birdsville

The Diamantina River is a major river located in Central West Queensland and the far north of South Australia. The river was named by William Landsborough in 1866 for Lady Diamantina Bowen (née Roma), wife of Sir George Bowen, the first Governor of Queensland.[1] It has three major tributaries the Western River, Mayne River and Farrars Creek.[3] Most of the basin of the Diamantina is very flat—even the highest points in the northeast do not reach 500 m (1,600 ft) above sea level and Lake Eyre itself is 16 m (52 ft) below sea level. Apart from a few streams near Winton (the largest town in the basin) almost all rivers in the basin flow southwestwards towards Birdsville. The Diamantina River has no main channel, rather it is a series of wide relatively shallow channels.[3] The major feature of the river's sluggish course is Diamantina National Park about halfway between Winton and Birdsville. Apart from the national park, almost all land in the basin is used for grazing cattle and sheep, though numbers fluctuate greatly and considerable skill is required on the part of graziers. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamantina_River

Australian camels? You are surprised? Yes, there is a camel history in Australia. The camel story began in the early 1800s. Explorers of Australia's vast inland recognized that horses are not very suitable to explore the harsh unknown inland. In 1840 "Harry", the first camel arrived in Australia. He was the only survivor of a small group of camels imported from the Canary Islands. Harry's life in Australia didn't last too long. During an expedition to the northern parts of the Flinders Ranges Harry accidentally bumped his owner just in the moment as he was loading a gun. The owner died a month later, and Harry was executed afterwards. Despite Harry's bad luck, introduced camels made their way into the Australian Outback. Source: www.ritas-outback-guide.com/AustralianCamels.html

The Melbourne Cup might be the race that stops the nation, but the Birdsville Races is the race that sees the nation flock to one of Australia’s most remote towns. Well, maybe not the whole nation, but over 6,000 eager racegoers transform the 100–person town of Birdsville into a pumping metropolis the first weekend of September. It’s not just punters who travel hundreds of kilometres for the event – with $200,000 dollars in prize money up for grabs – horses and jockeys have been known to venture from interstate and overseas to gallop in the 13-race program. Source: www.outbackqueensland.com.au/news/everything-you-need-to-...