Allthegobro

Reporting in again from Bourke this time from the Kidman Caravan Resort  camping out under the stars. Leanne encountered some minor dramas in setting up the van site eg not enough tent poles for the annex and some lighting issues which Russell saw the way through.   We have given the River View Motel the flick. We could not SEE ourselves staying another night in The Fred Hollows suite in the Heritage room section. The park is quite good with excellent facilities, not long finished our dinner of pasta, mince with sauce care of Paul Newman, followed by Tim Tams and port. Tripped around today looking at the ‘Back of Bourke’  Centre, a short cruise onboard the PV Jandra on the Darling River.

We are now about to call it a night and crawl into the comfy bed situation, it is as warm as toast in the back of this truck! We will just see how long it takes!

Sunset along the road to Burke

We have arrived at Bourke, but can’t find Wills. I suppose Kate knows were he is?

We have had a long day today on our search for the grave of Elizabeth Ann Furner at Bugilbone Station which dates back into the 1800s. Elizabeth is a great grandmother of our friend Tony Watt and died on Bugilbone in 1890 and it is thought is buried there. Bugilbone is shown on our map between Walgett and Burren Junction on the Kamilaroi Hwy, but this is only a disused railway siding. We drove into Burren Junction without sighting a ‘Bugilbone Station’ . So we decided to consult some locals at a garage in Burren Junction. Yes ! We were told that the Station was just a mere 20k up the road to Pilinga. Now the curious thing is that one of the locals was none other than Bill Kerr, well-known to Tony. Tony, Bill apologies profusely for not getting pictures to you of the gravestones. So we headed off to Bugilbone, drove into the property and was taken to the graveyard area by the son of the property manager. We will fill you in on some detail later Tony but unfortunately we could not locate the grave.There  is a similar surname of ‘Moore’ but first initials are different. There may be some more detective work for you to do Tony.

We returned to Walgett and headed to Brewarrina where we saw the Aboriginal ‘fish traps’ in the Darling River that are thought to be upwards of 30,000 years on the go. Quite interesting! When then chased the setting sun into Burke and alas were forced to stay overnight in a motel rather than under the stars. Tomorrow is another day!

Left Goodiwindi after a short tour around the sights, or should that be sites? Doesn’t really matter. Gunsynd hasn’t changed since last seen on the memorial near the old Border Bridge, hasn’t won any more races either. Leanne availed herself of discounts at Goondiwindi Cotton Co before we headed off down the road to Moree and then onto Collarenabri on the Gwydir River. At Collarenabri we chased a flock of ducks into the river before having a milkshake in the local cafe. There is not a lot of commerce on the main street which has seen better days it seems. The drive into Walgett went well passing  great expanses of harvested cotton fields. It is a big night in town tonight and the local bottle shop ,is doing a roaring trade, there should be a few headaches in the morning. We enjoyed some Chinese takeaway and a bottle of red back in the motel. Last night under cover before the first camp out in Bourke tomorrow, after some grave hunting at Bugilbone.

After a slow start this morning we have arrived at Goondiwindi, home of the ‘Goondiwindi grey’ Gunsynd. Our vehicle has performed well with no mishaps. First time for both of us driving one of these 4wd tanks, parking can get a bit tight and I can see why shopping centre car parks should be a no go zone for them. A bit tight for time on arrival so we are spending  tonight in a motel rather than camping under the stars. In the morning will have a quick look around the town before moving onto Walgett for the next stop.

Well arrangements are now in place…almost…for the start of our road trip on the Darling River Run. The trip takes us from Brisbane in Queensland out west through Warwick and Goondawindi into NSW for our first night in Moree. From there we head to Bourke and down the Darling River to Wentworth where the river joins  the Murray River,Australia’s longest, which forms the border with Victoria.

We set off on Thursday 2 June in the early morning.