Emma Cross travels to the Birdsville Races to photograph the scenery on and off the track

It was a wet year, as it was for my return this year, so I’ve only experienced Birdsville at its best — or so I’d like to think. Rain brought bird life and incredible colour to the arid landscape we all associate with Birdsville and its surrounds. The wildflowers are unmissable among the dust and gibber stone. Observing the creeks and channel systems glowing in vibrant shades of green was just incredible.

Our journey to Birdsville started on a dark Geelong morning at half past three, when I met with event manager Ginnie Hope-Johnstone from VC Events. I was thrilled that a chance conversation with her a few months earlier had led to me working with her on the Birdsville Races — something I had always dreamed of. We raced into Melbourne to catch a flight to Adelaide, where we picked up our supplies and a car. Our first job before hitting the road was to apply our Birdsville Races Roadies sticker to the car. All participants who purchase tickets ahead of the event receive a team sticker for the doors of their car, identifying them as eligible for discounts and special treatment on the trek.

Our one stopover on the way up was at Marree, South Australia. This was our first stop, before embarking on the Birdsville Track the next day — over 500 kilometres of dirt and a track that was very smooth; though the trip home was a completely different story after lots of rain. I had forgotten how beautiful South Australia’s Flinders Ranges are. Their scale and deep, rich colours are mind blowing. As a photographer, you want to stop and shoot everything along the way, so we stopped a lot. Me with my camera and Ginnie on her phone — we managed to capture hundreds of shots: wildflowers; cattle grazing along the sides of the road as we drove through the stations; sunrises and sunsets. We crossed flowing creeks brimming with birdlife, only to get to the other side and feel we were in the outback again.

Dalene Wray grew up in Birdsville as one of six children. Listen to her story on Graziher’s Life on the Land podcast.

Driving into Birdsville from South Australia, you will pass the racecourse tucked between the dunes. It was incredible watching the town grow from its usual population of 115, with thousands of racegoers descending in droves.

I love the community at Birdsville; the rain, not so much. We received over 20 millilitres of rain on the day before racing began. Campers were walking around in mud, with plastic bags on their feet. Race days were moved to Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday morning, after the rain had cleared, the graders commenced work on the track for hours to make it safe for the horses. The start time was pushed back and, while punters were ready for the horse races to begin, I secretly think they loved it more when the graders crossed the finish line as they worked to clear the mud. The roar of laughter in the crowd as everyone cheered as loud as they could was something you don’t often hear in the city.

There is something surreal about being in the middle of outback Australia and watching thoroughbreds race along the track ‘where the dust never settles’. If I had to describe Birdsville in five words, what would they be? Wholesome, communal, dusty, iconic, funny. I didn’t stop laughing the entire time I was there.