Flies 1, Finke 0?

By ERWIN CHLANDA

The flies plague is threatening to put a dampener on the exodus from town to enjoy the Finke Desert Race, usually some 12,000 people heading south for a camping weekend.

Paddy Weir, pastoralist and Finke veteran, as crew and competitor, says this year is one of the worst in her memory. Even the dung beetles which keep the problem down on her cattle station Allambi, seem to have disappeared.

Finke paraphernalia were selling well in town but the usual traffic, transport vehicles and visitors, seem to be lighter: At noon yesterday it was busy but late afternoon it was quiet, says Ms Weir.

People coming into town for the 49th race seem to have gone to private homes, or withdrawn south of The Gap.

It may be that Finke fans were saving up for the “big one” – the 50th event next year.

The evening was very busy in the Mall, says Tourism Central Australia CEO Danial Rochford.

All this is not putting her off, says Ms Weir: She and husband Lockie, both main organisers of the Offroad Racing Club, will be competing, in car 165, with their sons as crew. In previous Finkes it was the other way ‘round.

In 1997 Paddy and Locky came third outright, earning them a place in the National Road Transport Hall of Fame.

Ms Weir says race preparations yesterday included visits to schools by competitors and the Grid Girls to promote the race and explain how to avoid risks to the crowd along the track.

Competitors were doing the rounds on bicycles to familiarise themselves with the prologue track on which the starting positions will be decided tomorrow.

Today’s main program is scrutineering at the start-finish line on the South Road.

Some things never change: Telstra clearly has still not comprehended that there is a big event on the long weekend in June: Functioning of mobile phones is again lousy or unavailable. The Weir team has brought its own Starlink gear.

The south-bound race will be on Sunday and the finish on Monday.