© Lonely Planet Publications 257 Back o’ Bourke Vast sunburnt plains, crimson sunsets and empty horizons – far west NSW is every bit as spacious as you could imagine, rough and rugged, and oh so dry. Yet this dry country is one of the most interesting areas in the state, and much more diverse than it first appears. It produces much of New South Wales’ wealth, particularly from the mines of Broken Hill, and it is home to some of the state’s most interesting national parks; a wondrous combination of stunning natural environments and vastly significant Aboriginal heritage. A startlingly empty land, the outback is sparsely populated both with plants and animals and with people. You need to be rather special to live out here. So the people you meet are special – larger than life, yet calm and caring. You won’t hear a car horn in these towns. From November to February the heat is intense – by 10am the Celsius landmark of 40°C is passed. That leaves another 10 hours of daylight for the current record, 51.7°C, to be broken. There’s plenty to see and do, and you can get into the towns and most national parks in BACK O’ BOURKE a 2WD. But seek local advice if you want to venture onto unsealed roads, even in a 4WD. They’re corrugated dust, some with a high central hump, and a few drops of rain polishes them slick to swish you out of control. Although the country is flat to the horizon with small clumps of saltbush all over, there are plenty of birds, mobs of emus, cattle, feral goats and kangaroos along the roadside to watch – and to watch out for! HIGHLIGHTS Feel deeply moved as the sun sets on the Broken Hill Bourke Sculpture Symposium ( p269 ) White Cliffs Squeeze down a mine shaft, digging your feet nerv- ously into the rough-hewn steps, at Daydream Mine Nyngan ( p268 ) at Broken Hill Silverton Broken Hill Slip softly through the water of the Menindee Lakes Menindee ( p272 ) looking for a good fishing spot Lakes Mungo Get up and out there on a camel trek at historic National Silverton ( p271 ) Park Wake to see birds of every colour bathing in the Bogan River at Nyngan ( p262 ) Sleep underground, with your purchase of opals under your pillow, at White Cliffs ( p265 ) Photograph baby pelicans from an 1895-replica paddle-wheeler on the magnificent Darling River at Bourke ( p259 ) See for yourself the extraordinary plains, dunes and archaeological records at Mungo National Park ( p273 ) 258 BACK O’ BOURKE •• Bourke lonelyplanet.com 0 100 km BACK O'BOURKE 0 60 miles To Eulo To Innamincka To Cunnamulla Q U E E N S L A N D (94km) (88km) (210km) Hungerford Comeroo Barringun Warri Warri Gate Cameron Came Station Goodooga Corner Sturt Enngonia National Yantabulla Culgoa River Park Tibooburra ὈὈ Collerina To Wanaaring Depot Glen Walgett Fords (74km) Milparinka Urisino Bridge Brewarrina Station W Bourke Barwon River a River r r e Mt Oxley g o Mitchell(309m) Gongolgon Macquarie Paroo River Marshes Trilby Station Louth Bogan ὅὅ Packsaddle Nature Roadhouse ὈGundabooka Byrock Reserve National Park Hwy White Kidman Way River ὅὅ Cliffs Byngnano DarlingTilpa River Coolabah Ranges Mt 71 Hwy ὅὅ Mutawintji Grenfell National City Park Cobar Hermidale Nyngan Barrier Hwy Silver Silver 32 Wilcannia Emmdale Roadhouse ὈLittle Topar Cobb To Dubbo Roadhouse Hwy (125km) Silverton Wakibag Rd Barrier Roads on this map can be dangerous, Yelta particularly in wet weather. Before Station S O U T H A R L I Copi Hollow heading off make inquiries with local Nymagee Caravan Broken Hwy authorities as to road conditions and Hill Park carry extra fuel if necessary and plenty of water. This map is designed Tottenham Menindee as a guide only. Take a more detailed To Peterborough Menindee 79 Lakes map and be aware that there are many (200km); more tracks than shown on this map. Adelaide Kinchega (444km) Silver City Hwy National Mt Hope Ὀ Ivanhoe Park Condobolin 75 Euabalong Mossgiel Willandra Lake Cargelligo Pooncarie Cobb HwyNational Park Hillston BACK O’ BOURKE BACK O’ BOURKE Mungo River National River Park Merriwagga 39 Visitors Centre Booligal Kidman Way 24 Darling Ὀ& Mungo ὈὈHwy West Woolshed Wyalong Murray Wentworth Lachlan Western River Buronga Griffith Renmark Mallee Cliffs Mid Hwy Gol Gol National bidgee Berri 20 Park Hay Murrum Sturt Hwy Mildura Sturt Hwy Leeton VICTORIA River To Ouyen (53km); 20 To Deniliquin Newell Melbourne (500km) ὈBalranald (83km) Narrandera BOURKE stone traps on the Darling River – including %02 / pop 3924 Bourke and Louth. Immortalised for Australians in the expres- The first Europeans to see this area were sion ‘back of Bourke’, that is anything remote, in Charles Sturt’s party of 1828. Sturt was this easy-going town on the Darling River unenthusiastic about the country but by 1860 sits right on the edge of the outback. Beyond there were enough grazier settlers for a pad- Bourke, green pastoral lands stop abruptly, dle-wheeler to risk the difficult journey up to settlements are few and the country is flat, Bourke. By the 1880s, many of the Darling brown and alluring. Bourke itself is gorgeous, River’s 200 paddle-steamers were calling at historic and quaint, sprawled along its beauti- Bourke; it was possible for wool leaving here ful river with its river gums and water birds. to be in London in just six weeks. Besides, the space is exhilarating, and the very Bourke is still a major wool-producing area, remoteness attractive. but droughts and low prices have forced farm- ers to look to products such as cotton and rock History melons. There’s even a vineyard. The Ngemba people lived in a large area cen- Bourke has hosted Australian legends. Poet tred on the Brewarrina Fisheries – a series of and writer Henry Lawson lived at the Carriers .