Birdsville

The owners of the hotel also own the iconic Birdsville hotel in Birdsville, Queensland. Its about 500km north of Innamincka. Birdsville is more well-known than Innamincka due to the infamous Birdsville races, held annually on the first weekend of September. The town with the usual population of 115 swells to over 7000 during the carnival weekend. Being the only pub in town, the Birdsville hotel has to keep thirsty racegoers happy.

We were fortunate to get rostered to do a 'beer run' i.e transport leftover alcohol/beer from Birdsville to Innamincka. With B, our supervisor at helm, we took off. The journey took over 6 hours, mainly on dirt tracks. In the evening, we went out to the Big Red, the biggest sand dune in the Simpson Desert, which spans across over 100km. The edge of the desert starts about 40km from Birdsville. It was a fun evening out with drinks and nibbles, watching the sunset.