Birdsville Races 1970

The Birdsville Races Trip 29 August - 12 September 1970.

INTRODUCTION.
Back in 1970 when I was the Treasurer for the Land Rover Club of Victoria, a trip was organised to go to Birdsville for their annual race meeting. Birdsville is located at one end of the Birdsville Track in the remotest part of Queensland and was always regarded as quite an adventure to get there. Back in those days, we did not have the modern cons that travellers now take for granted such as air conditioned vehicles, sealed roads, GPS, mobile phones, mobile refrigerators etc. Then, we used Land Rovers which were the premier 4WD around, but they were not noted for their dust proofing and their level of comfort was basic but adequate but they were reliable. By never having all the luxuries which are expected now, these extras were not missed. The original article was printed by the LROC Victoria for its members soon after the trip and it was written by a couple of us members, then some dedicated typists would type up the stencils and painstakingly correct any errors with something like the Whiteout used by typists later on. (Who can remember using stencils on a Gestetner and turning the handle to print the copies then removing the stencil for each page without getting the ink on anything?) The print nights were often long but there was a good relationship between everyone and the time went quickly as we all had a lot of fun.

On rereading this article after many years I have realised that most of the people on the trip are now deceased. Others have left the club after some years and have moved to other places. The original article was scanned in but due too the uneven quality of print produced by the old style of printing, the output was of variable quality and a lot could not be read. The photos are not of good quality but they were taken over 37 years ago and Agfa film does not keep its colour well plus being in the tropics, the film deteriorates quickly. The transparencies were taken on 3 separate trips, the survey trip at Christmas time, a earlier trip that I did from Melbourne to Innamincka then on to Alice Springs and the main trip itself.

Of the people who were on this trip, some people of interest were, Bob Roche, now deceased, who was a draughtsman then after this trip joined the army cartographic services. He was the President of the club at this time. Phil Irving who was an outstanding engineer whose name was strongly connected with the early development of motor cycles in Australia and was the engineer who developed the Repco-Brabham motor for the F1 racing cars during the 1960s. It was the first Australian designed formula one car to win a world championship (twice). It was driven by (Sir) Jack Brabham and the consortium had only a fraction of the money that the big names in racing such as Ferrari, Lotus and others.

During the previous Christmas break a survey trip of about 6 vehicles had travelled over the proposed course to select the most suitable camp sites. Also to develop a timetable and to ensure adequate petrol supplies would be available as back then, the Outback roads were not used as much and fuel was delivered mainly in 44 gallon drums and was not widely available. As it was summer time in the desert I can remember the very hot weather we experienced in the Flinders Ranges and the dust. A couple of the vehicles had 2 way radios which back then used valves and not transistors and were the size of a large shoe box. Their range was limited but as they worked on line of sight which gave us good in the generally very flat countryside we were mainly travelling through. For safety we had a radio vehicle at the front and at the rear of the convoy in case of any problems.

29 AUGUST.
At various times during Friday and Saturday, Land Rovers left Melbourne loaded with jerry cans, food: spare tyres and those numerous items which we must have when we decide to “rough it”. Our destination was Birdsville in the south-west corner of Queensland at one end of the legendary Birdsville Track. While there are more harder and isolated tracks in Australia, none of them can capture the imagination the same as the Birdsville does. To us city dwellers, Birdsville and the Outback are synonymous.

Bob Roche was the organizer of the trip, its aims were two-fold -- to give as many members as possible who have not travelled. in the outback previously, experience in outback motoring, whilst· in the company of more experienced members so that in the future they will be more confident to undertake their own trips and secondly to attend an outback race meeting - the Birdsville Cup.

Several of us met at Keilor early on the Saturday morning, then we headed north to our first nights camp at Renmark where we were to rendezvous with the earlier starters. This part of the run was uneventful though we did meet Anne Garnaut with an all female crew, plodding along the highway somewhat overloaded.

Phil Irving and Vern Rickard were the first to arrive, followed by the Boards and Scotts. The camping. ground is very large and is in a national bush setting beside the Murray River. It is a. sanctuary with plenty of bird life. Several old buildings have been turned into cabins and washrooms, Pat made the mistake of going into the males’ showers, but they were not in use during her visit, but her exit was somewhat quick. Anne Garnaut was· determined not to miss the Murray this time· so she hired a caravan ten feet from the river.



Convoy at the camp at Renmark

.Around 10 o 'clock, Bill Flack and co. arrived after spending several hours trying to find some cooks (female) in Renmark that they could “con” into coming with them. Their report on what was offered was not at all promising.
Bob Bilton working on his Land Rover.

30 August.
An early start was made on the Sunday this time travelling in-three groups, the lead vehicle·of each group being equipped with a radio and the driver had previously been in this area. Whilst we were .getting breakfast,· the peace was shattered by all to familiar rasping T .B. type cough which heralded the arrival of our esteemed Secretary (Bob Bilton). His vehicle in the previous week had experienced a little bit of carburettor trouble after a fire had developed in his vehicle, causing him to be towed home. Bob had left Melbourne late on the Saturday camping out of Renmark.

The main party headed down to Barmera through the orchards and vineyards for which this area is famous, with the Murray River on the left winding its way past the high coloured cliffs. On the road to Morgan, the countryside changed to a scrubbier type of vegetation growing on a red gravely soil.· There were quite a few wild flowers growing in this Mallee type country. On the way in to Lock 2 a good view of Lake Bonney can be obtained from the back road.

The day was now squally and cold, so not much time was spent at the Lock. On the way out, a loud crunch from the rear brought the Boards machine to a halt, and an inspection showed that the diff housing had broken. They were escorted to Morgan then they took off to Adelaide in front wheel drive only to obtain a replacement. They arrived in Adelaide late on Sunday but were unable to raise anyone on Champions emergency number. They camped in a park close by, and on Monday morning they purchased a new diff and were allowed to use Champion’s car park to carry out the necessary repairs to become fully operational again.

On the run to Morgan and Burra, a very strong headwind slowed the vehicles down, in some placed to 35 m.p.h., and the squally conditions did not improve matters any. Admittedly all vehicles were heavily laden, two of the shorties were carrying over eight dozen cans each of the home brew, so that night an effort was made to reduce the load.

Lunch was eaten by the open cut at Burra and a quick tour was done of the area, but the rain soon drove us out on to the road again. Cn the Saturday Burra had celebrated the centenary of the opening of the railway line from, Adelaide. In its heyday the copper mines here were one of the worlds richest and the company ran: the town as its own welfare state. Most of the miners came from Cornwall and this is reflected in the neat stone houses, still often occupied and the massive mine and foundry buildings around the open cut. The last mine closed at Burra in 1877.

Next stop was at .Peterborough where the local dog-catcher (policeman) was fascinated by the two groups of Land Rovers parked by the railway station. After he had cruised past the vehicles for a second time Mr. Bilton and his boys got the wind up so they hightailed out of town, the ,second group following them a few minutes later, after he had made his third pass.



Vern Rickard climbing out of the creek bed Kanyaka.

It was dark by the time we reached Kanyaka, the section out of Carrieton tested the drivers’ reflexes as it was a narrow and twisty road with numerous creek crossings, and it was undertaken in drizzling rain at dusk. On the way .in to the ruins, Bob Roche decided to get himself bogged in the only muddy spot for miles, and Bob O'Connor took the short cut down a very steeply sloping bank of soft· earth. The shorty behind was about to follow until he saw the taillights suddenly disappear from sight. Vern Rickard was plagued by a loose wire on the starter motor so he had to crank it when it was decided to move downstream for half a mile to a better camp site.

By now the rain had ceased so after tea everyone toasted themselves around the camp fire and a few lightened the load in their fridges.

SEPTEMBER 1.

Hotel ruins Kanyaka.

Kanyaka was taken up as a station in 1851 by Hugh Proby who was the· third son of the Earl of Carysfort but he lost his life a year later while trying to cross the Willochra Creek which was in flood after a sudden rainstorm. The name "Kanyaka" is derived from a conspicuous rock nearby, the native name for the rock being UDANYAKA - the place of the stone. It was to this rock that the old folk wished to be brought to when at the point of death.

The next settler was John Phillips. His partner, whilst on the way to Kanyaka to manage it, strayed into the desert country to the north-east with a friend, and so perished. Phillips was responsible for the massive homestead, now in ruins, which was erected by 1857. Due to the large number of callers at the homestead, a fine two-storied hotel was erected in 1864 - The Great Northern Hotel - which consisted of over twenty rooms with stables. It closed in 1881 not long after the coming of the railways to Hawker; and was partly demolished later to be spread as road metal. The local Historical Trust is trying to preserve these ruins.

Kanyaka ruins.

Kanyaka was hard hit by the droughts of the sixties, losing twenty thousand sheep by 1867 and in the mid-seventies the land was resumed for wheat farming but the droughts of the late eighties forced them out.


Some of the vehicles parked near the ruins,

After inspecting the ruins, the stonework of which are still extremely neat, very skilled stonemasons must have been employed here; we visited the cemetery where eight tombstones can be deciphered. The earliest burial is that of Martha Phillips, mother of the manager of Kanyaka who died in 1857. Other burials are those of Thomas Holyoake who was murdered at Kanyaka in 1872 and Charles Hammond, publican of the Great Northern Hotel.

By now, other tourists had arrived so we headed for Hawker, picking up Anne on the way. Anne had stayed at Burra to meet her brother and then her group camped at Carrieton behind the Church.

Most undertook the climb up to the aboriginal paintings at Yourambulla Peak, which are now protected, from vandals by a mesh fence. From here a magnificent vista is obtained of the flat plains below, across to the ranges in the distance, the overhanging tip of the cave framing the view.

These paintings have been claimed by one expert to be extremely ancient. The desert glaze - a varnish like surface that forms on rocks in arid regions - on some of these paintings is thicker than that on the most ancient datable carvings in Egypt. There are other paintings and carvings in the Flinders Ranges, one depicts what is believed to be a platypus, the carvings must have been made when the rainfall was not merely ten inches as today, but at least forty. The aborigines who were living in the ranges when the whites arrived had nothing to do with the making of the carvings and it is assumed that they were made by an earlier race.

Passenger train on the line to Hawker, hauled by a T Class steam locomotive. This was a special train taken at Christmas time 1969.

After refuelling the vehicles and a few drivers at Hawker, as well as taking on provisions, the road to Wilpena was then taken. There had been some rain recently, going by the occasional muddy patches by the side of the road, but not enough to bring the wild flowers out, so we missed out on one of the main attractions of this area in the spring.

By now the day was sunny and warm, a few were contemplating wearing shorts for the afternoon. The weather remained like this up to Birdsville, though the nights were cold, before we left Kanyaka the ice had to be scraped off a few vehicles’ windscreens.

The line up of Land Rovers in the camping area impressed one Victorian visitor immensely. Prior to our arrival he had the lone Land Rover amongst all other makes. The sight of a dozen Land Rovers coming down the track together restored his faith; he received the good oil on the Club and promised to join when he got back. The Parker boys gave a demonstration of repairing tyres to an interested group of bystanders as they has punctured a tyre on the way in.

Leaving Wilpena the next stop was at Stokes Hill or it is also known as Appealinna Hill where the Bunker Ranges are spread out in front of you. Anne Garnaut decided to change her hubs but when she tried to take off again "HAS" refused to move. Visions of a new gear box however disappeared when Bob Bilton shoved the red lever out of neutral.

From here north the countryside changed from the park-like scenery of the area around Wilpena with its sheer rock bluffs such as the Great Wall of China and Rawnsley’s Bluff, to more hillier country with a thinner but hardier looking vegetation. The countryside was still as barren and dry as it had been at Christmas time when some of us passed through on the survey trip.

At Blinman the line up of Land Rovers down the main street caused some interest amongst the locals and tourists. One of the better exchanges was: Tourist – “What are you all doing here ?"

Bill Flack - "We're on a Land Rover Club outing to Birdsville"

Reply "Oh! is that why you are all driving Land Rovers".

Blinman was surveyed in 1864 after Robert Pegleg” Blinman, a shepherd employed on the Angorichina run in 1862, had discovered copper nearby. The Yudnamutana Company erected four small smelters. At one stage, the company used three steam traction engines to cart the ores and stones between Port Augusta and Blinman, but they were a failure due to the sandy nature of the track and the necessity to find wood and water for fuel. Various companies mined the deposits but haulage expenses ate heavily into the profits forcing the companies into liquidation, the last serious attempt was in 1902.

At the turnoff to Wirralpa the last group found it a little difficult to find the sign post - the grader, which had been clearing the gutters, kinda didn It look where he was going and so he demolished the sign, much to the delight of the vehicles passing by.

The road to Chambers Gorge passing through gibber plains..rocks polished by the wind over many thousands of years.

On this section there were quite a few 'roos and wallabies about, especially in the Big Hill region which provided fantastic scenery with red rocky bluffs and native pines. On one rise out of Wirrealpa there was a nicely eroded section just over a crest which caught a few drivers. A Holden, which had got itself into the middle of the first group, did not see the hole and the driver ploughed into it, not for a couple of minutes later would his passengers’ heads would have stopped bouncing off the roof. The Boards also found this hole at dusk and the old diff carrier, which was being carried behind the winch, went sailing off ahead of the vehicle.

There was a slight delay at the rear end of the convoy when Garry Pollard and roof rack parted company depositing its contents over the road. Fortunately, no damage was done and it was repaired with plenty of rope holding it down.

Camp was made just before the entrance to the Mt. Chambers Gorge. While we could pick up Griff Evans, who was camped further down the gorge, it was too dark to make out where he was, so we left him on his lonesome. Griff, a "Professional Loafer" had left Melbourne earlier and had spent some time ambling around the Flinders Ranges. It would be a hard life to take (sigh)! Around eight pm the Boards arrived having made good progress as they did not leave Adelaide until eleven o'clock that morning.

Convoy lined up ready to go through Chanbers Gorge.

Mt. Chambers, which is the prominent peak near the middle of the gorge, was named after the Chambers brothers who, at one stage, had considerable holdings in the Flinders Ranges, and John McDouall Stuart was financed by them in his expeditions when he tried to cross the continent from South to North.

Peak Chambers Gorge.