Windorah

[@roryread9985]

Hi Heather & Lou, thanks for the video, it rekindled some great memories. I was the Police Officer there for 3 years from ‘84 through ’86. It was a one man Station of course and Windorah School had only one Teacher who taught all Primary School classes from 1 to 7. When my wife and I arrived our 3 kids took the pupil enrolment from 9 to 12. The Western Star hotel was the only one in town, but not the only one in my Division, the other being the Betoota Hotel about 200 km away, roughly half way to Birdsville. It was operating at the time but when the Licencee Sigmund ‘Ziggy’ Remienko passed away some years after I left it closed, although I believe it has recently been reopened. At one time, pre motor vehicle, there were a chain of hotels spaced about one day horse power apart but they are all long gone and very difficult to locate, a local guide is definitely needed, there is little or nothing left to see. There had been a hotel on the Windorah bank of Cooper Creek 12 km from town which was washed away in a flood. Those red sand dunes on Ourdel Station are great aren’t they, my wife and I would sometimes take our kids there to play and picnic. Sandy Kidd, the owner, was a friend of ours and we would often visit each other for meals and socialising. His wife was a Registered Nurse and as the town didn’t have a resident Doctor, the Royal Flying Doctor Service had provided her with a key to their medical supplies in case of need before they could arrive. His family had owned Mayfield Station close to Windorah and when Sandy obtained his property the name was taken from Lourdes, a pilgrimage town in the Pyrenees, France, the letters shuffled to make Ourdel. (Our Dell) Unfortunately Mayfield homestead had burned to the ground while I was at Windorah, very sad. When there was a Search & Rescue exercise organised I would accompany Sandy in his Cessna while his and other aircraft grid patterned the area. I loved seeing the countryside from his light plane, just magic, beautiful. Cheers

[@guidelooks-withheatherlou3370]

Hi Rory I am glad you enjoyed the video. You are a wealth of information about the area. As Lou said it seems everything is 12 kms out of town. 😀

[@johnprice2606]

The sand dune is named after legendary local grazier Sandy Kidd of Mayfield station now named Ourdel station. Sandy was an amazing bush pilot and performed many rescues and services for the local community and authourities in his Cessna 172. He pioneered aerial mustering and an environmentalist protecting the Cooper Creek floodplains. Just ask any local about Sando's sand dune.

[@guidelooks-withheatherlou3370]

Thanks for that info

[@jorgfedler2641]

great video with interesting shots. I especially like the detailed information about Windorah.