Judy & Brian Tour Oz

  Bourke NSW July 8 2024 There are some days when you pull out onto the highway, and you just know, straight away, that its going to be a long day. Today was one of them. To be honest I struggled the entire 220km from Nyngan to Bourke. The road is dead straight and heads North West. The ‘high’ light of the day was reaching 240 metres above see level at Coolabah, before drooping back down to 170. The scenery the entire way until 10k out of Bourke is 3 metre tall mallee scrub past which you can see nothing. Wall to wall. And its raining. Has been all night. The country doesn’t drain because its as flat as a billiard table, the road doesn’t drain, because it has no crown. There are two distinct ruts where the water lays, except for when it pools. You daren’t hit them too fast or you will be pulled to one side or aquaplane of the planet. And then you reach Bourke, rivalled only in drab and bleakness by others such a Walgett. We headed for Kidmans Camp, it may or may not be the on...

May 30, 2016 Bourke NSW A 'transport' day today as we move further out to Bourke, a small run of a mere 475km, the last 200 of which is dead straight. Personally, I couldn't see any difference, apart from the surrounding landscape, of this road between Nyngan and Bourke and the much vaunted 'longest straight road in Australia', between Balladonia and Caiguna on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia. That little strip is only 146km long before a bend looms into view. Bourke finally hove into view and as, in itself, it has little attraction, we drove straight through and onto 'Northy' as they have labelled North Bourke, which is where Kidman's Camp is located. We have been here before and this is a nice place, lots of green grass in the middle of the dessert, and you pick your own site. Why am I surprised that the place, while not jam-packed, is getting to its capacity of some 300 guests, mostly in vans. Judy 'at home', Kidmans Camp, Bour...

Had to visit the Back o' Bourke centre for the Outback show. Clydesdales, normal horses, dogs, camels and bullocks being put through some paces buy a cowboy from Milton. He claimed to have been a horse breaker out past Halls Creek. Fairly entertaining and interesting show held out the back of the centre. We also took the self-guided tour through the centre to check out the outback display, but really, it wasn't much. The place was interesting in that it wasn't fenced, anyone could wander in and not bother to pay, and they don't funnel the punters in and out through the shop. Odd. Couldn't help but think about that old conundrum: what came first, the tourists or the tourist attraction? Highlight of the day was a ride on the PV Jandra, built locally in 2000 uing a few pictures of the original as a guide. Sadly, no steam engine. Taks a 1 hour round trip down and back along the Darling River and you are given a running commentary and history lesson as you go. Took t...

Bourke Followed the Mitchell Highway up through the rich grazing and cropping property to Dubbo where they become irrigated from the Macquarie River. Along the river itself the soil is a rich dark brown that looks like it could grow just about anything, hard to say at 100kph but they looked like huge market gardens. From Dubbo we headed straight for Nyngan. I say straight for that is what it is,all the way from Dubbo to Bourke - 200k. The country changes dramatically, first to fields of cotton around Narromine and up to Trangie and then to vast flat plains of red earth with mirage lakes shimmering in the distance. The only signs of life are scrub and stray bunches of feral goats and sheep and the odd emu. Stopped for a coffee at Nyngan but decided to put on a few more kilometres before taking lunch.  Exactly half-way between Nyngan and Bourke is a so-called free camp - a few tracks on the red earth and a single picnic table. As we eat lunch we are struck by just how little traffic...