The Darling River (described as a ‘muddy gutter’ by Henry Lawson) is one of the main rivers that drain the western catchment. It has many sources including the Parroo, Warrego, Culgoa, Narran, Barwon, Gwydir, Namoi, Castlereigh, Macquarie and Bogan rivers. The Darling enters the Murray River at Wentworth. Our plan was to follow the Darling from Bourke through to Wentworth along a mainly dirt road referred to as ‘The Darling River Run’.
Bourke was the beginning for us and we spent a few days exploring the area. Luckily there had been good rain this year and the Darling was flowing. It also meant the paddle steamer (diesel/electric) ‘Jandra’ was operational so we went for a cruise on the river. Bourke is also where Fred Hollows is buried and there is a large monument donated by his family marking his grave.
We were interested in visiting the Aboriginal rock art gallery in Gundabooka National Park which was about 80K out of town. The recent rains meant that all the wildflowers were out and looked stunning against the red dirt of the road in. The rock art gallery had paintings of the fish traps in Brewarrina and the local tribe was one of the many that traveled there.
Next stop after Bourke was Trilby Station. This is a working property of about 320,000 acres that offers camping along the river. While here we visited the property next door – Dunlop Station. The previous owners of Dunlop had been a bit eccentric. The husband had locked the gate and would not allow anyone on the property or his wife to leave. They had collected a lifetime of material and when he died his wife sold the property. She just walked out and left everything – clothes in the cupboards, food in the pantry and rooms so full of stuff you couldn’t open the doors.
Trilby also had self drive tours of the property. You know you’re on on a large property when the driving instructions say ‘in 11 Km turn right’. Straight road all on the one property.
On to Kallara Station for a couple of nights and an opportunity to take some ‘star trails’ photos.
After Kallara we drove to Wilcannia.
