Historic outback

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Day 10 (Rest Day)
After a little Bike maintenance we rode out 30kms to the iconic “Big Red” Sand Dune which is the 1st big sand dune heading into the Simpson Desert. It has a soft sand track leading steeply over the dune. Like a magnet it attract me to have a go and, as expected I failed with a soft sand landing. With assistance from Keith & David in picking up the bike from the sand I retreated down to a harder surface where the others had watched & laughed from.
Back into Birdsville we gassed up ready for the journey resuming tomorrow and then had lunch in the hotel before enjoying a lazy afternoon. Dinner in the hotel before watching the John Farnham documentary.
Day 11.
Out of Birdsville, after a café breakfast, we were immediately on a good straight gravel road through the desert. Still the same scrubby vegetation amongst endless kms of sand & rocks. This road must be earmarked for sealing as every 30 or 40kms there was a few kms of reasonably new seal, and there was some roadwork in progress. Two sections of the sealed road were designated emergency landing strips and had runway type markings.
We had met up with a tour operator Howard in a 4wd Landcruiser a couple of days previously at a road house at Maree before the Birdsville Track. His clients were 3 older ladies (probably nearly as old as me) who seemed to be enjoying the tour. They also stayed at the Birdsville Hotel and took a sightseeing flight out over Big Red & Eyre Creek which they said was spectacular.
Howard told us that off the Birdsville Development Rd that we were traveling on today, at the 170km mark there was a 5km diversion to an old pub at Betoota which was worth visiting. We took his advise and visited there after Howard & his ladies had already been through. This place is literally in the middle of a dusty nowhere and the owner regaled us with some interesting stories. Apparently it was built in the late 1800s & from the photos in the “ballroom” it was a busy place back in the day & was a stop on mail & transport routes to Birdsville. Eventually it was bought by a WW11 Polish refugee, Ziggy who ran it and over time gradually went mad there and died. The current owner old us a couple of interesting stories that may or may not be true, including one where he felled a regular client with a baseball bat for an unpaid accommodation bill which wasn’t owed! According to a regular there is also lots of money & guns buried around the hotel as Ziggy didn't trust banks.

Eventually Ziggy died & is buried in the back garden of the pub. He bequeathed the pub In all its dilapidated glory to the publican of the Birdsville Hotel with the proviso that he didn’t sell it. After many years the current owner who had been nagging the owner to tidy it up as it was being destroyed by vandals & was not a fitting tribute to the previous owner, managed to buy it and spend 3 years getting into a reasonable shape. Now he lives there & runs it with help from some friends. It’s a quiet backwater except when the “Big Red Bash” (google it) is on in Birdsville. He said during that week he serves 2000 pies, thousands of sausage rolls and no doubt thousands of litres of alcohol. Great stories some of which may be true!
All in all a really worthwhile visit with some interesting history attached.
We pressed onwards NE and diverted to a spectacular viewing area on a bluff which was dedicated to a 20 year old killed in a helicopter crash while working for a nearby station. Eventually turning East toward our destination, near the intersection we met up again with Howard & his Ladies who had also found Betoota fascinating. Into Windora where we were booked into a very nice Hotel/Motel The Western Star. Howard & his tour are staying here tonight as well. 394kms today. Not much excitement except an Emu & her chicks crossing the road at 1 point and some fascinating outback history. Meeting up for an alfresco dinner we discussed the scenery & perceptions with Howard & the ladies & swapped photos. All in all a very interesting day.

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Photos

Ford Model T
At Betoota Hotel

1954 FJ Holden Betoota Hotel
Still running

Inside the Bar
Betoota

At Memorial Lookout
Near Betoota

David & Keith
At lookout

Mungeranie Sunset
Credit Karen Webster