Tuesday 22 November to Saturday November 26
Bourke to Sydney
Blog 4
We followed the mud maps supplied by the information centre to explore Bourke. Our first stop was the cemetery. Apart from seeing very old graves dating back to 1832, particularly of small children, Fred Hollows is also buried there. It is a very simple but beautiful grave located in a grassed area with trees around it. He operated on a lot of the aboriginal people and saved their sight and loved it here. We then headed off to a replica of the stockade that Charles Mitchell the explorer built along the Darling River, which was the beginning of the town Bourke.
We then drove back into town and headed out the other direction to the only weir and loch that was built on the Darling. The loch is no longer functional but in a beautiful spot. It is amazing to see how high up the river bank the trees are that are affected by the flooding river. Apparently at its flood peak it can be 80km wide. We then drive to a lovely little picnic spot where we could walk out on sand bars between the billabong sections and see an amazing number of birds, including pelicans and brolgas. It was a great spot.
We travelled along the Darling River at Bourke on the Paddle Boat, Jandra.
Joining us on the journey was the ex-mayor of Bourke and still councillor, Wally.Mitchell The morning was beautiful and warm and there were lots of birds, including a family of ducks and their little ducklings. The cruise was for 1 hour and Wally explained lots of things about the river and irrigation from the river.
After the cruise we hitched up and gave Wally a lift into Bourke and on the way he took us to the airport and explained to us that the council had sold the old airport for $200,000 to someone you was using it extensively and then they had sold off some of the land around the airport and the local community built a new airport. The building is a great very friendly building that looks like a homestead. He then took us to a cotton gin which is a factory that processes picked cotton, removes the dirt and rubbish and puts it into bales.
We spent about an hour being shown around and we had each part of the process explained. It was a fantastic experience. Our last stop with Wally was that he took us into the courthouse while a case was being heard. What a great experience it was.
Having finished with Bourke we headed down the now bitumen road of the Mitchell Highway through green and wet Nyngan. The countryside was certainly different. No more red dirt and dust, there were green fields, trees, many sheep grazing in the one field and quite a large town at Nyngan. There was traffic again and we were back in civilization. Even our ordinary mobile phones worked again for the first time in 3 weeks.
Next morning we were confronted with having to deal with a smashed window in our car where someone had broken in during the night but not stolen anything since they couldn’t find anything of any value. After ordering a new window and cleaning up the mess we spent the afternoon and part of the next day at the magnificent Dubbo Zoo. What a magnificent place. It is definitely worth taking the time to soak in what it has to offer. The pictures can’t really capture the smells, the sounds and the peace but they give you some idea. There were storms and a lot of rain in the evening. The first we had seen for weeks after 30C-40C heat. Some of the rivers around us had flooded and some of the crops had been damaged particularly the cherries and wheat.
We got our car window replaced and then headed back to the zoo to complete our journey. It was well worth the return trip.
The rest of the trip is really just heading home but as we drove from Dubbo through to Orange the countryside was so green and undulating with the grass so high in places that it hid half the cattle. Orange is over 900m above sea level and considerably colder than the surrounding towns. We didn’t stop to take photos but it certainly was a picture book scene.
We spent overnight in Bathurst, a town we had explored before, and then headed for home in the morning. Our second caravan journey was over. We saw some spectacular countryside and met some interesting people. It wasn’t the journey that we thought we were going to make.
We didn’t get to Kangaroo Island or the Clare Valley or the Eyre Peninsula or Victor Harbour but we saw our spectacular red deserts. We will get to the rest another time. That is the beauty of our travels, we can change our plans to whatever takes our fancy.
Bourke to Sydney
Blog 4
We followed the mud maps supplied by the information centre to explore Bourke. Our first stop was the cemetery. Apart from seeing very old graves dating back to 1832, particularly of small children, Fred Hollows is also buried there. It is a very simple but beautiful grave located in a grassed area with trees around it. He operated on a lot of the aboriginal people and saved their sight and loved it here. We then headed off to a replica of the stockade that Charles Mitchell the explorer built along the Darling River, which was the beginning of the town Bourke.
We then drove back into town and headed out the other direction to the only weir and loch that was built on the Darling. The loch is no longer functional but in a beautiful spot. It is amazing to see how high up the river bank the trees are that are affected by the flooding river. Apparently at its flood peak it can be 80km wide. We then drive to a lovely little picnic spot where we could walk out on sand bars between the billabong sections and see an amazing number of birds, including pelicans and brolgas. It was a great spot.
We travelled along the Darling River at Bourke on the Paddle Boat, Jandra.
Joining us on the journey was the ex-mayor of Bourke and still councillor, Wally.Mitchell The morning was beautiful and warm and there were lots of birds, including a family of ducks and their little ducklings. The cruise was for 1 hour and Wally explained lots of things about the river and irrigation from the river.
After the cruise we hitched up and gave Wally a lift into Bourke and on the way he took us to the airport and explained to us that the council had sold the old airport for $200,000 to someone you was using it extensively and then they had sold off some of the land around the airport and the local community built a new airport. The building is a great very friendly building that looks like a homestead. He then took us to a cotton gin which is a factory that processes picked cotton, removes the dirt and rubbish and puts it into bales.
We spent about an hour being shown around and we had each part of the process explained. It was a fantastic experience. Our last stop with Wally was that he took us into the courthouse while a case was being heard. What a great experience it was.
Having finished with Bourke we headed down the now bitumen road of the Mitchell Highway through green and wet Nyngan. The countryside was certainly different. No more red dirt and dust, there were green fields, trees, many sheep grazing in the one field and quite a large town at Nyngan. There was traffic again and we were back in civilization. Even our ordinary mobile phones worked again for the first time in 3 weeks.
Next morning we were confronted with having to deal with a smashed window in our car where someone had broken in during the night but not stolen anything since they couldn’t find anything of any value. After ordering a new window and cleaning up the mess we spent the afternoon and part of the next day at the magnificent Dubbo Zoo. What a magnificent place. It is definitely worth taking the time to soak in what it has to offer. The pictures can’t really capture the smells, the sounds and the peace but they give you some idea. There were storms and a lot of rain in the evening. The first we had seen for weeks after 30C-40C heat. Some of the rivers around us had flooded and some of the crops had been damaged particularly the cherries and wheat.
We got our car window replaced and then headed back to the zoo to complete our journey. It was well worth the return trip.
The rest of the trip is really just heading home but as we drove from Dubbo through to Orange the countryside was so green and undulating with the grass so high in places that it hid half the cattle. Orange is over 900m above sea level and considerably colder than the surrounding towns. We didn’t stop to take photos but it certainly was a picture book scene.
We spent overnight in Bathurst, a town we had explored before, and then headed for home in the morning. Our second caravan journey was over. We saw some spectacular countryside and met some interesting people. It wasn’t the journey that we thought we were going to make.
We didn’t get to Kangaroo Island or the Clare Valley or the Eyre Peninsula or Victor Harbour but we saw our spectacular red deserts. We will get to the rest another time. That is the beauty of our travels, we can change our plans to whatever takes our fancy.
