Birdsville Track
The Birdsville Track is just one of several desert
tracks that start in the north east end of South Australia.
It runs from Marree in South Australia, same as the
Oodnadatta Track, to Birdsville in Queensland covering
a distance a little over 520 km. There is a long stretch
without fuel of about 315km and you are best to do it
in the winter months, as with all Desert Trips, from
say April to October.
Driving the Birdsville Track is still one of the outback's
great adventures. The track began during the 1880's
as the main stock route from Birdsville to Marree. It
is a gateway to the 'Corner Country', accessed via the
Simpson Desert and renowned for the Diamantina river,
Birdsville Hotel and the ever popular Birdsville Races.
The diversity of country between the four deserts, Tirari,
Strzelecki, Sturt Stony and Simpson contrasted by the
wetlands of Clayton river, Cooper creek and Mungerannie,
the hills at Mungerannie Gap and the steaming hot bores,
highlights the imagination of life during the early
pioneering days.
More information http://www.southaustralia.com
Acacia peuce, or Waddywood
Acacia peuce, or Waddywood is one of the most rare
and striking trees of the Australian arid zone.
Status Vulernable - Unique Plant
Distribution With northerly migration of the Simpson
Desert dunefields and the consequent expansion of unsuitable
habitat from the south, Waddy-wood has retracted to
three disjunct populations on the fringes of the Simpson
Desert (Deveson 1980; Chuk 1982). Two populations in
the east, 300 km apart, occur at Boulia and Birdsville
in Queensland. The third and smallest population is
400 km west in the Mac Clark (Acacia peuce) Conservation
Reserve, 230 km southeast of Alice Springs (Courtesy
and reference Schabort 2000).
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