Well we're off too!

[Cmar]

Hi peeps.
Tomorrow we're off to the far west of Queensland to Birdsville on the edge of the Simpson desert. Every year they have an event on "Big Red" which is the first (or last depending on whether you opt for an eastern or western crossing) dune you cross when doing a Simpson crossing. I crossed it from the west in my Bronco back in 1992, it's a BIG dune which has killed many a vehicle mostly because of the rough run up necessary.

They bring out big name bands and actually perform on Big Red for a week. some of the profit goes to important charities like the flying doctor. We will be taking our Jayco Pop top and camping on site along with 5,000 others and two groups of friends from our local area - we're all campers and have done a number of trips together over the years.
Will take us most of a week to get there traveling leisurely. Trip back will be much quicker my wife and I both have to work!

Will post a few photos. Here's one from a previous year.

From https://rvdaily.com.au/brisbane-big-red-bash/

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[Cmar]

Well team got back yesterday. Some pics, unfortunately a weather system went through whilst we were there and it rained 1 day and 1night in and area that that can literally go for years at a time without rain. You can see water spots on the lens on my first pic from the top of Big Red. Still being a desert it dry out pretty quickly but the trip home was fun, as the Diamantina Development road which runs from the western highway out to Birdsville is mostly a dirt road we did some 4x4 just to get back. The Betoota Hotel is a stop halfway along the Diamatina development road. It is literaly a pub in the middle of nowhere, no town just a pub. The owner likes to collect old Fords so I thought you would appreciate this. It will probably last forever out there in the desert.

 

[Crow_of_judgement]

Shame about the weather, looks like a good time

 

[Cmar]

Shame about the weather, looks like a good time

Like I said it did dry out pretty fast, but the camping area is actually a dried out lake bed. So when that talc fine silt gets wet...... well, fun, you gain 6" in height just by waking around!

 

[rang19ca]

I hope you had a good time anyway.

 

[IdahoRanger]

Quite an event!

 

[Dr_Strangelove]

The Betoota Hotel is a stop halfway along the Diamatina development road. It is literaly a pub in the middle of nowhere, no town just a pub.

What are you talking about? I read their newspaper https://www.betootaadvocate.com/


Glad you had fun, looks like a great outing!

 

[Cmar]

Oh yeah how many people can say they got caught in the rain on the edge of the Simpson desert. Trust me a good time was still had. It was my wife's first trip to the far west - she loved it!

I hope you had a good time anyway.

 

[Cmar]

A few more pics for your enjoyment - sorry about the delay in posting, I came back to a mountain of work to be cleared up.

So in order, one of my favourite bands from the 1980's - still going the Hoodo Gurus.
Our campsite once it started to dry out. You can just see the Ranger in the corner.
Yet another use for gaffer tape, the mud literally sucked the sole off my sneaker - fix held up for the rest of the trip too!
Those of you who have been to Vegas may have seen these guys - Human Nature an Aussie Mowtown style boy band who have been playing there for the last 14 years.

A sunrise in Charleville in the Queensland far west, the camp ground was actually on the site of an old Cobb & co stagecoach depot.
Cobb& Co is literally a link between the American Wild west and the Aussie wild west.

Back in the mid 1800's when transport in the outback began to get organised it was found that the English design coaches used did not work well here on our rough roads, and two wheel tracks between towns.
Designed for smooth English roads, they gave a rough ride and shook apart.
An American immigrant - Freeman Cobb recognised the problem and organised with some Australian business partners (the Co) to import Concord stagecoaches from the US.
These were of course designed for similar trail conditions and were tried, and worked well. They were later further modified and built here, and the basic design was used until about 1920's when rail and motor trucks took over.
Will it ever be clean again? By this stage most of the mud from the Birdsville road had shaken off.

A very pleasant outback pub at Muckadilla where we overnight-ed on the way out - best steak sandwiches and burgers you ever ate! I saw B double road trains pull up and race across the road to pick up the lunches they had obviously phoned ahead to order. They had lots of artesian bore water here so it's a little sea of green in the red! Unlike a lot of artesian water in Australia which can be sulphurous smelling, or salty, the stuff here was pretty good and we topped up our caravan tanks.

The original pub from the 1800's burned down a couple of years ago and this tiny community of about 30 people banded together and rebuilt it in the same style, and it's now an icon for passing travelers with camping out the back. And a great sense of Aussie humour.
I wish I had taken an inside shot, all rough sawn red gum trusses and recycled corrugated iron bar, with a big fireplace in the corner. The urinals and hand basins in the toilets are made from recycled stainless steel beer kegs.

 

[rang19ca]

I love the bench of bullshit.

 

[Cmar]

I love the bench of bullshit.

Yeah I imagine it gets a workout on Friday nights.

 

[IdahoRanger]

I love the bench of bullshit.

Need one of those in the nations capital.

 

[AzScorpion]

Need one of those in the nations capital.

There's so much BS there they'd need a Sequoia tree for that one!

 

[BS67]

There's so much BS there they'd need a Sequoia tree for that one!

 

[Cmar]

A few more pics for your enjoyment - sorry about the delay in posting, I came back to a mountain of work to be cleared up.

So in order, one of my favourite bands from the 1980's - still going the Hoodo Gurus.
Our campsite once it started to dry out. You can just see the Ranger in the corner.
Yet another use for gaffer tape, the mud literally sucked the sole off my sneaker - fix held up for the rest of the trip too!
Those of you who have been to Vegas may have seen these guys - Human Nature an Aussie Mowtown style boy band who have been playing there for the last 14 years.

A sunrise in Charleville in the Queensland far west, the camp ground was actually on the site of an old Cobb & co stagecoach depot.
Cobb& Co is literally a link between the American Wild west and the Aussie wild west.

Back in the mid 1800's when transport in the outback began to get organised it was found that the English design coaches used did not work well here on our rough roads, and two wheel tracks between towns.
Designed for smooth English roads, they gave a rough ride and shook apart.
An American immigrant - Freeman Cobb recognised the problem and organised with some Australian business partners (the Co) to import Concord stagecoaches from the US.
These were of course designed for similar trail conditions and were tried, and worked well. They were later further modified and built here, and the basic design was used until about 1920's when rail and motor trucks took over.
Will it ever be clean again? By this stage most of the mud from the Birdsville road had shaken off.

A very pleasant outback pub at Muckadilla where we overnight-ed on the way out - best steak sandwiches and burgers you ever ate! I saw B double road trains pull up and race across the road to pick up the lunches they had obviously phoned ahead to order. They had lots of artesian bore water here so it's a little sea of green in the red! Unlike a lot of artesian water in Australia which can be sulphurous smelling, or salty, the stuff here was pretty good and we topped up our caravan tanks.

The original pub from the 1800's burned down a couple of years ago and this tiny community of about 30 people banded together and rebuilt it in the same style, and it's now an icon for passing travelers with camping out the back. And a great sense of Aussie humour.
I wish I had taken an inside shot, all rough sawn red gum trusses and recycled corrugated iron bar, with a big fireplace in the corner. The urinals and hand basins in the toilets are made from recycled stainless steel beer kegs.

Well both the Caravan and Truck are clean again, and our front yard has been top dressed with central Australian red dirt.
Took three passes with a pressure washer, hose, and finally cloth / brush and proper car wash to clean.
First pass was using CT18 Truck Wash, that stuff would strip the hide off an Elephant. Unfortunately it also tends to remove wax and polish but at least it strips off the dirt without the need to rub and thus scratch the finish.
I'm about to re-polish now. Was pleased to see only a few new stone chips despite about 500 Km of dirt and gravel road on this trip.

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