Oh my Darling!

The Darling River starts officially a few kilometres east of Bourke, where the Barwon and Culgoa Rivers converge.

By now we're about 800km north west of Sydney, and ready for a couple of days of easy sightseeing.

One of the things to do while you're visiting the town of Bourke is the paddle boat cruise up and down the river. Here's where we were about to go under the rather scenic old North Bourke Bridge. It's a pleasant one-hour trip. You see pelicans, kites, and other birds, and the river's banks are lined with Coolabah trees, plus Black Box and Red Gums.

It was the river that made Bourke, of course. In the 19th century there were paddle steamers steaming around all over the Murray-Darling basin, and Bourke became an important transport hub. Cobb & Co had their coaches running here too, and when you got off your steamer or your coach, you could employ a team of camels and their Afghan cameleers to take you further.


Here's the old bridge just before sunset.