The drive from Cobar to Bourke is 160km of the most boring road we have experienced yet.
The feature of interest was Mt Oxley which appears out on the plains near Bourke like some Ayres Rock replica...
The Darling River at Bourke......
Henry Lawson was sent to Bourke in 1892 by his editor to sober up. Lawson didn't dry-out but he did immortalize Bourke district, its people by his stories, poems and newspaper articles in the Bulletin. In 1892 Lawson wrote "to know Bourke is to know Australia".
The sheep and wool industry is a shadow of its former self and so is Bourke. A more depressed and run down town we have not yet visited.
The most exciting place we found in Bourke was the cemetary....
Fred Hollows chose to be buried here because of his connection with the huge aboriginal community in the district.
While we visiting the cemetery a group of Muslim men turned up to visit the historical Afghan Mosque. In the days before the railway and trucks, camels and their Afghan masters provided the transport overland. Over 2000 camels were used in building the railway to Bourke.
The railway put both the camel drivers and river boats out of business virtually overnight.We did a cruise along the Darling on the "Jandra" a replica paddle steamer. Since the boats were powered by steam, space on board was taken up with wood for the boiler. The paddle boats tow barges to transport the load.
In the days before Federation each colony was like a separate country. This is the flag of the upper Murray and Darling River which boats that operated along the Darling flew. Each colony had its own river flag design to show the colony of registration.
The River Red Gum trees line the banks of the Darling Murray system. Great hulking, gnarly trees. We wouldn't call them magistic but they are impressive and tenacious. Because of its quality the timber of the Red River Gum was used to build the river boats.
The dead Red River Gum trees topple into the river. Because of the density of the wood the trees don't float away. The dead timber lining the river bank provided a convenient and excellent source of wood for the steam boiler of the boats.
The original bridges over the Darling River were all of the same draw bridge design.
This year there has been an unprecedented two floods down the Darling River this year already. The banks of the river are lined with thick gray cracking mud.
The Bourke Shire Council has built the Back O'Bourke Exhibition Centre on the outskirts of town to foster the tourist trade. The 3 exhibition halls are built under these unique dome sails.
The architecture of the town is very much late colonial, early federation period.
The post office...
The court house is a unique design and construction....
with an enclosed garden court yard...a design ideally suited to the Australia environment.
Some of the grand old pubs have been turned in to guest houses....
and some are still pubs....
Hardware stores.....
and Hairdressers need proctection.
The next day we visted Brewarrina and Walgett on our way to Lightning Ridge.
Brewarrina is smaller than Bourke but with the same social problems. There is an informative visitor information centre with a very, very strong Aboriginal culture focus. In the river at Brewarrina are the remnants of the ancient aboriginal stone fish traps. Not much to look at but quite big in the Aboriginal dreaming folklore.
The one redeeming feature of Berwarrina was a great cafe infused with the aroma of coffee and grilled bacon spilling out along the street. How could we go past. The coffee was great, the egg and bacon rolled tasted as good as it smelt and the cafe decor (inside and out) was a blend of art gallery, museum
and junk yard.
Walgett was same old same old, only with higher perimeter fences and more heavily barred windows.
And so on to Lightning Ridge...
