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Joyce & Pat's Adventure Before Dementia

Charleville to the Back of Bourke Oct 2, 2009

Monday 28/09/09

Up bright & early this morning (well 7.30am is early for us) as we needed to be out at the Meteorology Bureau site before 8.45am. Overnight had been pretty cold – blankets & doonas needed at present. We found out why we were rather cold – it was 3.5 degrees overnight! This visit was really good – even more so because this visit is free. The guy in charge gave us an informative talk on what processes he has to go through before the balloon goes up at 9.15. Now days the balloon release is done by computer & is set up to coincide with other world balloon release at a set GMT time. The balloon rises at 1000ft per minute. After the balloon release we went back indoors where he projected the computer screen onto a drop down screen & showed us all the readings that are taken from the balloon.

We also had a look at the Steiger Vortex Rainmaking Guns. These guns were used in an experiment in an effort to provide some relief from the effects of the drought. Six of these vertical guns were strategically placed & then charged with gunpowder & fired into the sky in the hope that the explosion would change the atmospheric pressure & rain would fall. Of course this experiment was a huge failure!! Two guns remain on show.

After we had finished at this site we did a tour of the town & then went back to the van to have a relaxing afternoon. Once again it was time to do a major wash & clean (especially after the wind/dust that we have been having for the past week). Pat also decided to give the car a wash.

Baileys Caravan Park (where we are staying) had a camp oven dinner on tonight. Good value for $15/person. Pat reckons it was the best stew he has had (& I tend to agree). This was followed by apple crumble & custard & then billy tea. Very enjoyable. If we had been staying another day we could have been watching/betting on the yabby races.

Tuesday 29/09/09

Destination today was suppose to be Cunnamulla. It was a lovely 25 degrees today which made it pleasant to be driving along the highway. We must make mention that the roads from Mt Isa to here have not been all that great. They are bitumen but very bumpy. You certainly have to be very careful when opening the fridge & cupboard doors for the first time after you stop.

Anyway, after leaving Charleville we had a stop a 100km up the road at Wyandra. Apparently this place was on “Getaway” & is famous for their Devonshire Teas! Pat & I shared a coffee & a scone, jam & cream. It was okay but nothing to write home about!

From there we continued our journey & as we drove past Nardoo Station (about 29km north of Cunnamulla) we made the decision that it would be nice to stop for the night there. So a “U” turn was made & here we are. There are 4 groups camped here tonight. One group had flown in – the others are caravanners. Pat set up a camp fire & we all sat around talking, drinking & eating our dinner. The station also had an artesian hot tub which Pat took advantage of. This is a terrific stop & thoroughly recommended.

Wednesday 30/09/09

Destination this morning is Cunnamulla. The only thing of interest that we could find in this place was the Information Centre & the statue of the “Cunnamulla Fella”. The “Cunnamulla Fella” is suppose to immortalise the larrikin in all Australians & he is seen sitting on his swag enjoying the moment. Slim Dusty has also written a song including the “Cunnamulla Fella” in it. The information centre was interesting & had just opened up an “Artesian Time Tunnel” which was a bit of fun. It has been quite interesting to hear a few of the towns visited recently making claim to being the first town to have put down an artesian bore. I think so far that Blackall hold the bragging rights.

We had been told my travellers at Nardoo Station that Bourke was a desperate place but that Cunnamulla was okay. After a quick look around Cunnamulla we decided that this was definitely a ‘desperate’/run down town & were wondering what the heck we were going to strike when we got to Bourke. We continued along the highway & have now crossed the border into NSW. We looked at a small caravan park here called “Bush Tucker Inn”. No-one was around but there was a sign on the door saying “Make yourselves at home in any bay, I have gone shearing for the day, so will catch up with you when I get back around 6pm”. It wasn’t the most appealing stop so we continued a couple of hundred metres up the road to the pub. This was a one room pub with the publicans lounge off from the main bar. The publican is an 85 year old lady!! Apparently she is the oldest lady publican (still working) in Australia. She said she doesn’t make much money because there is another pub down the road at Enngonia that some young married couple had taken over & they were more energetic & cooked meals, etc!! Quite often she shuts the doors at 5.30pm. It is her whole life & she isn’t leaving. We enjoyed a drink & a chat with her.

We found a rest spot another 70km further up the road. The free rest spots aren’t overly crowded at this time of the year – especially on this outback road. School holidays for NSW start this weekend so there might be a few more vans about. There were only us & 1 other van camped here for the night. When we arrived at this camp site a semi trailer was pulled up – he had got a flat tyre as well as he had to take a driving break. He was carrying two trailers of molasses – they looked like tubes of toothpaste – each trailer carried 37t of molasses.

Thursday 1/10/09

Another month gone & in 9 days time we will have been on the road for 5 months!! How time flies & here was me thinking I’d be lucky to make Geraldton. Shows what happens when you’re having fun aye.

Anyway we continued our journey towards Bourke. What were we going to find when we got there??? Well as it turns out we think Bourke is quite okay. Yes there are some shops boarded up & the IGA has a fence around it, but the feeling here is a lot better than what we felt in Cunnamulla. When we get into a town we usually try to go straight to the Information/Visitors Centre (unless we already know a caravan park we want to go to & then we set up first). The lady at the information centre was fantastic. Asked if we were self sufficient & directed us back to a free camp spot 20km out of town called May’s Bend – right on the Darling River. It turned out to be a lovely spot (bit bare but plenty of shade & right on the river. There was only one other van parked there – apparently he’d been there a few weeks.

After we set up we went back into town to do a bit of sightseeing. First place we visited was the cemetery to take a look at Fred Hollows grave. Although his funeral service was held in Sydney he always wanted to be buried in Bourke. He had a new head stone placed on his grave in 2006. Surrounding a small area around his tombstone is a monument to him as well as a ring of small boulders done in the shape of an eye. We then visited the three tier wharf – no longer in use. We took a drive out of town to look at the Lock & Weir that was opened in 1897. The lock is 59.5 metres between gates & 11 metres wide. The weir consists of 33 moveable shutters on the “Chanoine” system. (Pat tells me that is the way it was when first built - apparently now it is now it is a concrete wall.) (The water in the Darling is not the cleanest around – they have a few warnings signs out at the weir stating about the algae.) On the way home we did a pub crawl & had a drink in the Port of Bourke Hotel – not too flash a place, then a drink at the Bourke Bowling Club – very nice & then out at North Bourke we had a couple more – interesting old pub. The bridge over the Darling River at North Bourke (not in use at the moment) was opened in 1888 and was the first bridge opened over the Darling & also the first lift up bridge in NSW.

Friday 2/10/09

This morning we woke to a really strong wind & lots of dust blowing around again. The awning was really flapping (even with the stabilisers) so Pat made the decision to pack up & move into a caravan park in Bourke. Gosh we are so sick of the dust blowing around. Everything inside the van is covered in dust – it seems a never ending job keeping it out. Still that’s part of caravanning.

Anyway we are in a nice caravan park & have met 2 lovely couples, Glyn & Maxine & Tony & Shirley. Glyn has been carving some of the boab nuts he had found & so Pat asked him if he would mind carving one that we had found. He has done a wonderful job carving a windmill & water tank on one side & our caravan on the other. Thanks so much Glyn & we look forward to catching up with you both when we get to Rockhampton.

We did a walk around the town this morning (not a great scope of shops but those there are quite good) & then went to good old IGA to do some shopping. Back to the van to do washing (goodness me some things don’t go away even on holidays!).

After having Happy Hour drinks with Glyn, Maxine, Tony & Shirley we took ourselves off to the Bourke Bowling Club for a Chinese meal. Excellent feed. So we are now back at the van & I am trying to get up to date with the trip journal. We have decided that we will have a slack day tomorrow & stay another day here in Bourke. Hope the weather improves.

Bye for now.