About 100 South Australians stranded at an outback pub were granted an exemption to use the rain sodden Birdsville Track on the weekend to make it to this week’s Big Red Bash music festival.
Key points:
- Heavy rains had forced the closure of the Birdsville Track in South Australia’s outback
- It hampered plans for road trippers on their way to the Birdsville Big Red Bash music festival
- Mungerannie publican Andrew Norman said the travellers were granted an exemption to use the track on Saturday
Heavy rains in the state’s Far North forced the closure of the Birdsville Track early last week.
Mungerannie Hotel publican Andrew Norman said travellers stranded in the town were allowed to use the track after being granted access to a northern section on Saturday morning.
“The police up at Birdsville sort of arranged and got a special permit for them to be able to vacate,” he said.
“So they sort of created a bit of a caravan trail and they all headed out about 9am on Saturday morning.”
It meant the travellers en route to Birdsville’s Big Red Bash music festival were stranded just 315 kilometres from their destination for nearly a week.
Of the 40 camper vans, they all got out.
“There was one car that sort of had a bit of trouble along the way but everyone was together so they all sort of helped out,” Mr Norman said.
“They all reported back to us in Birdsville that they all got through so that was really good.”
He said travellers were forced to travel at a maximum of about 40 kilometres per hour along the track.
“It’s just a matter of knowing your way around … it’s the mud holes and things you’ve got to get through, but they’re quite rocky at the bottom, so it’s just a matter of tracking through.”
Bringing the remote town together
Mr Norman said the tourists bonded after six days being stranded together.
The 100 people even came together to do the Nutbush dance.
“It was everyone getting together. Some of the little kids organised and put up some posters and wanted everyone to do a Nutbush … so it was really good,” Mr Norman said.
“Everyone did it, but it was the kids that organised it. It was a great experience for everybody, I think.”
Birdsville Hotel owner Courtney Ellis said the town was in good spirits despite receiving 18 millimetres of rain overnight.
“It’s pretty wet around the track as you’d expect … the hotel’s busy. There’s certainly plenty of people in town,” she said.
“We only get 105mm every year so when you get 18mm in one hit … it’s great for the surrounding countryside.
“It greens everything up, but it’s going to take a little while for things to settle down.
“That’s part of the experience and part of the fun and everyone’s making the best of it.”
She said about 1,500 people remained in the town of Birdsville with their vans, waiting to make their way to the Big Red Bash campgrounds.
Big Red Bash organiser Greg Donovan said about 8,000 people had made it to the Birdsville campground for the festival, which officially kicked off from Tuesday.
He said heavier-than-expected rainfall on Sunday had affected vehicle admissions but they would shift back into gear from Monday afternoon.
The Birdsville Track’s ongoing closure would be reassessed by officials on Thursday.