Week 1 - Travel from home to Bourke.

We left home on May 9th and headed for Shepparton where Gerry and Mike had

a small job to do before we could join our travelling party in Jerilderie NSW where

we arrived in the evening of May 10th. The following brisk morning we  took off

on our Oz trip along the 800 km stretch of the Kidman Way. 

 

Rest Stop near Cobar in NSW

Here's our caravan convoy at a rest stops in southern NSW. Our convoy at this
stage consists of Keith & Kath Smith (tail -end), Richard & Marg Gidman, us and
Ray & Barb McDonald (tour leaders).

Cobar

                           In the town of Cobar the Great Western Hotel has the

longest iron lace verandah in the state.

Cobar's Catholic Church

The Cobar (meaning copper) Mining Monument

We stayed at the Cobar Caravan Park which was very pleasant with spacious sites and
great facilities. Because of the good rains the area has had, the sites were very grassy.

Bourke

Sign in town - 'Bourke Gateway to the Real Outback'

The restored Jandra Paddlesteamer cruises on the Darling River at Bourke and with
the 14 metre high floods here earlier this year, the photo below shows the water mark
high up on the branches.

We were already on the top deck of the Jandra when we took this photo so that will give

you some idea of the height the floodwater reached. The whole area was in flood for months.

Beautiful cotton fields of Bourke.

The most well known name in the Bourke area would be that of Fred Hollows and in
the Bourke Cemetery is his grave. There is a tall monument as well as this large rock with his name engraved in it. It's very earthy and probably the way he would have wanted people to be remembered. Fred worked tirelessly throughout his life to improve the health and and wellbeing of indigenous Australians as well as restoring sight of the poor overseas.
He wanted to end avoidable blindness. Restore sight for just $25 and help Fred's dream live on.....  http://www.hollows.org.au/

Also in the Bourke Cemetery - a musician's grave?

The Bourke/Northy Bridge over the Darling River is a wonderful heritage piece but difficult to cycle over as our wheels kept getting stuck in the gaps. Oh well a walk never hurt anyone!

Black Cockatoo in this magnificent tree on the banks of the Darling.

Kidmans Camp just north of Bourke. Spacious sites with great ammenities and a delicious dinner around the campfire while we were entertained by a Bush Poet. At this camp we were surpized to meet up with our friend Faye from Easter camping at Baringhup in Vic.

Fitzgerald Post Office Hotel from 1888 in Bourke.

As we leave Bourke we are reminded of this!

Till next episode!