Birdsville
Famous isolated outback township which is little more than a pub and few houses.
It is hard to imagine any place in Australia which evokes quite the sense of loneliness and isolation as that of Birdsville, the tiny settlement at the northern end of the notorious and dangerous Birdsville track. The poet Douglas Stewart seemed to sum it up when he wrote that it 'has shrunk / Between two deserts / On a ridge in the sun'.

Located over 1600 km west of Brisbane in the vast Diamantina Shire, Birdsville sits on the edge of the Simpson Desert and operates like some kind of mysterious magnet to people who want to go to the most isolated place on the continent.

The first European explorer to venture into this lonely area was Charles Sturt, after whom Sturt Stony Desert to the south-east of the town is named. Sturt was unambiguous in his response to the terrain describing it as a 'desperate region having no parallel on earth'. Such warnings didn't stop the intrepid and foolhardy Burke and Wills who, with King and Gray, passed only a few kilometres from the present town site on their 1860 journey to the Gulf. Wills noted the large number of birds in the region.

In the 1870s the grab for pastoral land reached westwards and a series of large stations - Pandie Pandie, Planet Downs, Alton Downs - were established. Pandie Pandie is located 15 km south of the Queensland border although the original homestead has a distinctly Queensland feel to it.

Birdsville was originally named Diamantina Crossing. The Diamantina River, which intermittently runs to the east of the town, was named in 1866 by the explorer William Landsborough who was honouring the wife of Queensland's first governor, the unusually-named Diamantina Roma Bowen.

The town was renamed Birdsville by the owner of Pandie Pandie Station who was amazed by the diversity of birdlife which inhabited the area. It is extraordinary to find seagulls in the salt lakes which exist in the area.

Birdsville came to importance in the 1880s when the drovers and station owners in western Queensland realised that moving cattle through the Channel country and down the Birdsville Track to the railhead at Marree (which had been opened in 1884) was the most efficient way to transport cattle to the coastal markets.

Pre-Federation Queensland established a customs collection point at Birdsville which was only 10 km from the border. By the late 1880s there were two hotels, three general stores, a doctor, a bank and a police magistrate.

Birdsville's raison d'etre virtually disappeared with Federation in 1901 when interstate trade was freed and since then it has been declining in importance. It currently has a population of about 100. The current fascination with isolated places has meant that a regular stream of 4WD adventurers, all determined to travel the 500 km of the Birdsville track, pass through the town. This adventure travelling has done much to sustain the town's faltering economy.

Things to see:  

Heritage Buildings
The old Australian Inland Mission Hospital, a wonderful rough stone building, was constructed in 1882 as the Royal Hotel, one of the town's first two pubs. It was bought by the AIM in 1923 and used as a hospital base for the Royal Flying Doctor. It was from this building that Birdsville's first pedal wireless broadcast occurred in 1929.

Birdsville's second pub, the Birdsville Hotel, was built in 1884-5. A simple, stone, single-storey building it is now listed by the National Trust. It has become something of a mandatory stopover point in the town. During September, when the town's spring races are held and people fly and drive in from all over Australia, the pub does a roaring trade.

Simpson Desert National Park
65 km to the west of Birdsville is the vast Simpson Desert National Park covering approximately 505 000 hectares and characterised by huge sand dunes which run parallel to each other at distances of anything from 200 to 600 metres. The average height of the dunes is 30 metres. Significantly there is no major river system in the park. This is classic arid desert terrain and vegetation. The dead heart of Australia.

A word of warning: about 100 km down the Birdsville Track is a simple memorial to the Page family who in 1963, after their car had broken down on the road, tried to walk out. All five members of the family died. This is not an area for risk taking.

	Tourist Information
	Birdsville Tourist Information Office Wirrari Centre, Billabong Boulevard Birdsville QLD 4482 Telephone: (07) 4656 3300 Facsimile: (07) 4656 3302 Email: wirrari@hotmail.com
	Hotels
	Birdsville Hotel/Motel Adelaide St Birdsville QLD 4482 Telephone: (07) 4656 3244 Facsimile: (07) 4656 3262 Rating: **
	Caravan Parks
	Birdsville Caravan Park Florence St Birdsville QLD 4482 Telephone: (07) 4656 3214 Facsimile: (07) 4656 3205 Email: birdsvillecvanpk@growzone.com.au
	Restaurants
	Birdsville Caravan Park Florence St Birdsville QLD 4482 Telephone: (07) 4656 3214 Facsimile: (07) 4656 3205 Email: birdsvillecvanpk@growzone.com.au
	Birdsville Hotel/Motel Adelaide St Birdsville QLD 4482 Telephone: (07) 4656 3244 Facsimile: (07) 4656 3262