An unseasonable burst of rain has caused the first day of the famous Birdsville Races to be cancelled, as tropical moisture feeding a slow-moving low pressure trough caused constant rain for 12-18 hours in parts of outback Queensland.

Around 6000 racegoers converge each year on the tiny map speck with a population of 110, but they're looking for alternative activities today.

One racegoer was captured trying to hook himself something aquatic for brekky as local campgrounds were inundated by water.

Image: Better than being hooked on punting. Source: @love.good.energy via Instagram.

We should note that Birdsville, which is located 1590 km west of Brisbane, didn't have a huge downpour by most people's standards.

• A moderate 20 mm was recorded in the local rain gauge to 9 am this morning, on the back of 4 mm the day before.
• But the town's annual average is just 134.7 mm while the September average is 7.9 mm.
• This was the town's heaviest September rain in six years.

So the amount of rainfall is all relative, and when you consider that the track is situated on a desert claypan, you can understand how the surface soon became perilously slippery and unfit for racing.

It has also been cool in Birdsville, with temps today struggling their way up to around 17°C. Tomorrow's max should be just 19°C, which will likely make this the coldest pair of September days in 12 years (the average September max is 29.7°C).

The good news is that despite the cool temps, sunny skies should return for the weekend, which means the Birdsville Cup will almost certainly go ahead as planned on Saturday.

There was also racing action of the indoor variety on Wednesday evening, with the International Yabby Race at the Western Star Hotel. Perhaps old mate in the picture above is fishing for one of the slower contestants!