Bourke - 29 June 2014

Didn't hear any trucks during the night. It was very quiet. Unfortunately, even though it wasn't too windy when we got up, although a bit chilly, the wind got up again during the day. Very unpleasant.

We had a very relaxing morning. I did some washing and we just sat by the van. I even did some patchwork, the first time since we left. Kidman's Camp is by the Darling River, although I did think it was right on the river. The river is 500 metres past the Park, so we walked down to have a look before lunch. The PV Jandra Paddleboat is moored there and we will board it for a ride on the river one of the days we are here. While we were out there we spotted a goose wandering hanging around near the garbage bins. He didn't attack us thank heavens.

Bruce worked out our mileage while we were relaxing at the van. So far our fuel consumption has averaged out at 12.5L/100km, which is excellent. The bigger vans would use 20 Litres or more/100kms. On a few of those days we have been driving into the wind too which would have eaten the fuel.

After lunch, we headed towards town to pick up some information. We passed a lime farm. Bruce has brought limes from our tree at home which he has been using. After that, we had to cross the Darling River. The old wooden bridge is still there although not in use. Next to it is the new bridge, called The Gateway Bridge. No comparison to the Gateway Bridge in Brisbane! It's because Bourke is the Gateway to the NSW Outback.

The girl at the Information Centre, which is at the Back O' Bourke Exhibition Centre, was very helpful. We ended up booking a package of 4 different events/tours, which we will do while we are here. It was cheaper to book the package by $10 each. The Centre looks very impressive and we will have a look through the rest of it another day. That is included in our package ticket.

We had a drive through town and being Sunday, it was very quiet and most things were well and truly boarded up. We will be interested to have a look through town during the week to see how different it is. There was a big gathering of Aboriginals at one of the halls, at some sort of function. With everything being boarded up, it was hard to see what sort of shops there are. We didn't even see a take away food shop, not that we were interested for ourselves.

Leaving town behind, we drove out the other side to have a look at where the explorer, Thomas Mitchell set up Fort Bourke Stockade about 35km down river from Bourke in 1835. It was built to hold 6 men while the rest of his exploration party continued to explore down river. It was the only Fort ever built by Australian explorers. Imagine being stuck in something that size with 5 other people for however long they were.

The road into the Stockade/Fort was a very narrow dirt road with many holes. It was quite interesting to read the information about Mitchell. He accomplished so much. He was a workaholic, but certainly opened up the area. He was Surveyor General of NSW for 27 years, taking over from John Oxley.

We had booked to go to Poetry on a Plate tonight, held at Kidman's Camp. There was a meal (slow cooked beef casserole and a veg and lentil dish) provided, along with dessert. While that was happening Andrew Hull recited poetry. This was held under the stars with campfires spread round the area. There was one big campfire in the centre and smaller ones round the outside. Luckily the wind died a bit tonight although we did get a few sprinkles. It was a great night. One of the people next to us described Andrew as a thinking man's poet. He was very good, reciting his poems of the area and the history. It was a great night.