Birdsville - will the old bus make it?

Planning an extended trip through Qld very soon - in an old Viscount caravan
pulled by a very slightly newer (but well-maintained) Ford Falcon.

This old bloke would dearly love to have a beer in the Birdsville pub, but
don't like the look of the dotted red line (unsealed highway - how much
highway and how much unsealed?) on the map of the road leaving the
Diamantina Developmental Rd.

Will we need a 4WD to get there, or can we just tootle in on the old bus?

And "Diamantina Developmental Rd" - eh? - they're still digging it or what?

Any help/advise/abuse gratefully received.

Grandad

On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 07:59:20 GMT, "Derek" wrote:

Planning an extended trip through Qld very soon - in an old Viscount caravan
pulled by a very slightly newer (but well-maintained) Ford Falcon.

Ask aus.cars or aus.cars.offroad also.....

DS

Derek wrote:
Planning an extended trip through Qld very soon - in an old Viscount caravan
pulled by a very slightly newer (but well-maintained) Ford Falcon.

This old bloke would dearly love to have a beer in the Birdsville pub, but
don't like the look of the dotted red line (unsealed highway - how much
highway and how much unsealed?) on the map of the road leaving the
Diamantina Developmental Rd.

Will we need a 4WD to get there, or can we just tootle in on the old bus?

And "Diamantina Developmental Rd" - eh? - they're still digging it or what?

Any help/advise/abuse gratefully received.

Grandad

Of course road conditions change quickly, so take this with a grain of
sale, but at least the part of the *Birdsville* Developemental Road
(i.e. the unsealed part via Betoota (assuming you mean to come in that
way)) from the Cordillo Downs road turnoff to Birdsville was quite OK in
november last year. We drove a 4WD, but it was plain sailing (which
couldn't be said for (part of) the CD Road).

Also the Birdsville Track, i.e. from Lyndhurst/Marree, was quite OK
in (late) 2002 and 2003.

I would not recommend the road from Boulia and Bedourie to Birdsville
in a 2WD. We did that in (late) 2002 and it was actually worse than the
'real' tracks we did before (Tanami, Oodnadatta, Strzelecki and
Birdsville).

But, as I said, road conditions change quickly.

in article , Frank Slootweg at
lid wrote on 6/25/04 5:33 AM:

Derek wrote:
Planning an extended trip through Qld very soon - in an old Viscount caravan
pulled by a very slightly newer (but well-maintained) Ford Falcon.

This old bloke would dearly love to have a beer in the Birdsville pub, but
don't like the look of the dotted red line (unsealed highway - how much
highway and how much unsealed?) on the map of the road leaving the
Diamantina Developmental Rd.

Will we need a 4WD to get there, or can we just tootle in on the old bus?

And "Diamantina Developmental Rd" - eh? - they're still digging it or what?

Any help/advise/abuse gratefully received.

Grandad

Of course road conditions change quickly, so take this with a grain of
sale, but at least the part of the *Birdsville* Developemental Road
(i.e. the unsealed part via Betoota (assuming you mean to come in that
way)) from the Cordillo Downs road turnoff to Birdsville was quite OK in
november last year. We drove a 4WD, but it was plain sailing (which
couldn't be said for (part of) the CD Road).

Also the Birdsville Track, i.e. from Lyndhurst/Marree, was quite OK
in (late) 2002 and 2003.

I would not recommend the road from Boulia and Bedourie to Birdsville
in a 2WD. We did that in (late) 2002 and it was actually worse than the
'real' tracks we did before (Tanami, Oodnadatta, Strzelecki and
Birdsville).

But, as I said, road conditions change quickly.


Frank is dead on. In good conditions, a regular saloon car can make the
trip quite easily, and many do (it's a far cry from the "Back of Beyond"
film legend). In bad conditions - which can be on as little as a couple
hours' notice - it can be impassible to a tank. Don't forget to check local
weather conditions throughout the length of the track, and forecasts for the
entire time you plan to be out bush. It's not just the immediate weather
that is relevant - if it rains a hundred miles away and the cachments are
full, the "rain tumbles down in July" and can easily cut all parts of the
track.

Either way, make sure someone reliable knows when you plan to be there, and
back so they can send up the alarm if you don't check in (it can be
something completely unexpected, like being caught in a dust cloud from a
passing road train and flipping the car off the road).

Oh, and do me a favour - fill up at the Mobil, not the Shell. If it's the
same bloke who was there in 2001, he did what is probably the most
uncharacteristic thing for the outback: tried to take unfair advantage of my
auto problems.

OTOH, if you have a chance take in Ludwig's art gallery and patronize him.
He's truly fair dinkum and pretty talented with a brush to boot.

Generally a 2wd is OK! Pulling a caravan - hmmmm! I wouldn't do it with a
2wd on that road, but if you're experienced at towing and get up to date
road reports (Phone the Birdsville Police or David Brook's store!) I suppose
it's doable.
As others have said conditions can change if it rains. The surface of the
unsealed portion can also improve dramatically if the Shire runs a grader
over it (which they do usually at least once a year!).


"Derek" wrote in message
...
Planning an extended trip through Qld very soon - in an old Viscount
caravan
pulled by a very slightly newer (but well-maintained) Ford Falcon.

This old bloke would dearly love to have a beer in the Birdsville pub, but
don't like the look of the dotted red line (unsealed highway - how much
highway and how much unsealed?) on the map of the road leaving the
Diamantina Developmental Rd.

Will we need a 4WD to get there, or can we just tootle in on the old bus?

And "Diamantina Developmental Rd" - eh? - they're still digging it or
what?

Any help/advise/abuse gratefully received.

Grandad

Thanks for all the responses. Much better informed now about the area. Doing
some research into our trip while the missus is in Sydney with her sister.
To which end I've put a slab of XXXX bitter in the fridge - and all those
QLDers who've told me over the years how good that beer is - they're right!
Basically wanted to try it so I wouldn't spit it over the bar at first sip
with remarks about horse **** - and arouse some QLD ire - but no risk. XXXX
is to beer what stilton is to cheese. (That's a level way above the average,
I mean) Except for that cloudy drop of heaven, SA's Coopers!

Till my next stupid question - cheers!

Grandad

in article , Grandad (Derek)
at wrote on 6/26/04 6:13 AM:

Thanks for all the responses. Much better informed now about the area. Doing
some research into our trip while the missus is in Sydney with her sister.
To which end I've put a slab of XXXX bitter in the fridge - and all those
QLDers who've told me over the years how good that beer is - they're right!
Basically wanted to try it so I wouldn't spit it over the bar at first sip
with remarks about horse **** - and arouse some QLD ire - but no risk. XXXX
is to beer what stilton is to cheese. (That's a level way above the average,
I mean) Except for that cloudy drop of heaven, SA's Coopers!

Till my next stupid question - cheers!

Grandad



Why do Qld'ers call their beer XXXX? Because they can't spell "beer."

Cooper's rules. XXXX? Um.....the most diplomatic verdict might be, it's an
"acquired taste."

"Grandad \(Derek\)" wrote:
Thanks for all the responses. Much better informed now about the area. Doing
some research into our trip while the missus is in Sydney with her sister.
To which end I've put a slab of XXXX bitter in the fridge - and all those
QLDers who've told me over the years how good that beer is - they're right!
Basically wanted to try it so I wouldn't spit it over the bar at first sip
with remarks about horse **** - and arouse some QLD ire - but no risk. XXXX
is to beer what stilton is to cheese. (That's a level way above the average,
I mean) Except for that cloudy drop of heaven, SA's Coopers!

Till my next stupid question - cheers!

Grandad

Come on, mate! Do you *have* to be so bloody cruel? A large part of
the audience is not from Oz and can't get their hands on the great
Aussie beers you're mentioning!

Frank "Totally frustated (and bloody thirsty) in The Netherlands!" :-) Slootweg

in article , Frank Slootweg at
lid wrote on 6/26/04 11:43 AM:

"Grandad \(Derek\)" wrote:
Thanks for all the responses. Much better informed now about the area. Doing
some research into our trip while the missus is in Sydney with her sister.
To which end I've put a slab of XXXX bitter in the fridge - and all those
QLDers who've told me over the years how good that beer is - they're right!
Basically wanted to try it so I wouldn't spit it over the bar at first sip
with remarks about horse **** - and arouse some QLD ire - but no risk. XXXX
is to beer what stilton is to cheese. (That's a level way above the average,
I mean) Except for that cloudy drop of heaven, SA's Coopers!

Till my next stupid question - cheers!

Grandad

Come on, mate! Do you *have* to be so bloody cruel? A large part of
the audience is not from Oz and can't get their hands on the great
Aussie beers you're mentioning!

Frank "Totally frustated (and bloody thirsty) in The Netherlands!" :-)
Slootweg

Yeah, yeah, yeah....speaking as a Canuck for whom "foreign beer" consists of
Fosters and Heinekin - don't count, do they Frank?!

Raffi Balmanoukian a wrote:
[deleted]
Yeah, yeah, yeah....speaking as a Canuck for whom "foreign beer" consists of
Fosters and Heinekin - don't count, do they Frank?!

Well, I still somewhat associate Fosters with Oz, so I prefer it to
Heineken, especially when I'm homesick for Oz (which isn't often, just
100% of the time! :-)). On Heineken: They don't make a bad drink, but I
don't understand why it says "beer" on the bottle/tin! :-)

Frank "Dreaming about the cold ones in the Birsdville Hotel!" Slootweg