqU2Cpb94ZzPBusNqQ0KPRfmzEG87FFYgro8NS_rQVbA-4FhwmGvGWfLfH_wlRg9IA5Hvh0/s320/truckie-on-top-lr.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207901378358157650" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Some fellow sightseers.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzvxkndDOMBCpWAZzl-GX21wc1WeZuifoMY5YzHnjpG0EyBgd8aOF7IwutAxCYa9fsZnlLnXEEXwj50SOQtgKFKMYIFc1BapFOeFBZE8yZIPNO4BjbH4BSnlALyAm6G4kHG5-8fqtbw8/s1600-h/company-lr.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzvxkndDOMBCpWAZzl-GX21wc1WeZuifoMY5YzHnjpG0EyBgd8aOF7IwutAxCYa9fsZnlLnXEEXwj50SOQtgKFKMYIFc1BapFOeFBZE8yZIPNO4BjbH4BSnlALyAm6G4kHG5-8fqtbw8/s320/company-lr.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207901383903530130" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Waiting for the sunset.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabT9o7CbpUH8fUalzvuocZ47qsLTLDcXYqaIIUjZ1egQPAoXgKPmFkJRyNLXVtmI7zMp4iFX631-NOsdgqb5F_DwVt1ahzqb8-eIZWqm0lMZt1sYIwcVd6Kli2ffiYzzcmEPD7B9GfI4/s1600-h/waiting-for-sunset-lr.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabT9o7CbpUH8fUalzvuocZ47qsLTLDcXYqaIIUjZ1egQPAoXgKPmFkJRyNLXVtmI7zMp4iFX631-NOsdgqb5F_DwVt1ahzqb8-eIZWqm0lMZt1sYIwcVd6Kli2ffiYzzcmEPD7B9GfI4/s320/waiting-for-sunset-lr.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207901382989826994" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Another vast sky sunset ....<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcF42RZtgSNWZ3MhiCYVL70MtKSBxP5OuNkzccwd_NYeDAgISRDRmfy5iKdqfHvTkrYoxmhDfO-AiCHdRzSgWAgo7UaahNSyWr4lgOwGYrWucfFLXQ-CTA-LrgDgpihSeubhQ2rZ5Uz8I/s1600-h/br-sunset.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcF42RZtgSNWZ3MhiCYVL70MtKSBxP5OuNkzccwd_NYeDAgISRDRmfy5iKdqfHvTkrYoxmhDfO-AiCHdRzSgWAgo7UaahNSyWr4lgOwGYrWucfFLXQ-CTA-LrgDgpihSeubhQ2rZ5Uz8I/s320/br-sunset.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207904534371270978" /></a><br /><br />Except Dusty then told us that where we had been was actually only LITTLE Red, Big Red was about a kilometre further along the sand dune. So a couple of days later we went back out, took the track that ran along the base of the sand dune, and arrived at BIG Red, and yes, it was bigger. It was the same sand dune as Little Red, but further along. Evan deflated the tyres to 30 psi and gave it a go, but after three tries gave up. A man in the car park, obviously far more experienced than we were, said we would have to deflate to about 20 psi, which we decided against since it takes ages to pump them back up again with the compressor, so we walked up. We could see the next sand dune across in the distance, there were a group of vehicles trying to climb it, and having quite a lot of trouble. It must be very hard work to cross all 1100-odd sand dunes of the Simpson Desert ....<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Now THIS is Big Red!<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWm2ToaMNCabvs9b59HG6ZsM6AQ6dVl94f37WhnhT0mwJXf16wKAJ5l_WZ_14ZD6PeT9a0RkcqJ3hDnqUFyETPIRpMfk4N-a2IjGL1FlvP-5guEySLuPzyBjqxnB8Zk8QCopo6Bm3xqKA/s1600-h/Big-Red,-Birdsville.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWm2ToaMNCabvs9b59HG6ZsM6AQ6dVl94f37WhnhT0mwJXf16wKAJ5l_WZ_14ZD6PeT9a0RkcqJ3hDnqUFyETPIRpMfk4N-a2IjGL1FlvP-5guEySLuPzyBjqxnB8Zk8QCopo6Bm3xqKA/s320/Big-Red,-Birdsville.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207904538455107218" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">From the top, looking down to the car park.<br /></span><br /> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX2dLj9mltqf0yB9HqIFgErYCkGFDi_5Q-eYCNEZgpa-B42X0gNJXr6cHPaXjj5f52sfWdTwKwjr46VFh1BIQWnoSIOd_XCCI7vZYW7MUJjnjR-Icp1PDFMKbxLmDcnXyEdqq1E3281SU/s1600-h/big-red-to-car-park.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX2dLj9mltqf0yB9HqIFgErYCkGFDi_5Q-eYCNEZgpa-B42X0gNJXr6cHPaXjj5f52sfWdTwKwjr46VFh1BIQWnoSIOd_XCCI7vZYW7MUJjnjR-Icp1PDFMKbxLmDcnXyEdqq1E3281SU/s320/big-red-to-car-park.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207904539476862834" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The next sand dune off in the distance. We watched three vehicles have several attempts to get over it.<br /></span><br /> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnApsl-BZ4-yrYlngIm79tXjEb3l7sQ75xAzzEZ8DnUeixSnk5qPWISCasAOMLdh_8kte7wCS-ntcF9ahRPZ6sikkbndtUlTCypVtcpSHggpwlBMTNmQOK3zx6ZkjGgNvOQFoY7R0C5e8/s1600-h/big-red-to-2nd-dune.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnApsl-BZ4-yrYlngIm79tXjEb3l7sQ75xAzzEZ8DnUeixSnk5qPWISCasAOMLdh_8kte7wCS-ntcF9ahRPZ6sikkbndtUlTCypVtcpSHggpwlBMTNmQOK3zx6ZkjGgNvOQFoY7R0C5e8/s320/big-red-to-2nd-dune.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207904541598145362" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">We had the place to ourselves. The owners of the other vehicles left soon after we got there. <br /></span><br /> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWD9Doy3u94m-hB0Ktg2bbFKP1-YZP1UChtjtzbTMFAUF4PGyVMiT5HdfP9JE3OCDcPXOIL7qew4D7cLeodg1H5hzqc4MZAwWHnaweTT7UezC1iGldyD8lTHnr19YGmIibJ1lYXACH7bs/s1600-h/bidg-red-on-top.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWD9Doy3u94m-hB0Ktg2bbFKP1-YZP1UChtjtzbTMFAUF4PGyVMiT5HdfP9JE3OCDcPXOIL7qew4D7cLeodg1H5hzqc4MZAwWHnaweTT7UezC1iGldyD8lTHnr19YGmIibJ1lYXACH7bs/s320/bidg-red-on-top.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207904542829112690" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-33404559761695657252008-06-01T20:06:00.000-07:002008-06-29T22:46:42.880-07:00The Bronco Branding<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Jba1e79rCyVAyL-ADlNjpBox6Y4kh3jMzISNaovO5pjMZv7b5RUWtOvpo_UTtgujohKHtIXYScUmTHLKKOBfnZpUVCt6ffIcmLi6uRIY-fzLWueKgyuY1UzRus0ulKnFSwdSjj_B6LA/s1600-h/calf-riding.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Jba1e79rCyVAyL-ADlNjpBox6Y4kh3jMzISNaovO5pjMZv7b5RUWtOvpo_UTtgujohKHtIXYScUmTHLKKOBfnZpUVCt6ffIcmLi6uRIY-fzLWueKgyuY1UzRus0ulKnFSwdSjj_B6LA/s320/calf-riding.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207138756275197058" /></a><br /><br />2008 was the second Annual Birdsville Bronco Branding, and one of the highlights of the year. It hasn't become a huge tourist drawcard (yet) but is very popular with the locals. Teams come from stations all over the entire area, some as far away as Murnpeowie Station, more than 600 km south in South Australia. There are various events such as the calf riding, colt riding, a woodchop event, and the bronco branding itself. <br /><br />The bronco branding entails a team of four, one person on a horse to rope a calf and pull it over to the bronco panel, a specially constructed fence arrangement, one person helps push the calf against the panel while another ropes one of the calf's front legs, and the fourth ropes the calf's back leg, both of which are tied to the panel. When all is secured, the calf is pushed over sideways whilst one person runs for the paint branding irons, dashes back and marks the calf, and then returns the brands to the paint pot while the calf is released. The first calf must be roped within 2 minutes, and they get six minutes to rope and brand three calves. The best teams can do it in less than this time, but quite often teams are disqualified for not lassoing their first calf within two minutes. The calf must be roped by throwing the rope forwards over the horse's neck, and it must be cleanly over the calf's neck — sometimes a leg gets roped in as well, this is a foul and the calf must be released. There are two judges who follow everything very closely, and award points for subtleties that are beyond me. There are quite a few women who compete in the teams as well, they breed them tough out here .... <br /><br />I helped out in the food trailer both evenings, so missed a fair bit of the action, but the colt riding was pretty full-on — they were smallish horses, but boy, were some of them mean! I looked up at the bangs and crashes that were coming from the enclosure, one guy got thrown off into the fence and then the horse fell into the fence almost on top of him. He said later that he hadn't wanted to wear the helmet the organisers insisted on, but was very glad of it after that. Patrick, the Irish mechanic at the servo had a go, he said later that he didn't think something that took 30 seconds to do could still hurt so much after three days!<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">First rope your calf .....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Q9pvNETRquqXepQ11Oucbd-HnFNyM4CAZO9Q6eynSIna0vwcaKRPHyDoZzTX8FZOkYsFH3-wQnAxbm7Tkrnch_nDeH92KemGx8uTiew-pTo5Lfg0XibHOwNaq46hijmPoH9GmXVUUqo/s1600-h/1_lasso-cow.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Q9pvNETRquqXepQ11Oucbd-HnFNyM4CAZO9Q6eynSIna0vwcaKRPHyDoZzTX8FZOkYsFH3-wQnAxbm7Tkrnch_nDeH92KemGx8uTiew-pTo5Lfg0XibHOwNaq46hijmPoH9GmXVUUqo/s320/1_lasso-cow.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207132225371437106" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">.... drag it over to the bronco panel ....<br /><br /> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMKZhfbJ27szqcQJqVqPsulhs1Fq885GXbqXIl83VhkpA1YadFv0pza6LhCgbrYGgABEtM9mJ8Zxf0COhEzI6rorbRWeb4V4NRSjGa_DZGFOyF9KDBGdgKiA5XO0qqMh-7dGjOXE4JWx0/s1600-h/2_drag-to-post.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMKZhfbJ27szqcQJqVqPsulhs1Fq885GXbqXIl83VhkpA1YadFv0pza6LhCgbrYGgABEtM9mJ8Zxf0COhEzI6rorbRWeb4V4NRSjGa_DZGFOyF9KDBGdgKiA5XO0qqMh-7dGjOXE4JWx0/s320/2_drag-to-post.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207132229621815026" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">.... push it up against the panel .....<br /><br /> </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ALZVH26VEiFSHd8LfiVm5zHrDyo2A5cUgk53WLqyxprMAY5kUqipyBBi5JZyD6941W0Op3y-hUPKFIjm9s2Zmb7HvU728rLvSN-tIOn1EFqLOeXH1ymBvI1noGVHQzxdVNl0vRKorEY/s1600-h/3_cow-against-post.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ALZVH26VEiFSHd8LfiVm5zHrDyo2A5cUgk53WLqyxprMAY5kUqipyBBi5JZyD6941W0Op3y-hUPKFIjm9s2Zmb7HvU728rLvSN-tIOn1EFqLOeXH1ymBvI1noGVHQzxdVNl0vRKorEY/s320/3_cow-against-post.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207132227494552466" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">.... whilst the front and back legs are secured.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3h-6x2ZeSaHQsG8yPLnfU5gjysNf5iG7gTyF9x9sxE1yCRT9CR7yveJAT8LthRoxsCS-KzAHwPwYfDiOeKA-KBllS0S26Am2cPuqV4d2gjgbA4f1KxbMGUNO9qmiQSqHZfUmY_euJBLk/s1600-h/4a_secure-your-cow.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3h-6x2ZeSaHQsG8yPLnfU5gjysNf5iG7gTyF9x9sxE1yCRT9CR7yveJAT8LthRoxsCS-KzAHwPwYfDiOeKA-KBllS0S26Am2cPuqV4d2gjgbA4f1KxbMGUNO9qmiQSqHZfUmY_euJBLk/s320/4a_secure-your-cow.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207132232387906274" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Push the calf over ....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdvh8MO_40Khnj3j73KbtPyph3kVbM8t6TNSdVWkTg5wUr5SceQXSByGhIYXRofqJXO59e-Y7temlX71z8gHYZxIkHbzBSCzxAPXWl052aCc9aW7d81bQRATzPtBN_OLdPpM_NxdmdAo/s1600-h/4_cow-down.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdvh8MO_40Khnj3j73KbtPyph3kVbM8t6TNSdVWkTg5wUr5SceQXSByGhIYXRofqJXO59e-Y7temlX71z8gHYZxIkHbzBSCzxAPXWl052aCc9aW7d81bQRATzPtBN_OLdPpM_NxdmdAo/s320/4_cow-down.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207132239677274162" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">.... apply the branding paint ....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-dXMv-dITLaSNlN8IEv7gXDq6eMfB359f0pesJDV0Gbr65Ez9d9wH1Bzm0JCBqUr7adN1tXYukn4ZrPIVeTL9k43u8vj9q2Ujkrx7GqD3knblq8Q2546lYOC0XOI9sIjQuujpFaEKvU/s1600-h/5_apply-brand.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-dXMv-dITLaSNlN8IEv7gXDq6eMfB359f0pesJDV0Gbr65Ez9d9wH1Bzm0JCBqUr7adN1tXYukn4ZrPIVeTL9k43u8vj9q2Ujkrx7GqD3knblq8Q2546lYOC0XOI9sIjQuujpFaEKvU/s320/5_apply-brand.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207138763807167074" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">.... and return the brands to the pot.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfmjaznAoRGlSlYi4H5b6IAA0-Qh2YVtgW2iARBqf4JzeOTkNhtRaNPMmw-ZPz51kZCne5LyxiDYUr_gNMi1JocUS8sOevwAdL4fVnKSjbdaMs3QY8cJy84VF9_KU8qk2C9r9EXUH3tU/s1600-h/6_Birdsville-Rodeo08-brands.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfmjaznAoRGlSlYi4H5b6IAA0-Qh2YVtgW2iARBqf4JzeOTkNhtRaNPMmw-ZPz51kZCne5LyxiDYUr_gNMi1JocUS8sOevwAdL4fVnKSjbdaMs3QY8cJy84VF9_KU8qk2C9r9EXUH3tU/s320/6_Birdsville-Rodeo08-brands.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207138796151834210" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The judges keep a very careful eye on everything.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoU8IhK8ZutKQtxzVoOdTShfQqBjcnHsV0_rX7VUPTFrRUeoqJkgjSmdxHGAJXRXzPZYcS6TaflFoCO1Pu_E1ro-gJiQ9jeckYQbrVmr9ukUkqr2bXEGtrQznoUuDuj3rV-bT7kJzJgk/s1600-h/judges_watching-girl.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoU8IhK8ZutKQtxzVoOdTShfQqBjcnHsV0_rX7VUPTFrRUeoqJkgjSmdxHGAJXRXzPZYcS6TaflFoCO1Pu_E1ro-gJiQ9jeckYQbrVmr9ukUkqr2bXEGtrQznoUuDuj3rV-bT7kJzJgk/s320/judges_watching-girl.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207138797177536290" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The woodchop — chop the top off your log, dig a hole and plant it upright, then chop it down again at the bottom. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpks2SnwERvoKGC41mh6BNWLcpa2PMDEPd7SKp5UjvwXoBHHt6Xl1Gg4RHHUMEik5PCAladHGP5nDiwC9uVl3_jWoK9WdnlT337Y0cz4_1d4zIB1pa4Ag8oPqDHhEOLZ7DmX_bTEpa1qo/s1600-h/woodchop.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpks2SnwERvoKGC41mh6BNWLcpa2PMDEPd7SKp5UjvwXoBHHt6Xl1Gg4RHHUMEik5PCAladHGP5nDiwC9uVl3_jWoK9WdnlT337Y0cz4_1d4zIB1pa4Ag8oPqDHhEOLZ7DmX_bTEpa1qo/s320/woodchop.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207142420615185826" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwlfKUe7HRrJoyWmmTFv3aMoiu9XJFCQZPcg8NrnqoWhkKZDvc3xrLOocT3JGcAMm1tNdM4zdwUS8jVKlBYqVegDpFlrZ6B0Rh2ePjGfvd-0v7y1QDpsnL742ryj5CHGo1Kd36RdlUTM/s1600-h/woodchop2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwlfKUe7HRrJoyWmmTFv3aMoiu9XJFCQZPcg8NrnqoWhkKZDvc3xrLOocT3JGcAMm1tNdM4zdwUS8jVKlBYqVegDpFlrZ6B0Rh2ePjGfvd-0v7y1QDpsnL742ryj5CHGo1Kd36RdlUTM/s320/woodchop2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207142421354143458" /></a>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-9240633561540031032008-05-29T01:56:00.000-07:002008-06-01T22:04:31.770-07:00Our first weekIt's now several weeks ago, so I'm scratching a bit ... the following day (Sunday) we went down to the servo and bought some basics (milk, butter, bacon and eggs, and frozen steak for dinner) and dropped in at the Birdsville Bakery for some freshly baked bread and a coffee — yes, its quite civilised, considering. Everywhere we went, people seemed to know already who we were — a lesson in how quickly news gets around out here. Everyone was very friendly, lots of introductions and hand-shaking, so we were feeling welcome already. Did a bit more unpacking and jumped into the truckasaurus to check out the sand dunes, out in the direction of Big Red (Australia's biggest sand dune, so the tourist info says). Got about 10 kms out of town and realised we'd broken all the rules — we'd told no-one where we were going or how long we'd be, and didn't even take much water. We'd got to some sizeable sand dunes by then, so pulled over and went exploring, before heading back into town for a beer at the pub. Still no gas in the stove, so we cooked the steaks on our little camp stove — and a very good job it did too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI70t9dfEm5HrupSMqyZkmeVgkIY_zDC6X8P2xVIpraMzSru5IPizHw8AcQJMCBytffW5N_fNK3f__UcpWsc53buXUc1ntRpW2DfYmSJqbDhzwKkb89iLHtGACtUdFiIIbhEZuwd_-8KA/s1600-h/dune-spine.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI70t9dfEm5HrupSMqyZkmeVgkIY_zDC6X8P2xVIpraMzSru5IPizHw8AcQJMCBytffW5N_fNK3f__UcpWsc53buXUc1ntRpW2DfYmSJqbDhzwKkb89iLHtGACtUdFiIIbhEZuwd_-8KA/s320/dune-spine.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205779849318795122" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_RNsjBTjab1GOY1hbhNudQ75UAIgHzw9CUsxhQwYPqbCk_vB5LlDWCyeY95qJiaCK95qOgxRycWbjH8xl3iXkzEFNvP0gHKJH0IAkR7seRgj9MfElfzk7W1NsO76XRF05S_BDHJzZrQc/s1600-h/sand-dune.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_RNsjBTjab1GOY1hbhNudQ75UAIgHzw9CUsxhQwYPqbCk_vB5LlDWCyeY95qJiaCK95qOgxRycWbjH8xl3iXkzEFNvP0gHKJH0IAkR7seRgj9MfElfzk7W1NsO76XRF05S_BDHJzZrQc/s320/sand-dune.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205779857908729730" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdfdzxx5zJjx0m5SrEn1nZ-dps8JLmI_kiJfRR49QuiU4zqkBUN7nbWK8m-CFVg1HrpNrlJWfuIAyTxrTpFsgSNVCS9d-6mZlRUTjEjyri_elwBki-3rxXCCR16kqSxw-rozPuckazZVM/s1600-h/dune-from-top.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdfdzxx5zJjx0m5SrEn1nZ-dps8JLmI_kiJfRR49QuiU4zqkBUN7nbWK8m-CFVg1HrpNrlJWfuIAyTxrTpFsgSNVCS9d-6mZlRUTjEjyri_elwBki-3rxXCCR16kqSxw-rozPuckazZVM/s320/dune-from-top.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205779866498664338" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOB-YbBN6ldF8rCznOELv0zFHnTaTQQebOi15_IwlHkhyPw0aML59TRHYjTaceEeTw7gH-kjF4BB0mXHwc1-NhNq6lK7gI6CarVb1OvhNOfLffj-nybHy990a1Ecc59AYhyphenhyphen0jo2ijlCM/s1600-h/dune-view.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOB-YbBN6ldF8rCznOELv0zFHnTaTQQebOi15_IwlHkhyPw0aML59TRHYjTaceEeTw7gH-kjF4BB0mXHwc1-NhNq6lK7gI6CarVb1OvhNOfLffj-nybHy990a1Ecc59AYhyphenhyphen0jo2ijlCM/s320/dune-view.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205779870793631650" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The sand dunes are amazing. The red sand is so fine its almost impossible to walk up if its steep.</span><br /><br />Monday the Tourist Info office (and local council office) was open, so we went and introduced ourselves to them, and enquired about our bed and gas for the stove. Alex said there was a transport problem with the bed, but it should be there by the end of the week, and she would ring the council about the gas. By the time we got home about 30 minutes later after a detour to the Bakery for coffee, the council dudes were there to fix the gas. After banging the cylinder with their spanner, someone noticed the gas tap was turned to the missing cylinder outlet, so that took about 3 minutes to sort out. They too were very friendly, and said they would be back next week with plants for our garden bed. Things were looking up.<br /><br />Can't remember much of what happened the rest of the week, except our bed actually turned up on Friday on the back of a ute from Bedourie, 200+ km northwards, and trailing quite a bit of red dust. We borrowed an industrial vacuum cleaner from Dusty and Teresa from the Bakery — we were getting to be quite good friends by then — and cleaned it up. It was such luxury after a week on the camp mattress! We walked quite a bit, and visited various local sites such as the council depot and the tip in search of the makings of a garden bed for the back yard (its a long way to the shop for anything but a sausage roll), and the local cemetery, a very poignant place. The big happening was the Birdsville Bronc Branding on the weekend.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1Fy3mYB4WJL0WaofwEL72qd5NZXeSIyTZVafh1_Jx5lYOFXel4v9zEep8_kHeQHUEv2Py7GBPDv3y8azuIOkzfKwO877VwSsNGv7rVjhSSgibX04AMLQ6V3VCBX9a0Q5Rgj1CBFzrCM/s1600-h/Birdsville-road-sign-&Evan.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1Fy3mYB4WJL0WaofwEL72qd5NZXeSIyTZVafh1_Jx5lYOFXel4v9zEep8_kHeQHUEv2Py7GBPDv3y8azuIOkzfKwO877VwSsNGv7rVjhSSgibX04AMLQ6V3VCBX9a0Q5Rgj1CBFzrCM/s320/Birdsville-road-sign-&Evan.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205780600938071986" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">No flies on me .... <br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJtkWEL0Zvh0Ss_QojHr0CKkuBlGVFgopcL8DTR_b2MX40RQTuV-FcNZ0eSc4YpNsBmgaFoYIvMYHGH8NnKXDTbo2KYwf9-U9XSfT-8EFDBaR__yYqsbKDM9JLjBPUv9-3ZKSqp3SnhJ8/s1600-h/cemetery.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJtkWEL0Zvh0Ss_QojHr0CKkuBlGVFgopcL8DTR_b2MX40RQTuV-FcNZ0eSc4YpNsBmgaFoYIvMYHGH8NnKXDTbo2KYwf9-U9XSfT-8EFDBaR__yYqsbKDM9JLjBPUv9-3ZKSqp3SnhJ8/s320/cemetery.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205780605233039298" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">In the cemetery.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1oTA_5EndQz6iDNaeYGnAKaZ4CQokuCSuc2EMpDADHZ3LRMs-uqLTj5p6es7myW8j69sdHDUm9I3Xne_WTntusOgc1DWLbAtxDpGYPlv2qyGYKolauLYxB7WWSjq9vR-RhfhysHYkKo/s1600-h/Sunset-080506-no-clouds.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1oTA_5EndQz6iDNaeYGnAKaZ4CQokuCSuc2EMpDADHZ3LRMs-uqLTj5p6es7myW8j69sdHDUm9I3Xne_WTntusOgc1DWLbAtxDpGYPlv2qyGYKolauLYxB7WWSjq9vR-RhfhysHYkKo/s320/Sunset-080506-no-clouds.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205780605233039314" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVf5IyHT_QoFVdfEJDw-7UU_D5bVF7Q2vDH9yEALtRZhmTcQz12QOoBjxfMiMRG-CosNVgjxVkCJmacf3N_7K81FfwKFSdDQohUGzrjEpn0j2Yi9hcS270QYJbG2mS_PRhmjZ0Rx6iwhM/s1600-h/sunset-red-080508.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVf5IyHT_QoFVdfEJDw-7UU_D5bVF7Q2vDH9yEALtRZhmTcQz12QOoBjxfMiMRG-CosNVgjxVkCJmacf3N_7K81FfwKFSdDQohUGzrjEpn0j2Yi9hcS270QYJbG2mS_PRhmjZ0Rx6iwhM/s320/sunset-red-080508.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205780609528006626" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The sunsets around here are awesome — with or without clouds.<br /></span>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904260388441998832.post-32419011621991187982008-05-23T23:20:00.000-07:002008-05-24T01:18:09.658-07:00Our new homeWe were a bit concerned that we would fit into a "one-bedroom unit" after our three bedroom house in Sydney, but were pleasantly surprised — its pretty compact, but the living area is quite spacious, and clean except for the red dust on top of the fridge and cupboards. It has all the necessities, including a fridge, the world's smallest lounge, washing machine, table and chairs and a bed. Hang on, its a <span style="font-style:italic;">single</span> bed! Hmmm ..... Luckily it also has a very large pantry cupboard, because a large part of what we brought with us was my entire pantry contents. I was quite depressed unpacking, I had no idea how it was all going to fit, but with some re-organisation, its all in and working. First thing Evan did when he got all the boxes in was to locate his laptop and make sure the internet was working, which it was, so he was happy. The phone wasn't though, and there is no mobile coverage here, so we had to go to the public phone box outside the pub to phone and let various people know we were here safely. The stove wasn't working either, it runs on gas, and we assumed the gas cylinder was empty.<br /><br />We threw our camping mattress on the floor and went out to explore our new surrounds. We have "water glimpses" — you can just see the billabong through the trees, so we headed down there to check it out. The ground around here is covered in gibber stones, and is very rocky, not to mention the red dust everywhere. The billabong is a fairly pleasant expanse of brown water, and can be quite picturesque in the right light. The vast flat horizon is just amazing, there is such a feeling of space here. And as we walked over to the pub for dinner, we saw more stars in the night sky than I've seen for a very long time. Dinner at the pub was very good, city-quality food, although a little pricey, and we wandered home and slept very soundly on our very hard camp mattress.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqTyLOsde2slcI6GsvA8pO-GKjNx4P1Pa1Mw0cExo1AtkQOH8CVtFeUHHMk2R-xg6YTJnN3zGK135Hh_z5u5GVleqVfoCY5O89z3ded70uyMKcvta2gIzi8J-6ravgtfd4qv4fvdByo50/s1600-h/author-at-work.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqTyLOsde2slcI6GsvA8pO-GKjNx4P1Pa1Mw0cExo1AtkQOH8CVtFeUHHMk2R-xg6YTJnN3zGK135Hh_z5u5GVleqVfoCY5O89z3ded70uyMKcvta2gIzi8J-6ravgtfd4qv4fvdByo50/s320/author-at-work.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203845567847368450" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Evan's happy — his office is operational.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGK3FIMwwi-XieSvX0fyT3xfqKqiezE4CtoDDsOTm2XOu3Xq71670AlotbweQIVBSXu7_jlA2QHyLtuGk_f_HDWUkSwaXAKhlR3Qge8F4OZDdYw-eu73rzyEahAqtiaNwCKSkPK6ROZs/s1600-h/house_front-to-kitchen.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGK3FIMwwi-XieSvX0fyT3xfqKqiezE4CtoDDsOTm2XOu3Xq71670AlotbweQIVBSXu7_jlA2QHyLtuGk_f_HDWUkSwaXAKhlR3Qge8F4OZDdYw-eu73rzyEahAqtiaNwCKSkPK6ROZs/s320/house_front-to-kitchen.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203845567847368466" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">All the comforts of home ....</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggR12_RblkmrB4E__8xhzECXm3uUqHvOjy_yX7cACioV4t4KBQnwyQYaMIiDdV-pQZNJ_xAIqLKAD2vT7t3RSpTQToSj0n1l3H8YTBX4IxRnkTjsBrBVFtJnzG7EXRnMZabha7CVQg8kc/s1600-h/view-from-back-door.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggR12_RblkmrB4E__8xhzECXm3uUqHvOjy_yX7cACioV4t4KBQnwyQYaMIiDdV-pQZNJ_xAIqLKAD2vT7t3RSpTQToSj0n1l3H8YTBX4IxRnkTjsBrBVFtJnzG7EXRnMZabha7CVQg8kc/s320/view-from-back-door.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203845572142335778" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The view of the desert from the back door. Note equally unencumbered back yard — except for the Hills Hoist!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7qgfeKIju9_AxIRYVmw_I1GxLru8wr0VRKjPtJkvvUjU-QNWU4Kid7C22lDfM5T_OiWlqhXARB6p7mhCA6r8Fbw7VbziS9iAKguQUolehESlTShyV8j2ZUdmi0z95HFAku7uFRiAME8A/s1600-h/house-front.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7qgfeKIju9_AxIRYVmw_I1GxLru8wr0VRKjPtJkvvUjU-QNWU4Kid7C22lDfM5T_OiWlqhXARB6p7mhCA6r8Fbw7VbziS9iAKguQUolehESlTShyV8j2ZUdmi0z95HFAku7uFRiAME8A/s320/house-front.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203845572142335794" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The view through the front window is surprisingly leafy.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8p-XfW24iWJCRreIJqs2EVCmbpXqRjv23K_7bsNSw0LHC2TARhu1vyUnCl0dq4QxvY49ylV3AhoxUCx_lQDp_jfCf0tIsyHvIfY4gColGGwwedvUjVxJ5BnKHMupxcaSbiIo8CsNuvzc/s1600-h/Gibber-Court.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8p-XfW24iWJCRreIJqs2EVCmbpXqRjv23K_7bsNSw0LHC2TARhu1vyUnCl0dq4QxvY49ylV3AhoxUCx_lQDp_jfCf0tIsyHvIfY4gColGGwwedvUjVxJ5BnKHMupxcaSbiIo8CsNuvzc/s320/Gibber-Court.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203850614433941330" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Gibber Court.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggbYhUFvD5f2TF9xbW47ZG-ghHZoKYHbpch3qwhZAgFGwfx8jD33wUA8pUAWji_3Tx7cHZbzHyq66QA1vxS0qV77vDoxhzmsDksxe09g4dhAFC1aftfvA1UC2jb42E8yZiI_XHljtgabA/s1600-h/Over-the-road.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggbYhUFvD5f2TF9xbW47ZG-ghHZoKYHbpch3qwhZAgFGwfx8jD33wUA8pUAWji_3Tx7cHZbzHyq66QA1vxS0qV77vDoxhzmsDksxe09g4dhAFC1aftfvA1UC2jb42E8yZiI_XHljtgabA/s320/Over-the-road.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203850614433941346" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Over the road.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxeIv2GG4LrNAM2nQqjJ56qvbqun8pvZe_hs8J2fMAtdyOgtyO2S9ICB4PuSlGkY3pBbk1IBq223R4edVbxh_l7UACI-gwuZqdonKEV_CtCgGxBUIrRqOi4c78OLpa11rQffXKkVamt00/s1600-h/seats-at-billabong.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxeIv2GG4LrNAM2nQqjJ56qvbqun8pvZe_hs8J2fMAtdyOgtyO2S9ICB4PuSlGkY3pBbk1IBq223R4edVbxh_l7UACI-gwuZqdonKEV_CtCgGxBUIrRqOi4c78OLpa11rQffXKkVamt00/s320/seats-at-billabong.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203845576437303106" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The billabong near our place.</span>Michelle Outbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17678635374874024447noreply@blogger.com0