We were woken about 12:30am by a very noisy thunderstorm. As we were parked about 200m up a dirt track we were a little concerned about the amount of rain we were receiving. However, it all came to an end about an hour later so we just relaxed and went back to sleep. Upon waking we heard that the bush had come to life and everything sounded happy and refreshed. After short walks, and brekky we left at 8:20am.
It wasn't long before we arrived at Bourke and parked up for coffee. A visit to the Jenny Greentree Back O' Bourke Art Studio/Gallery followed. All very nice, but a bit of a 'production line' with so many copies of everything on display that it seems to cheapen the original artwork. We called at the Info Centre to ensure they haven't developed anything new in the area we must see. The answer was, 'no', so as we had given Bourke a very good working over in 2016 when we were here for three nights, we didn't think it was necessary to linger any longer.
We arrived at our home for the next couple of days, Brewarrina Caravan Park, at 12:10pm. A rather small park, but clean as a whistle, well managed and very well set out. We were given the choice of sites and settled for a drive through, as we all know the driver is quite hopeless and we have to make it easy for him. Set up, had some lunch and a rest before taking to the bikes. As usual, we headed straight for the Info Centre where we received some advice and that all-important town map. Although it's quite a sad looking town, with so many closed businesses, they've certainly tried to make it look interesting by creating a lot of street art, predominantly by John Murray of the famous 'Tony Abbott in his Budgie Smugglers' painting. The place was obviously prosperous at one stage, if the quality of the buildings are any indication. It's a real shame that we can't utilise some of the thousands of abandoned buildings around this country to help solve the housing crisis. A ride out to the historic lift span bridge extended the ride a bit.
Back to the van where Greg tried to fix the shower door, but did not have the right tools. We have been using it like it is (doesn't close properly) for three weeks now, so another two is not going to be too much of a problem.
Although the park's campfire had been lit, we didn't see too many takers for the happy hour gathering. It does get very cool as soon as the sun goes down. Because of that, and because Wendy was uploading photos to the blog, we had our pre-dinner drinks inside. Another reason is that we are being a bit cautious about mixing with too many people at the moment, with the new variant being so contagious. No star gazing tonight as there is too much ambient light.
Another great day in the great Australian Outdoors.
Early morning at our free camp not far from Enngonia
Drive scenery Enngonia to Bourke
Mornos stop at Bourke
A lobster sculpture outside Back O' Bourke Gallery
Bourke's historic lift span bridge; it is closed to all traffic, including pedestrians
Dance of the Echidna at Back O'Bourke Centre
Music Sticks mural at Back O' Bourke info centre
Drive scenery Bourke to Brewarrina
The Barwon River at Brewarrina
Hmmmm...........
Royal Hotel - closed
Newsagent, firearms, ammunition, fishing, souvenirs, gifts, and cold drinks - seems an odd combination, but why not all under one roof?
Hotel Brewarrina closed?
A grand building for a grand profession (an old bank we think)
The Shearer
Memorial to Brewarrina people
A Church with no name
The Historical Barwon Bridge at Brewarrina, a lift span bridge. Built in 1889, it required two men to wind a pulley mechanism to lift the spans. It was later modified to allow only one man to do the job. The new Brewarrina Bridge was built in 2004.
Barwon River
Sculpture outside the Info Centre
John Murray and Jenny McCracken murals around Brewarrina
We hope we don't drive like this, however the road to King Ash Bay and Lawn Hill were almost bad enough to make it look like we drove like this
Us at Brewarrina Caravan Park #3
