20151029 NSW Cobar to Bourke

We didn’t stop at Wilcannia but as we passed over the bridge the water level of the Darling River had dropped dramatically from the time we were here in 2012 but it was still a muddy color.  Stopping at Cobar for the night and didn't bother doing to much as it is another town we had visited.
Our camp spot at Newey Lake at Cobar, not bad for a free camp.  We meet a couple of locals and had a few drinks with them and caught up on the local gossip.
Des checking out free camping on the way to our next destination, Bourke in the morning.







30-10-2015  The Australian expression ‘Back of Bourke’ means about as far as you can go, Bourke is situated on the Darling River and is the centre of a large wool, cotton and citrus area and I had visions of a tin Pub in the middle of nowhere.  Henry Lawson wrote ‘If you know Bourke, you know Australia.’

Fred Hallows Grave at the Historical Bourke Cemetery. He spent his life helping those who couldn’t afford, or access, basic eye care working hard to end avoidable blindness and improve the health of the Indigenous Australians.  He was shocked to see the the aboriginal people were suffering from some of the worst eye diseases he had ever seen so he traveled with a team of 80 doctors to 465 remote communities helping more than 60,000. 

Around the turn of the century this small building was used by Muslim Afghan Traders as a place of worship.

Many legends in the cemetery tell of the tragedy that stalked the Western Plains, drowned, killed by lightning, murdered, poisoned himself, shot dead by police, to sheer isolation in the bush, found hanging.  The Coolibah’s of Bourke cemetery is a fascinating piece of Australian’s frontier history.


 Historical Crossley Engine


With Desie's help the fully restored 1923 vintage oil fueled engine comes to life.  She was once used in the power house to generate electricity for Sydney.
This was the piston that was replaced, now that's a piston. 
It was fully restored by Don Burns who I am guessing is this old chappy.









I copied this from off the wall in the local Pub, she's pretty much bogged.
























We stayed at the Kidmans Camp Caravan Park and I found this down on the river but unfortunately the season is over for a trip on the Jandra to cruise the Darling River but I managed to get a great photo.
Location: Bourke NSW 2840, Australia

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