Birdsville and Big Red Bash Bound

 We arrived in Birdsville on Monday, the 19th of June, after leaving home on Sunday, the 4th of June. We always camp on the Town Common located southeast of town where there are no facilities apart from water taps situated every hundred metres apart. 

The Common is a considerable distance from town and can comfortably fit several thousand vans without feeling crammed in, like a caravan park. The water comes from the Great Artesian Basin system that is 2032 km long and 1450 km wide. The depth of the bore is 1292 metres with a surface temperature of 98 degrees Celcius. The water is cooled in ponds before being pumped 20 metres into the air in the 45,000-litre tank and distributed to the town for drinking and household use, including the taps on the Town Common.

When we first arrived, at most twenty vans would have been here, so our choice of sites was limitless. We chose an area with a gravel base just over one kilometre from town and close to the bitumen road, which would ensure we weren't covered in dust from passing traffic, which seems to happen more frequently with the vast majority of people not concerned about affecting other people.

We enjoyed our daily walks and, on average, clocked up around five kilometres.

Vans have been arriving in dribs and drabs for the past week, but by Tuesday the 27th, the arrivals have been steady. The Birdsville Track has been closed due to a rain event streaming down from Western Australia into Central Australia. Vans already on the track before the closure were allowed to continue onto Birdsville, and they were all covered in thick mud from top to bottom.

The rain eventually reached us, with the weather bureau forecasting over 13 mm. Still, thankfully, we only received just over 5 mm, but this was enough to turn the common into a muddy expanse, and it was interesting seeing some of the 4WD towing vans trying to find any patch of ground to camp without becoming bogged.

The forecast was for more rain in the coming days, so our two-day early entry on Sunday, the 2nd of June, was moved to Friday, the 30th of July. After picking up the wristbands we wore for the concert, we popped into the Birdsville Hotel for lunch and a beer. Ros enjoyed her chicken burger, and I my steak sandwich.

We left Birdsville at 6:10 the following morning to head out to Big Red to attend the Bash, hoping we would be closer to the main arena and all the food vendors. Still, we found out later that people had even camped on the access road the night before, so we were camped five rows back from the main area.

Our first four days were spent walking on average just over six kilometres daily, looking at the rigs and a daily climb up Big Red, over forty metres in height.

We enjoyed breakfast in the van but, on most days, purchased lunch and dinner from the food vendors, which, at $70 per day, certainly added up quickly. Our favourites included the wood-fired pizzas, the brisket and pork belly burgers, and the pies baked daily in ovens on board a semi-trailer. Another favourite was soft-serve ice cream with fruit blended through and served in a waffle cone.

Our main reason for attending this year was to see Icehouse, Human Nature, Ross Wilson and Goana, who we had never seen in concert before, and we weren't disappointed.

Well, the predicted rain eventually arrived, and overnight, we received 8mm, which turned the whole area into one large mud hole, which made conditions a little trying, but then we all just coped.

Our front awning strut was making a noise and keeping us awake at night, and we put this down to the fact that we'd had strong winds. The following day, we tried to retract our electric awning to no avail. Thankfully, I had purchased Starlink and could contact Bushtracker firstly by phone and then FaceTime to find out the process I needed to follow to rectify our problem.

It involved removing the awning motor, manually pushing the awning arms against the van, securing them with cable ties before reinstalling the motor, and manually rolling the awning fabric back against the roller. The awning fabric became loose again, so we've been through the same process yet again, but this time, we have installed more duct tape to the front of the awning fabric that hopefully will keep things in check for longer.

I've contacted Bushtracker again, and we are heading to the Sunshine Coast to the factory to have them fix the problem and install a new strut.

Apart from the music, there are other ways to donate money to different charities. Three events occur before the music starts each day, and these are the Nutbush City Limits Dance to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctors. Each entrant pays $15, and the Guinness Book of Records have marshalls on hand to ensure that the dance members follow the moves correctly or they are removed from the event. Another world record was achieved this year, with 5838 people completing the Nutbush successfully.

Also supporting the Royal Flying Doctors is the Drag Race, where men pay to run along Big Red and down into the arena wearing their best finery.

A new event this year to raise money for Type 1 diabetes consisted of people purchasing blue wigs and standing on a map of Australia that had been drawn on the ground.

This will be our last Bash. While it's still a fabulous event, three times for us is enough and besides, the event is getting bigger each year; with rumours that over fifteen thousand people were attending, it's all getting out of hand.

We met a volunteer who had been in the merchandise tent, and she said over eleven million dollars had been spent throughout the Bash.