En route to the Big Red Bash

Enroute to the Big Red Bash

Sunday 25^th – Friday 30^th June

We left at 5pm on Sunday headed for the Big Red Bash just near Birdville. Our drive up went like this:

Sunday- Bundalong to Darlington Point (on the Murrumbidgee River) with a quick stop at Jerilderie for dinner at the pub. It was a freezing night so the newly installed diesel heater was much appreciated!

Monday- Darlington Point to about 60kms north of Bourke. We left as soon as we got up in the morning as it was still way too cold to sit around and eat breakfast. Instead we stopped at Griffith and had coffee and breakfast in a sunny park where the kids made the most of a very interesting and fun piece of play equipment. It was big day driving, broken up with lunch at Cobar and a stretch stop at Bourke before we rolled into a highway free camp about 5.30pm where we met up with Mum and Dad.

Enjoying our breakfast stop at a park at Griffith

As we were leaving Griffith we got 2 bags of the sweetest and juiciest oranges we've ever tasted. 

Just us and the open road.

Lunch stop at Cobar, a mining town in outback NSW.

Tuesday – Roadside stop north of Bourke to Alroy Station via Cunnamulla. We crossed the border to QLD about 30 minutes into our journey today, but it came up unexpectedly so we missed the photo op. We stopped for an extended break in Cunnamulla where we wandered up the main street and checked out the restored railway station and just absorbed the Outback feel of the place. We drove on to a station that had great reviews on WikiCamps. The highlight was definitely soaking in their hot artesian bore baths and letting our sore muscles (from too much time in the car) relax. It was a lovely evening and we enjoyed sitting by our first campfire for a long time. Daniel got up early for a run and was rewarded with a spectacular Outback sunrise.

Statues made from old farming tools at the historic Cunnamulla Railway Station.

The Cunnamulla Fella- a statue celebrating the Slim Dusty song about quintessential Aussie outback blokes.

Our first campfire for the trip- at Alroy Station

Enjoying a soak in the hot artesian water.

Wednesday- Alroy Station to 30km east of Windorah. After a relaxing morning and another hot bath we headed into Quilpie to refuel and grab a few more fresh supplies. The night before we’d found out that they were changing the Big Red Bash entry day for the 2 Day Early Entry ticket holders to Friday instead of Sunday, as a lot of rain was predicted so we had to make sure we had enough supplies for at least 7 nights now, instead of 5. We pulled into an open field in the late afternoon and enjoyed a remote, secluded camp.

Sunrise and hot chocolate at our secluded camp spot.

Thursday- East of Windorah to Betoota Hotel. We pulled into Windorah about 9am and caught up with Mum and Dad, Peter and Helen and Kate and Matt (who’d done some seriously long days to make it up here so quickly after only leaving Melbourne on Tuesday morning). We all had a hot shower (gotta love these Outback towns that let you shower for a donation to the RFDS) and refuelled again before making our way to the Betoota Hotel. We spent the afternoon and evening at the quirky Outback pub with around 1000 or so others who’d also stopped for the night.

Betoota Hotel- it is literally a pub in the middle of nowhere

There were heaps of old cars and trucks which the boys loved.

Logan, Ollie and Jackson playing bocce at our camp site, we camped a few hundred metres from the pub right next to a river.

The grounds were littered with old glass bottles and debris from the past. Jackson and Jenna had a great time collecting old bottles and looking at the many different designs. Some were really old and very interesting.

Just as the sun was setting we made our way up to the pub for a spit roast dinner.

Friday- Betoota Hotel to the Big Red Bash. We left before sunrise hoping to make it into Birdsville and get fuel before the queues got too big. Our early start paid off and we refulled, got our tickets and got bread without having to queue at all. Before heading into the Bash we checked out the iconic Birdsville Hotel, where the boys all had an morning drink. We headed out to the Big Red Bash site (about 35kms west of Birdsville) about midday, prepared to queue to enter but to our surprise we drove straight in and were given a fantastic camping spot, only a short walk from the concert area. After setting up camp, we spent the afternoon exploring Big Red (the big sand dune that provides the backdrop for the concert) and watching the kids get more and more daring with their sand-boarding tricks!

Welcome to Country sign on road towards Birdsville, welcoming us to Wangkangurru Yarluyandi land.

Whisky for morning tea at the iconic Birdsville Hotel.

We were so lucky and didn't have to queue up to enter the Big Red Bash camp area - we just drove straight in.

The view down onto the concert and camp areas from the top of Big Red (the biggest sand dune in the Simpson Desert). There weren't many campers there yet as we had 2 day early entry tickets, plus we entered another 2 days early to get in before the predicted rain was likely to close the roads.

Jackson's first attempts at sandboarding ended with a few prickles and sand everywhere!!