We have arrived in Birdsville with preparations for the Birdsville races well underway and we take full advantage of the great facilities at the Birdsville Caravan Park, enjoyed pies and pasties at the bakery and dinner at the hotel.

However the storms we saw the night before have bought unseasonal heavy rain and flooding, cutting us off from Windorah until the morning of the 30th. We check road conditions on the online with the QLD Traffic App and speak to staff at the Wirrarri Visitor Information Centre at Birdsville, this too is a great facility. The road is open in the morning for high clearance 4WD so we head east to Windorah where we intend to stay for the night.

The Diamantina River looks emerald green amongst the red gibber plains.

There is plenty of signs of heavy rain with water on the clay pans the closer we get to Windorah. There are creeks and gullies still flowing and still some water over the road.

In places the landscape looks like an English garden, so green and full of flowers. Chatting to the Windorah information centre, another good source of info, we decide not to stop there but head as far east and south as we can get to avoid the potential for rain. We cross the wide muddy waters of the Cooper Creek, it still has plenty of water in it. The road east is single lane bitumen and the edges of the road are soft and muddy. The countryside is awash with water, some creeks still have flood water rushing through them, its great to see, but it sure can mess up travel arrangements. Cattle and wildlife are moving up onto the road to escape the mud, it makes for an interesting drive. We stop at a well setup rest area just outside Quilpie at the intersection of the Eromanga road just after sunset and make camp, a couple of other travellers and a truckie do likewise. Its a nice sunset.

We wake before sunrise with heavy fog hanging over us. We pack up make for Quilpie to fuel up at the un-manned fuel depot, they are common out this way and breakfast at the bakery. We continue to cross creeks that are flowing well, the Bulloo River amongst them. Stopping along the way we take time to photograph the wildflowers, this has been a good year for the countryside.

We reach Mitchell and set up camp on the bank of the Maranoa River, plenty of birdlife and kangaroos grazing outside our swag. Dinner is at the Mitchell Cafe, great food and wonderful friendly staff, nothing is too much effort. Tomorrow we head to Brisbane remaining there for a month before heading to Western Australia for a 4 month adventure.