yearofoutbacktourism

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

In the beginning… Way back in the Spring of 1882, a group of 150 owners, managers and stockmen came together on the South Australian and Queensland border for the first – and unofficial – Birdsville Races event. They managed to raise nearly 200 pounds by public subscription, enough to draw a significant crowd at the time – but a far cry from the $200,000 in prize money on offer today. Instead of bookies standing trackside, bets were settled at ‘Tucker’s Hotel’ – a dignified affair after the last race was called. What happened next reads like a movie script, and the first iteration of the Birdsville Race Club was born. The community gathered at Burt and Co.’s large iron store and the ‘Border Jockey Club’ was formed, being 42 members strong. Stewards were appointed, a working committee elected, and the next race meeting was fixed for July, 1883. Now, well over a century later, the race continues to grow as an iconic Australian event – and something that is high on many people’s ‘bucket list’. Source: www.birdsvilleraces.com/about-the-races/birdsville-races-...

Birdsville Post Office opened on 1 January 1883.[24] Birdsville, over 1,500 km west of Brisbane and 10 km north of the Queensland-South Australian border, developed as an administrative center for police and border customs. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdsville#:~:text=Birdsville%20Pos....