Desert Sky Tours

05/07/2024

Due to a cancellation, we now have 2 seats available on a 7 day Gawler Ranges and Ediacaran National Park Tour!!

The Gawler Ranges component is based in Minnipa and we explore part of the Eyre Peninsula around Wudinna,and the Granite formations including Mt Wudinna, Uncontichie Hill and Pildappa Rock
A full day trip into the Gawler Ranges visits Old Paney Station, Kolay Mirica Falls, and is a great opportunity to see wildlife.

Leaving the Gawler Ranges we travel into the Flinders Ranges and visit the newly established Nilpena Ediacara National Park - a liv­ing chron­i­cle of Earth­’s ear­li­est com­plex ani­mal life. Here, we meet with a Park Ranger for a 3 and half hour Ediacaran Experience Tour and also a Fossil Field Exploration Tour.
Nilpe­na also con­tains sev­er­al new­ly described taxa, includ­ing one named after Sir David Atten­bor­ough (Atten­bori­ties janeae) who vis­it­ed Nilpe­na to film part of the BBC Doc­u­men­tary ​‘First Life’ and anoth­er after Pres­i­dent Barack Oba­ma (Oba­mus coro­na­tus) for his com­mit­ment to sci­ence research.

The package tour ($3200pp) includes all accommodation, meals and entry fees. Accommodation is Motels with all facilities.

An itinerary can be found on our websitehttps://www.desertskytours.com/itineraries_2024/Nilpena_2024.pdf

For further enquiries - 0419 502 332

Adventures to the Outback and beyond!
Celebrating 28 years in 2023!

30/06/2024

Returned last week from a 12 day trip to Winton/Longreach.

A slight change to our usual itinerary when we travelled through Eromanga and took the Kyabra Road to Windorah rather than the Arrabury Road from Innamincka
This was an interesting alternative and we were rewarded with wildlife sightings including wedged tailed eagles, emus and two groups of Brolgas.

We arrived in Windoralh the same night as 250 Sh*tbox Rally vehicles and had fun chatting to the participants!!

The Lark Quarry Dinosaur Stampede and a visit to the Age of Dinosaurs in Winton were among the highlights of the trip, and then a relaxing sunset cruise on the Thomson River at Longreach with Kinnon and family Outback Pioneers!

Gundabooka National Park, just out of Bourke has a relatively easy walk to an excellent gallery of Aboriginal rock art.

Good weather, good company and a great trip!

19/06/2024

08/06/2024

Baked fresh for you every day. Kerry, our head baker, was hard at work with another seven volunteers from 4am morning, baking our tasty Heavy Fruit Loaf in the most remote Underground Oven in Australia. Our fruit loaf contains in excess of 500g of fruit from sourced from Australian Premium Dried Fruits. We've even had an order from Birdsville, and as a couple of our volunteers are travelling there in a few days they'll be delivering it to them.

11/05/2024

03/05/2024

Hi all, please see informative update below in regard on current road conditions in our region.

One particular point of interest is the current flow making its way down Eyre Creek across the QAA crossing. Details on this are specifically shown in the report below but together by local authorities.

For those planning on crossing the Simpson East to West or vise versa you will have the special treat of seeing a contained flow through Eyre creek and will have the opportunity to utilize the northern detour to cross this wonderful desert creek system.

Its exciting to see our region come alive and for those crossing in 2024 you are certainly in for a real treat!
We have done some quick highlighted lines in red on the map below to show the direction of northern bypass crossing!
Happy travels and enjoy your desert crossings!
Cheers, Birdsville Hotel team,

****Update #1 - from Birdsville Police regarding the 2024 Flood Event for your information****

The rainfall event at Easter 2024 produced heavy rainfall North of Birdsville and Bedourie in the Georgina catchment.

Local authorities and landowners/Managers have been monitoring the river flows particularly in the Mulligan River area.
The river catchments in the Southwest have been previously saturated by flood waters/ Rains in early 2024.

Water has now made its way further along the Eyre Creek and is travelling south into the Simpson Desert.
This will affect travel plans for people travelling through Simpson Desert National Park.
Please continue to monitor Qld Traffic, SA Outback Roads and local council web sites for the most current conditions.

**Birdsville to the North**

The Eyre Developmental Road between Birdsville and Bedourie remains passable via the Lake Machattie bypass (70klm gravel bypass). The Eyre Creek is still over the road at Cuttaburra Crossing which closes the direct route and brings the by-pass into play.

There is water travelling south from Marion Downs (Diamantina Developmental Road recently re-opened 30/4) and will pass through and around Bedourie in the coming weeks.
Please monitor local road reports for up-to-date access and detours should they occur.

**Birdsville to the East**

The Birdsville Developmental Road between Birdsville, Betoota and Windorah is open with the Arrabury Road and Cordillo Downs Roads open for 4WD.
Stony Crossing Road remains closed due to flooding.
The Diamantina Developmental Road between Bedourie and Windorah is open to 4WD vehicles.

**Birdsville to the South**

The Birdsville Track between Birdsville and Maree is open to 4WD vehicles with caution at flagged hazards, severe gutters, scours, and wheel rutting.
Please note the following long term closures along the Birdsville Track
• Walkers crossing – Closed PAR
• Warburton Crossing – Closed PAR
• Birdsville Inside Track - Closed

**Birdsville to the West**

The Eyre Creek is now making its way south and will impact the QAA line.
The river is expected to remain within its banks as it continues to flow south. Any change to this will be reported.
The Northern Eyre Creek Bypass will now be used by persons travelling into the Simpson Desert National Park East/West.
The bypass has been checked and markings placed to assist travelers across the river at the top of the bypass.

Flood water around Adria Downs Station has affected travel on the Madigan Line.
Persons travelling on the Madigan Line West-East are requested to travel North or South on the Hay River Track at Camp 16 as travel past this point on the Madigan Line is not possible at this time.

Please continue to check Queensland Transport, SA Outback Roads, Local Councils and Desert Parks road reports /closures before any travel. Consider fuel loads/ supplies/ communications and alternate travel plans whilst travelling in the outback.

As always people need to be reminded to check local road condition reports online as they travel out west. As we all know conditions can change quickly.
Please look after the land you travel on and make sure you take the time and enjoy seeing the area after an outback flood, as always ‘Drive to the Conditions’.

Cheers
Stephan Pursell
Officer in Charge, Birdsville Police Station, Mount Isa District | Queensland Police Service

27/04/2024

A shout out to the Port Germein Pier Cafe for lunch today. A warm welcome from Anthony and staff and great lunch options which included the Port Germein loaded Hotdogs!!

Thanks guys!!

25/04/2024

Road Alert for Anne Beadell Highway and Connie Sue Highway:

This was posted by the Ilkurlka Visitor Centre, along the Anne Beadell Highway recently........

Urgent travel update 18 April 2024:

There was very high rainfall between Ilkurlka and Laverton in the first half of March.

The latest advice is that the Anne Beadell and Connie Sue Highways west of Ilkurlka will remain closed for another four to six weeks. It is quite possible that reopening will not occur before mid May (or even later).

We do not know if the track through Serpentine Lakes on the Anne Beadell Highway on the SA/WA border is passable. Initial reports are of washouts up to a meter deep and there is still significant water over roads in places..

Please check Laverton and Kalgoorlie-Boulder shire road reports for road closures. These closures are for public safety!

Laverton and surrounds road reports can be found at https://www.laverton.wa.gov.au/services/roads/road-condition-reports.aspx

15/04/2024

Enjoyed a delightful meal at The Big Winch while overlooking the beautiful Town of Coober Pedy. Booked a table for the following evening.

14/04/2024

24/02/2024

14/02/2024

12/02/2024

29/01/2024

05/01/2024

09/10/2023

It’s a beautiful morning in !

22/06/2023

Left Bourke and travelled the Darling River Run to Louth, Tilpa and Wilcannia.

The greasy black clay around Trilby Station had us progressing at a cautious rate with the vehicle intent on finding figure eight tracks, but we arrived safely in Tilpa for a long anticipated coffee.

The section from Tilpa to Wilcannia proved less demanding and we arrived in time for lunch.....but where???

The Wicannia Cafe takeaway was a unanimous choice.
This business commenced only 3 days ago but the welcome and choice of menu was fantastic.
The young girls serving on the tables could not have been more attentive......and wowww their uniforms are fantastic!!!

This is a great place to pick up a meal and fills a void in food choices in Wilcannia.

21/06/2023

A brisk morning start with Captain Stephen aboard the paddle wheel vessel "Jandra" on the Darling River. We managed to catch up again with the Jsndra on it's afternoon cruise!!

18/06/2023

A visit to The Stockman's Hall of Fame in Longreach and great to see the name of Harry Readford (often misquoted as Harry "Redford") in the Strzelecki Track story. Harry was the cattle duffer who stole cattle from Bowen Downs and drove them down the Strzelecki Creek to Blanchewater Station in South Australia. Harrys droving feat opened up a route for driving cattle from Queensland to the South Australia markets and was used by John Conrick on Nappa Merrie Station.
The film Captain Starlight is modelled on Harry Readford.

14/06/2023

Presently at Innamincka on our trip to Winton/Longreach and enjoyijoying great weather!! Heading to Windorah tomorrow!!!

02/06/2023

Depot Glen looking fantastic in the morning light on our way home from a recent Birdsville/Innamincka trip.

This is where Capt. Charles Sturt and his party spent 6 months of the year in extreme heat, waiting for cooler weather before a second attempt to find his "Inland Sea".

It is great to see the work being done at Miparinka NSW, with stabilisation of the post office building (including flooring and even a glass section of roofing to allow light flow), plus a new Charles Sturt interpretive building.

As always, the volunteer hosts in the Court House building make visitors welcome and are only too happy to impart information about the Town. It is definitely worth turning off the Silver City Highway to visit !!

22/05/2023

12/05/2023

20/04/2023