While five million residents in Sydney and surrounding areas digest the difficult news their city would remain on lockdown for at least another week due to a worrying Covid outbreak, 10,000 revellers in outback Australia were busy partying on in the desert.
Queensland's Big Red Bash is the world’s most remote music festival, held about 35km west of Birdsville on the edge of the Simpson Desert where the borders of South Australia, New South Wales and the Sunshine State converge.
The dog-friendly three-day festival, which runs from July 6 to 8, was established in 2013 and is now considered a 'bucket list event' for live music lovers.
But the stunning photographs of spectators having the time of their lives while standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the massive crowds will be a bitter pill to swallow for Sydneysiders who've been on stay-at-home order for almost two weeks already.
All residents of New South Wales are living under some form of restrictions until at least July 16, including mandatory masks and only five visitors round at a home, with dancing banned and 50 per cent capacity at major events.
In Sydney, the restrictions are even harsher - but no such rules are in place for Queensland, with roaring crowds packed into the beloved outback festival.
About 10,000 revellers in outback Australia are pictured partying in the desert at the Big Red Bash music festival in Birdsville on July 7
The stunning photographs of spectators having the time of their lives while standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the massive crow is in stark contrast to the situation in the Harbour City. Pictured: Empty tables and chairs are seen at a locked down restaurant in Sydney on July 6
Russell Morris is pictured on stage shredding on guitar at the 2021 Big Red Bash in Birdsville, Australia on July 7
Boogie board riders (pictured) slide down the red sand dunes at the Big Red Bash 2021 on July 7, 2021 in Birdsville, Australia
This year's festival is headlined by Daryl Braithwaite, The Black Sorrows, Busby Marou and former Superjesus frontwoman Sarah McLeod.
Apart from kicking back to Aussie rock tunes, festival-goers are equally enamored with the starry outback sky and the jaw-dropping scenery, where the Wangkangurru-Yarluyandi Traditional Owners would gather for thousands of years to trade 'grinding stones, ochre, weapons and other goods'.
'The concert and campsite grounds, known as Bashville, are located on an organic cattle station called Adria Downs,' Organisers of the Big Red Bash said on their website.
'The camping area sits on the dried-out bed of an ancient lake with the giant red sand dune as a backdrop.
'It forms a natural amphitheater making it the perfect setting for an outback concert.
The majestic desert landscape is coated in red dust that comes from the small pieces of gibber rock present throughout the region.'
But the rocking outback festival wasn't the only Queensland event putting the big smoke to shame, with tens of thousands also jamming into Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane for the Wallabies clash with France - Australia's first rugby match against the Les Bleus since the Covid pandemic took hold.
Tens of thousands of Queenslanders pack into Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium for the Wallabies clash with France on July 07, 2021
The photo of Wallabies fans huddled together at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium is a far cry from the empty locked down streets of Sydney
An empty George Street in Sydney's CBD sits empty during the evening rush hour on July 7, 2021 with lockdown restrictions still in place
A woman wearing a face mask is pictured at Bondi Beach on July 2 with the Sydney in lockdown after a wave of Covid cases
Five million Greater Sydney residents learned they will be stuck in lock down for at least another seven days as the Indian Delta variant of coronavirus continues to spread around the city with 27 new cases on Wednesday and 350 total infections.
Many of the new cases were recorded in Canterbury-Bankstown, Liverpool and Fairfield as the so-called Bondi cluster spread from the city's east to the west.
Fourteen of the cases had been infectious in the community, prompting Premier Gladys Berejiklian to keep schools closed and restaurants and shops shut until Friday July 16.
The extension of lockdown applies to the Central
