Birdsville, Australia's Desert Town
Birdsville Is An Oasis In The Remote Desert Of Central Australia
Jan 23, 2009
Birdsville sits beside the Diamantina River about 1600 kilometres west of Queensland’s capital Brisbane. The town is surrounded by arid desert, with the sandy Simpson Desert to the west and Sturt’s Stony Desert to the south east. The Queensland – South Australia border is only 10 kilometres south of Birdsville.
History Of Birdsville
The first European to visit the region, explorer Charles Sturt, described the area as a “desperate region having no parallel on earth”. A few years later, in 1860, the Burke and Wills expedition camped a short distance from the future Birdsville town centre.
Birdsville was established in 1881 and originally called Diamantina Crossing. Historians believe that in 1885, Robert Frew, the owner of a nearby cattle station renamed the town Birdsville because he was amazed at the amount of birdlife inhabiting the waterholes of the Diamantina River. Wills had also noted the abundance of birdlife.
Birdsville initially established as a toll collection point for drovers taking cattle from Queensland south the 500 kilometres down the Birdsville Track to the railhead at Maree. With the federation of Australia in 1901, tolls between the states were removed and Birdsville declined in importance
Birdsville And The Simpson Desert
Today’s Birdsville is the starting point for 4WD travellers heading off on the iconic traverse of the Simpson Desert. Or it is an oasis for intrepid travellers who have crossed the Simpson’s 1,100 sand dunes from west to east. These dunes average about 30 metres high and are 200 to 600 metres apart.
The Simpson Desert starts about 70 kilometres west of Birdsville. One of the first major obstacles (35 kilometres from Birdsville) is a huge sand dune, affectionately known as Big Red. This dune has a number of different tracks up and over it, or around.
The 570 kilometre crossing of the Simpson Desert between Dalhousie Springs and Birdsville takes a minium of three days. The Simpson is a true desert with no facilities so travellers have to stock up on food, water and fuel at Birdsville.
The Birdsville Track
Another iconic Australian trip from Birdsville is the 500 kilometres trip south along the Birdsville Track to Maree. This track was developed in the 1880s as a major cattle droving route.
Birdsville Races
As well as the access point to Australia’s remote inland deserts, Birdsville is famous for the annual Birdsville Races. These are held every September at the racecourse just out of town. During race week, the population of Birdsville swells from around 120 to 6,000 with people flying and driving to the town from all over Australia.
Many people fly in to Birdsville by light plane. The parking area for the planes is just a short walk to the Birdsville Hotel.
The other way to get to Birdsville is the drive the hundreds of kilometres of dirt roads from north (Mt Isa), South (Adelaide), or east (Brisbane). The road from Brisbane takes the traveller through the ghost town of Betoota.
Birdsville Hotel
Apart from Sydney’s structures of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, one of the most photographed buildings in Australia is the Birdsville Hotel. This is a single story, stone building with dirt veranda. It was established in 1884 and is listed with the National Trust.
Birdsville gets the majority of its power from a geothermal power station using hot water from Australia’s Great Artesian Basin to drive an 80 kW generator. This water, once cooled, is used as the town’s drinking water supply.
Poet Douglas Stewart summed up Birdsville with the words:
Between two deserts
On a ridge in the sun
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