We has never been to Bourke before and were looking forward to seeing the Darling River and the river heritage for the town. From that perspective it was all good – the River was running strongly, the wharf area is great and is being revamped, and there are some lovely buildings in the town area. But it is not always pretty and it would not score well in a “tidy towns” competition.
We were at Bourke on 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / April 2021.
The weather was perfect, crisp nights and sunny days
Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia
Getting There
White Cliffs > Cobar (354km) > Bourke (160kms)~ 514kms
History
The location of the current township of Bourke on a bend in the Darling River is the traditional country of the Ngemba people.
Aboriginal history of the area can be read here
The first European explorer to encounter the river was Charles Sturt in 1828 who named it after Sir Ralph Darling, Governor of New South Wales. Having struck the region during an intense drought and a low river, Sturt dismissed the area as largely uninhabitable and short of any features necessary for establishing reliable industry on the land.
The history of European settlement can be read here
Today Bourke serves as a key service centre for the state’s north western regions. In this semi-arid outback landscape, sheep farming along with some small irrigated cotton crops comprise the primary industry in the area today.
Day 1 – 25 April – To Cobar
Yes, it’s down the bitumen to Wilcannia and then East on the Barrier Highway to Cobar. It is a long way and we topped up at Emmdale to make sure we got there. At $1.529 a litre for standard – not too bad when you consider where we were. The countryside by now was very familiar, and we saw a couple of nice buildings at Wilcannia.
It was good to be back at Cobar in the very good van park we had stayed in before. The people running the place were still there and it was great to have a roaring fire going at 5:00.
Day 2 – 26 April – Drive to Bourke
By 7:30 we were charging up the Kidman Way for Bourke. It’s a good road with little traffic, so we sit on 90k/hr and pass the time listening to podcasts. The landscape is unchangingly flat.
Reaching Bourke, we went straight to the caravan park. Kerry had tried to book a site by phone but they said that they don’t take bookings. When we got to the park, there was nobody in the office. But there was a note with a plan of the park saying chose a site marked as free, and come and see us later. So we parked the van and walked around to assess the options. We found one close to the amenities but more important, we could drive through.
The site is a bit small width-wise but the facilities are very handy. Perhaps a bit small – only 2 showers and 2 toilets each gender in a good sized park. But is is all clean and quite OK by us. There is a lovely grassed areas in the middle of the park, and even a pizza oven in the camp kitchen. Sadly no grassy sites to be had, so we were on dirt.
We went quickly to the Tourist Information at the Back O’ Bourke and got heaps of information and brochures.
In the afternoon we drove to the heritage area of town and had a good walk around. Some lovely old buildings but the standout was the old Lands Department – such an amazing building. Its now the Western Lands Office… amazing that the government hasn’t flogged it off… would make a lovely home.
We found ourselves at the old wharf, and were able to walk down to the lower areas. It was so great to see the Darling River flowing so strongly and up so high. It has been a long time since the flow has been that strong. We are so lucky to be witness to this. What we didn’t realise immediately at the time, was that when we walked down to the lower level, there were many even lower levels underwater – see photo below.
Whilst at the Port area, we saw that the Crosley engine was running – they get it going between 12 and 1:00 each day. This engine was used from 1923 to 1938 at the Sydney Power House, and then in Coffs Harbour up to 1949 at a butter factory, and then up to 1964 at Narromine where it pumped irrigation water. It was fully restored in 2002. Great to see, but I had to put a mask on as the diesel was overpowering.
The Court House is a beautiful building.
We also enjoyed the usual range of pubs and churches as we walked on.
We drove out to North Bourke to see the old bridge over the Darling River. You can read a bit of its history here. It’s a wonderful old bridge, now sealed off. A shame they don’t restore it for pedestrian use… the timber deck looked quite degenerated.
Back in town, we saw a few cotton trucks drive through. It must be cotton picking time.
Day 3 – 27 April – Mount Oxley
Before heading out yo Mount Oxley I took Kerry to the hospital to see a very pretty building I has seen on my morning walk. It’s a beauty. It is in fact, the original hospital building.
Mount Oxley is a monolith rising from the perfectly flat landscape, situated 32 kilometres from Bourke. It appears as a mesa-like inselberg, rising 150 metres above the Western Plains. It is a small relic of a formerly large sedimentary rock formation, mostly now eroded away.
We read that Mount Oxley may have the best views – a panorama that stretches as far as the eye can see. Access to Mount Oxley does require a permit, as it is private property, and this can be purchased from the Back O’ Bourke Centre. It cost us $9pp. We were given the security code to get through the gate and then shown a picture of the very narrow and steep sealed road to the top. We were not looking foreward to that.
We took the Kamilaroi Hwy towards Brewarrina and the edges of the road where littered with cotton balls. We saw massive cotton farms on both sides of the road, and a massive farm dam. We stopped to get some cotton for a photo.
After 28km we turned right at the Tarcoon turnoff onto a gravel road. There is a sign for Mt Oxley. After 4km we turned right and the went 3km to the gate. It was a bugger to get the padlock to work (coded number), but finally it opened. Just one extra link in the chain would have made it so much easier to get open (and lock again).
It is about 10km to the base of the Mountain and the road is a shocker. We were crawling along at snails pace to minimise the impact.
At the bottom of the ascent road, it did not look quite as bad as I had feared. The property owners say the road is sealed, one car width having points where cars can pass (we did not see any of these). The problem was that there were some large potholes on the inside wheel line that you just could not avoid. With Kerry at the wheel we went up and it was not so bad at all. I am not so good in these situations so was extremely relieved when we got to the top.
See this more effectively in the video – click here
We made our way to the BBQ area and parked away from the shed as requested. The owners are trying to keep the area in its natural state and don’t want to see too much soil compaction around the area.
The views are outstanding and we spent an hour just wandering around the area, taking in the vast flood plains in all directions. Sunsets would be amazing. We had the place to ourselves. Other than the BBQ shed and the communication towers, we saw no sign of accomodation up top. But lots of camp sites… The facilities were great… proper kitchen set up for campers too.
I made up a rock column to add to those already there.
Then we had lunch whilst taking in more of the outstanding views. We saw a pair of eagles circulating with a much smaller bird literally attacking them in mid-air – what a brave little soul, must be protecting a nest.
We drove down with me at the wheel as I needed to keep as far away from the edge as possible. The road out was just as bad and opening the gate proved just as difficult. It was a sheer drop of a few hundred feet.
Back in town we checked our the river levels at the old Wharf. We were delighted to conclude that the water levels were up ever so slightly. This would mostly likely mean Lake Menindee would fill. We hope the decision makers are also letting a good proportion of the flow go down the entire river to the Murray River. At this point, we realised that the wharf structure went down another few levels under where we were standing.
Day 4 – 28 April – Gundabooka NP
There is a seperate post for this – click here
Day 5 – 29 April – Around Bourke
I had found the painted water tank on my morning walk and we went up to have a closer look. The focus is on Percy Francis Hobson, a former Australian high jumper, who competed in the Commonwealth Games, and set a Games record. Whilst an Indigenous Australian, a Gundabooka man, he was assumed to be “white” by others during competition. It’s great artwork with wonderful cockatoos also there. One cockatoo proudly wearing a gold medal around its neck!
We then checked out a really pretty house I had walked past.
Next was the cemetery. It was incredibly sad to see so many children losing their life. These headstones tell terrible tales. Incredibly sad. I had a good cry – how heart-wrenching for the parents to lose so many little children.
We found the grave of Fred Hollows – it’s hard to miss, being a massive stone. There are plaques telling the story of his connection to Bourke and his burial. Quite touching.
We went down to check out the river again. We think the peak has just passed.
In the afternoon I went to see the Back O Bourke exhibition Centre – Kerry not feeling so good. The Centre is set amongst the native garden of the river red gums on the banks of the Darling River.
The media says: the Centre allows you to experience a journey through life in the backcountry; rediscovering the stories of Australia through modern eyes, taking you from the rich cultural history of the past through to the future of the Australian Outback.
What I particularly liked was being able to read about so many stories of aboriginal life pre European settlement, early exploration, the poets, local bush rangers, the grazing industry, Outback legends and conflicts. The Centre is also home of the Bourke Visitor Information Centre. Here is one story that particularly caught my eye.
There are couple of photos in the European history page – click here
To see photos from the post, click here
To see photos from the post, click here