Bourke

On Sunday night Cunnamulla experienced a thunder storm with a lot of heavy rain. We left early and it was still raining but about 50 kms out of the town, it was overcast but not raining. The road to Bourke is good, pretty straight with a very few rest stops, mostly for trucks. There were no toilets for the 260 kms- ouch. We made do for our MT by just putting the stove on the ground.

We arrived in Bourke around lunch time and were able to book in – oh the relief. Greg and Jenny arrived mid afternoon from Lightning Ridge. We then so set off exploring.Bourke is on the Darling River which is currently in flood. We have not been able to go to lots of places because of the water. Ironic.

But we have/ been to –

• Exhibition Centre (which features the past of Bourke with quite a lot on Henry Lawson;
• Mt Oxley which is a mesa looking silhouette on the horizon. It is a rocky mountain about 50 km out of town with stunning views of the surrounding land;
• Town where we wandered through looking at the old buildings, one of which was the Lands Department building especially designed for the heat and with a fragrant rose garden;
• See the Crossley engine working;
•  Enjoyed coffee;
•  Poetry on a Plate – a poet around a campfire.

Our cabin at Kidmans Camp, looks towards the river. There is a paddle boat we can just see the top of, that takes trips from here to Bourke Port and back it is too dangerous in the river as there is a bit of debris. Besides the road just down from us that goes to the boat is flooded.

Tomorrow we are going to the Outback Show then onto Cobar where there is a quilt shop – yeah.