Bedourie is a town and a
locality
Locality may refer to:
* Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada
* Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England
* Locality (linguistics)
* Locality (settlement)
* Suburbs and localitie ...
in the
Shire of Diamantina
The Shire of Diamantina is a local government area in Central West Queensland, bordering South Australia and the Northern Territory. Its administrative centre is in the town of Bedourie.
Like most places in Queensland with the "Diamantina" nam ...
,
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia.
It is on the
border with the Northern Territory.
In the , the locality of Bedourie had a population of 150 people.
[
]
Geography
Bedourie is located in the Channel Country
The Channel Country is a region of outback Australia mostly in the state of Queensland but also in parts of South Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales. The name comes from the numerous Braided river, intertwined rivulets that cro ...
of Central West Queensland
Central West Queensland (abbreviated CWQ) is a remote region in the Australian state of Queensland which covers 396,650.2 km2. The region lies to the north of South West Queensland and south of the Gulf Country. It has a population of appr ...
, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, lying on Eyre Creek. It is located west of the state capital, Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, and north of Birdsville
Birdsville is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. The locality is on the Queensland border with both the Northern Territory and South Australia. The town is situated north of the South Australian bord ...
.
Bedourie is the administrative centre of the Diamantina Shire, which also comprises the towns of Birdsville and Betoota.
When the Georgina River
The Georgina River is the north-westernmost of the three major rivers of the Channel Country in Central West Queensland, that also flows through a portion of the Northern Territory, in central Australia. Part of the Lake Eyre basin, the Georg ...
experiences severe floods the town can be cut off by road for months at a time.
Bedourie has the following mountains:
* Black Hill ()
* Mount Cuttiguree ()
* Mount Prout ()
* Mount Tarley ()
* Mount Woneeala ()
* Pampra Hill ()
* The Brothers ()
* The Sisters ()
History
The area around Bedourie is on Karanja land.
In 1881, a Native Police
Australian native police were specialised mounted military units consisting of detachments of Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal troopers under the command of European officers appointed by British colonial governments. The units existed in va ...
camp known as the Eyre's Creek barracks was established on the site by Sub-Inspector Robert Barrington Sharpe. Operations were conducted from the barracks until it was decommissioned in 1889. Sharpe shot himself in the head in 1886 and was replaced by Sub-Inspector Robert Kyle Little who shot numerous Indigenous people on at least one punitive expedition. Little later died from heat exhaustion just before the barracks closed.
In February 1887, were reserved as the site for a town.
The Royal Hotel was constructed and opened in 1886 by Hylock & Co. with a thatched roof (later replaced with corrugated iron
Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...
) and the locality was renamed Bedourie.
Bedourie Post Office opened around July 1903 ( receiving offices known as ''Bidouri'', ''Bedouri'' and ''Bedourie'' had been open since 1887).
The Diamantina Shire Council moved its headquarters from Birdsville
Birdsville is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. The locality is on the Queensland border with both the Northern Territory and South Australia. The town is situated north of the South Australian bord ...
to Bedourie in 1953.
Bedourie State School opened on 16 May 1960. The current school building opened in 1967.
The Bedourie Public Library had a major refurbishment in 2009.
Demographics
In the , the town of Bedourie had a population of 60 people.
In the , the locality of Bedourie and the surrounding area had a population of 142 people.
In the , the locality of Bedourie had a population of 122 people.
In the , the locality of Bedourie had a population of 150 people.
Heritage listings
There are a number of heritage-listed sites in Bedourie, including:
* Kidman's Tree of Knowledge at Glengyle Station
Glengyle Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in central west Queensland.
Description
Glengyle is located north Birdsville and south of Boulia in the Channel Country of Queensland.
the property occupied an area ...
()
* Bedourie Pisé House
Bedourie Pisé House is a heritage-listed house and archaeological site at 5 Herbert Street, Bedourie, Queensland, Bedourie, Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1897. It is also known as Bedourie Pisé House, Aboriginal ...
, 5 Herbert Street ()
Education
Bedourie State School is a government primary (Early Childhood to Year 6) school for boys and girls at 3 Timor Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 8 students with 2 teachers and 3 non-teaching staff (1 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 7 students with 2 teachers and 5 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent).
There are no secondary schools in Bedourie or nearby. The options are distance education
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...
and boarding school.
Amenities
Bedourie has an aquatic centre, museum, outback golf course, visitor information centre, and a racetrack.
The Royal Hotel was built from adobe bricks in the 1880s.
The Diamantina Shire Council
The Shire of Diamantina is a local government area in Central West Queensland, bordering South Australia and the Northern Territory. Its administrative centre is in the town of Bedourie.
Like most places in Queensland with the "Diamantina" nam ...
operates the Bedourie Library on 13 Herbert Street.
The Simpson Desert Roadhouse provides petrol and automotive services, accommodation, general supplies, accommodation, restaurant and bar.
Attractions
The Bedourie Camel Races are held annually in July. The event is coordinated by the Bedourie Golf and Leisure Club and is a major tourist event for the region. As well as camel racing, the event hosts pig races, live music and entertainment and a camp oven cook off.
Total solar eclipses
Bedourie will have the rare experience of being located within the path of totality of two total solar eclipse
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...
s, only nine years apart. The first will occur on 22 July 2028 and the second on 13 July 2037.
Climate
Bedourie experiences a hot desert climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
( Köppen: BWh), with very hot summers and very mild winters, albeit with cool nights. Due to its inland location, there is strong seasonal temperature variation, with average maxima vary from in June and July to in January. Average annual rainfall is very low: , occurring within 16.3 rainfall days, primarily in the summer. Precipitation is highly erratic, evidenced by the of rain falling on 6 March 2011. The town is very sunny, averaging 186.4 clear days and only 48.6 cloudy days annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 8 July 2014 to on 24 December 2019.
See also
* Bedourie Airport
* Bedourie oven
References
External links
{{authority control
Towns in Queensland
Shire of Diamantina
Localities in Queensland