800 km west of Charleville. A tiny settlement, just a dozen kilometres from the South Australia border. It stands at the northern end of the 480-km long Birdsville Track, and is the site of the celebrated Birdsville Hotel. This settlement claims to be ‘the remotest spot in Queensland’, and it certainly feels like it. In order to get water, they had to drill an artesian well over 1,200 m deep. The water which emerges is too hot to have a bath in. Despite such difficulties, you will find that all fluid intended for human consumption (usually amber in colour) is served at a suitably cool temperature.

For 51 weeks of the year nothing happens in Birdsville. Then on the first weekend in September they hold the Birdsville Races (www.birdsvilleraces.com) in aid of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, who every year save hundreds of lives of Australians who live in the rural outback and depend on them for emergency medical treatment. The races are an annual horse racing event that draws thousands on the settlement, and the Birdsville Hotel once again lives up to its legendary status. In the first time in the races history in 2010 they were cancelled due to rain.