Camels! Camels! Camels!

Hello & welcome to our blog of our 2023 Australian mainland holiday.

We have a few overseas followers who follow our adventures, so we are including details of roads & locations as we know they follow us on Google Earth.

We left Lloyd Jones Weir and travelled a short distance to  Ifracombe for two days in the caravan park. It was then onto  Longreach. Longreach is a major outback town in Queensland and the location of the Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the Qantas Museum. We have visited Longreach a number of times but this time we just did some shopping, got a gas refill and got medicine.

We drove onto Winton a further 200 kilometres where we had lunch at the local bakery. We have also been to Winton on several occasions. After leaving Winton we travelled on the Kennedy Development Road toward Boulia , stopping at the Middleton Hotel but found it closed before overnighting at the Hamilton Hotel ruins. We have arrived in the “ Back of the Outback” and are in awe of the treeless Mitchell grass downs and the channel country.

We are now in Boulia for 4 nights. Boulia is roughly 300 km. south of Mount Isa and is known for the famous Min Min Light which are mysterious shimmering lights that appear at night^. The lights are said to be caused by atmospheric refraction that occurs when cold air is trapped below warmer air. Boulia lies on the Burke River which was named after the explorer Robert O’Hara Burke of the ill fated Burke and Wills Expedition.

Boulia’s main industry is beef grazing and it has a couple of quirky bits of fame. Boulia has Australia’s first three dimensional zebra crossing which is based on an optical illusion and is a tourist drawcard. The town also hosts the annual Boulia Camel Races including Australia’s longest camel race and that is what we have come here for.

Boulia’s population is normally 200 but swells to 4,500 during the races. The Boulia Camel Race is the most prestigious and coveted win on Australia’s camel racing circuit. The cup final is run over 1500 metres.

On arriving at the racecourse we were amazed at the amount of caravans, camper trailers, mobile homes, camper vans, rooftop tents, and tents already set up.

On the Friday afternoon we attended the official opening and witnessed the Lawn Mower Grand Prix race as well as buying some merchandise and visiting some pop up food and merchandise vendors.

The next morning and afternoon there were various heats for the 400 metre and 1000 metre cups. We witnessed all the jockeys, handlers and trainers being drug tested prior to competition.

The heat was intense and we made sure we constantly hydrated as well as wearing a hat!

Covering up and hydrating!

The final race is Australia’s richest and longest camel race at 1500 metres and unbelievably, it came down to a photo finish with the margin being “a nose”.

Between races we were entertained by the Crackup Sisters, I shall say no more!

The next day we back tracked to Winton and stayed at “the Long Waterhole”, which had quite a bit of water in it. In the evening we caught up with our friends Brian and Rosemary Giles from Hobart and enjoyed some great conversation and banter.

We have now travelled north of Winton to Hughenden as we make our way up to Cairns.