Outback Pubs Tour BIRDSVILLE RACES September 2023 – Get Your Friends Together and Giddyup!!

The tour departs Amamoor at 7am with a visit to Jimbour House to view the beautiful gardens. Lunch is at the Russell Hotel Dalby. The tour visits the Silo Art at Yelarbon.  Accommodation is at O’Shea’s Royal Hotel & Dining at the famous Victoria Hotel in Goondiwindi.

This day starts by travelling to the iconic Nindigully Pub with morning tea on the banks of the Moonie.  Travelling through Thallon we view the Silo Art and then travel to Bollon for lunch. Accommodation is at Warrego Hotel and we celebrate together with Reef, Beef and Booze on the banks of the Warrego River.

Travelling west we stop to view the Mud Baths at Eulo. No trip west is complete without a stop at the memorable Toompine Pub ‘The pub with no town’ population of two. Lunch is at Quilpie Heritage Inn. As we enter Windorah we view the Solar Power Station that saves the town 100,000 litres of diesel fuel per year. Entertainment on this night is Windorah’ s iconic International Yabby Races at Western Star Hotel.  This quaint town swells from 115 to a couple of thousand as everyone is now on the road to Birdsville Races. Accommodation is at the “Windorah Hilton”.

The excitement and anticipation continues to build as we head to Betoota Pub closed in 1996 and now reopened.  We play a quick game of cricket & have lunch. The tour arrives in Birdsville in time for a cold beer and a yarn with a local at the famous Birdsville Pub which is a stones throw from Tent City were we accommodate for the next three nights and wine and dine under the stars.  

While touring the town of Birdsville view the Historic Outback homes, the Birdsville School, the Cemetery, & the Old Royal Hotel. Options include various flights over Lake Eyre or Birdsville and experiencing a ‘Sunset Tour’ with champagne and nibbles overlooking the stunning Simpson Desert at sundown. Visit the famous Birdsville Hotel and the Birdsville Bakery and take a peek at Fred Brohpy’s Boxing Troupe for great entertainment.

Put on your hats, dress to impress & place your bets….. And why not fly by Helicopter in style from the Birdsville Pub to the Races.  IT’S RACE DAY! This evening we have drinks and nibbles down on the Birdsville Billabong to celebrate the day.

After a memorable weekend at the Birdsville Races we head north stopping at the Shoe Tree and then continue to Bedourie Hotel followed by a picnic lunch and you can wash the dust off at the Bedourie Heated Pool. The accommodation and dinner tonight is at Australian Hotel in Boulia

If a picture can say a thousand words, your travel on this day is in the scenery you see on this day.  The skies are big and the rock formations are brillant.  We will travel through the amazing Cawnpore Ranges and call at the famous Middleton Hotel.  The visit to Winton includes with  Age of the Dinosaurs and the new March of the Titanosaurs exhibition.  Time is set aside to visit the Waltzing Matilda Centre, which was burnt down in 2015 and has been rebuilt as a magnificent architectural statement. Accommodation is at the Art Deco 1955 North Gregory Hotel.  We will all get together in the beer garden to be treated to a viewing of Banjo’s Theatre of Fire and the evening meal is a Gidgee Roast slow cooked over 100 year old hot coals. You might also like to indulge in the Hydrotherapy Spa and if we are lucky the Royal Open Air Theatre may  open for our touring party.  Watch out for movie stars because shows such as Mystery Road were shot in the Winton region.

Longreach is the tourism centre for Outback Queensland so we have a  2-day stop over. You can opt to experience Nogo Station to view a working cattle and sheep station and shearing demonstration and travel safari style in a double decker bus. There’s options to visit the Stockman’s Hall Of Fame, the School of the Air and the Qantas Outback Founders Museum. Complete Tuesday with a relaxing evening on the Starlights’ Cruise Experience on the Long-Reach of the Thompson River followed by a camp oven dinner. We visit the Station Store, a fantastic emporium of outback products, gifts & souvenirs. Also on offer as an option is the amazing Cobb & Co Stage Coach Ride on the 30,000 acre Common.   We all get together to watch the Harry Redford Old Time Tent Show.  Accommodation for 2 nights is at Saltbush Retreat. On Wednesday evening we view the Luminescent Longreach Show at the Qantas Founders Museum followed by a Outback Degustation poolside.  

Breakfast is at the Wellshot Hotel at Ilfracombe, then we travel to Barcaldine to see the Tree of Knowledge before lunch at The Lodge on Hawthorne in Blackall. The tour visits the quaint little town of Tambo which is world-renowned for the Tambo Teddies. We then visit Augathella’s Ellangowan Hotel before travelling to Charleville for the night with accommodation and dinner at the incredible Corones Hotel. There is also an option to visit the Cosmos Centre while in Charleville.

Breakfast on this day is at the WWII Secret Base.  We then travel on to Morvan for some retail therapy at Gidgee Smith Bags.  Lunch is at Mitchell where we relax in the waters of the Great Artesian Spa. We travel on to Roma where we dine at Royal on Ninety-Nine.

The tour will visit the Roma Sale Yards, which is the biggest sale yards in Australia and travel on to lunch at Club Hotel in Chinchilla. We then travel through the South Burnett on our homeward journey.