Birdsville

We arrived in Birdsville two days earlier than planned because the Cordillo Downs and Arrabury roads, heading north from Innamincka, remained closed due to last week's rain.

 

These road closures forced us north towards Windorah via the bitumen. We then joined the Birdsville Development Road 118 west of Windorah, where the single-lane bitumen ended. The remaining 261 km of dirt into Birdsville was unaffected by the previous week's rain.

 

Our hot water heater stopped working four days ago. Meanwhile, we have been boiling water on the stove and washing with a sponge bath in the shower cubicle.

I used a pin inserted into the small hole where the gas enters the flue, but this didn't clear the blockage. As a last resort, I used a needle attachment from my kit—designed to blow up footballs and basketballs—that fit neatly into my compressor hose. I managed to clear what must have been dust lodged in the gas line. End result: happy wife, happy life.

We are currently camped on the town common about 1.5 km south of the town. Water taps are scattered throughout this area, and there is a dump point nearby. There are probably about forty vans camped here at the moment, with new arrivals each day. The caravan park still has vacant spots, but I'm sure it will fill up in the coming days.

So our days here have been spent reading, relaxing, walking into town each day, and watching the new arrivals come in from the south.