The Darling River Run

Pooncarie Hotel

We packed up and left Mildura and the Murray early on Wednesday morning, heading out to Dareton and turning right, driving past vineyards and citrus orchards until the irrigation stopped and the dry scrublands began. Soon after we joined the main road to Pooncarie, immortalised in a song by Slim Dusty "When the bitumen reaches Pooncarie"! This road is part of the “Darling River Run”, a series of (mostly unsealed) roads travelling both sides of the river. Rain fell as we drove along, not forecast and making us glad we were on the sealed road! I’m sure the farmers welcome it, though we are hoping it’s not much, with several days of unsealed driving ahead of us. We arrived at Pooncarie before 11 o’clock and drove down to the “wharf” and out to the campground for a cuppa, before collecting a key from the pub and setting ourselves up for the night. There is very little water in the Darling at present, in places it has dried completely, but we are told it is coming south, and hopefully will reach there soon. We walked to the pub for lunch, then enjoyed a relaxing afternoon. A few other campers arrived as the day went on, some talking about the slippery conditions they’d faced on unsealed roads. As the sun set, it quickly cooled, but we enjoyed a drink in front of a small campfire before retreating indoors to the heater to eat dinner!

Hitting the dirt!

Kinchega Woolshed

We woke to 1.9 degrees but clear skies. After breakfast we packed up, dropped the key at the shop and headed north, hitting unsealed roads after a few kilometres; dry today with very little dust after yesterday’s rain. We drove past many stations including “Tolarno”, a huge property recently made famous by their protests against water losses from the Darling. We reached Menindee just before 11 o’clock and, after some very helpful advice from a local, drove to Copi Hollow, 15km from town, right on the edge of a lovely lake - with water in it! After setting up camp and having lunch, we went driving, first to Menindee Weir and Burke and Wills camp (where men and livestock waited 12 months hoping the explorers would return), then out to Kinchega National Park, visiting the massive Woolshed and the homestead ruins, finishing with a drink at Maidens hotel, also visited by Burke, Wills and team on their way north. We returned home for another chilly night where again we appreciated a powered site and a heater! 

Copi Hollow

Warrawong - First ones here!!

On Friday morning, after packing up, we drove out to the lookout over Menindee Lakes. It is terrible to see them completely dry, after seeing them full on our previous trip. Dead grapevines surround the town, a thriving industry killed by lack of water. We took the western side road north, with conditions better than we had expected for a dirt road. The Darling River runs closer to the east-side road, but we’d been told “west is best”, so we listened!! Just before 11o’clock, we reached Wilcannia, once the biggest port on the Darling, with many beautiful old sandstone buildings, now a very small outpost on the Barrier Highway. We drove 3km out of town to Warrawong on the Darling, a well-equipped caravan park which was empty when we arrived but gradually filled as the afternoon wore on. At a welcome community campfire late in the afternoon, we met travellers from far and wide, mostly grey nomads, and we swapped yarns of places visited, road conditions and caravan accessories! We learned a lot. 

Tilpa Weir - the pelicans are loving it!

After a not-so-chilly night, we headed off the next morning, following the advice from the local council and taking the west road, which had been recently graded. Again, it was the one further from the river, but the advice had been good and the road was well maintained, so we arrived at our next destination, Tilpa, just after 11 o’clock. We drove out to the weir, where water was flowing downstream and many pelicans were enjoying a swim, then back to the pub, where we were shown where to camp in a quiet place near the Royal Flying Doctor Service office. Tilpa is on the flood plain, with levies to keep the buildings safe in times of flood. We had lunch at the pub, then lazed the afternoon away, Martin preparing a small campfire before our roast dinner, then we returned to the pub, the only place with reception, to watch some footy before retiring to bed.

Shindy's Inn, Louth

What a memorial! 

On Sunday we started the day with our exercise routine, then packed up and continued the western route north. The recently graded road lasted until the shire council boundary, then became much more corrugated, particularly near cattle grids and causeways. We travelled past Trilby Station, where we had camped in 2011, and soon after we crossed the bridge and arrived at Louth. We checked into the campground at Shindy’s Inn, set up then walked around to explore the surroundings. The annual picnic races at Louth put money into the local community, and there is a lovely park with good facilities, a school and cricket ground as well as the racetrack. Lunch at the pub was delicious, and later in the afternoon we visited the cemetery to see the beautiful marble Celtic cross, commemorating the first publican’s wife; it was made in Bendigo and transported by bullock cart and paddle steamer to Louth, and reflects the sunset back on the town each evening. 

On Monday morning, after a walk to the Louth racetrack, we headed off again, following the eastern road this time and turning off to Gundabooka National Park. We set up camp at Dry Tank campground, a well laid out area amongst the mulga scrub. After lunch, we walked to “little mountain lookout” to gaze across at The Gunderbooka Range. The walk was interesting and well marked, with information about aboriginal life, local trees and wildlife to read about as we went. We lit a small pre-dinner campfire before moving inside for the night as it cooled. A small rain shower surprised us later that evening as we watched a movie on the laptop. 

Gundabooka

We drove only 20-ish kms on dirt on Tuesday morning before we reached The Kidman Way, then, with the straight, smooth bitumen below our tyres we reached Bourke in no time! We called into the information centre to check what attractions we might visit, then set ourselves up at Kidman Camp, 8km north of town. After a reviving cuppa, we drove back into town, walking along past the beautiful old buildings, marvelling at the aboriginal art in the gallery and checking out the water levels from the wharf: much lower than last time! We admired the old Crossley steam engine as it puttered to life for one hour a day, before returning to camp for lunch. Later we took a horse and buggy ride along the banks of The Darling, appreciating how rough and slow it would have been to take our journey 100+ years ago. The horses handled the hills and gullies with ease, while we hung on for dear life! Returning to camp, we took a walk to a local art gallery featuring beautiful paintings of the outback in a variety of conditions, then walked along the river bank, past the PV Jandra, not working at present due to low river levels, and back to camp for dinner and an early night. 

Wednesday was exercise morning, followed by washing and grocery shopping - the first one in a week, so we are very proud of our forward planning! Later we went to the Back'o'Bourke exhibition and collected some "mud maps" for today's touring - a drive out to "Fort Bourke", set up by Major Mitchell as he explored the Darling River, then to the Bourke Weir - no water downstream due to the low river levels; the water we had seen at Tilpa and Louth had come from the Warrego, which joins the Darling south of here. After lunch we continued with a trip to May's Bend, where many people were free camping, then we drove the maritime drive along the north bank of the river, reading many informative signs about river history including the explorers Sturt and Mitchell and the busy riverboat trade of the late 1800s and early 1900s. At one stage 80 riverboats serviced the Darling - it is hard to imagine that today! Finally, we visited the Nancy Bird Airport Terminal, and read the fascinating history of this early aviator. All in all, we have learned a lot in our couple of days in Bourke. 

Bourke Weir - no water flowing here

Tomorrow morning we leave the Darling River and head north, following our third river, the Warrego. A new adventure awaits!