Byrock and Bourke.

The drive from Nyngan to Bourke is for me, the beginning of the outback. The towns are further apart, large grants of pastoral land with grazing sheep were and still are the backbone of this area. For over a hundred years the Bourke area has been the centre of the wool export industry. Before the advance of the railway network, Bourke was the hub of  industry servicing the surrounding properties and exporting wool on paddle steamers down the Darling River. Horse, camel and bullock teams provided the original means of transport along with the paddle steamers that moved supplies to and from the coast of South Australia. The town was established in 1862. Mail coaches( Cobb and Co ) played a big role in the outback, moving mail and passengers from place to place. The first rail train came to Bourke in 1885.

My family have a strong link to this area. Byrock, 80 klms south of Bourke is the birthplace of my maternal grandmother. Byrock was another railway town, my great grandmother had a shop in town and raised a large family, some of whom are buried in the local cemetry.

John and I spent an hour or so in Byrock, population of eight, four of whom are the local publican and his family. We have stayed a few times before in the Mulga Creek Hotel, so yesterday was just a short visit.

We arrived in Bourke before lunch and booked into Kidman’s Camp, seven klms north of town. It’s close to the Darling River and the  paddle steamer, which operates a delightful one hour cruise.

We met some friendly couples near where we set up camp, all good grass sites.  John and I looked around town today, went out to the cemetry to see Fred Hollows grave and the wharf area. There are still lovely old buildings standing, most of the town is in a decline because of the aboriginal situation, but we were pleasantly surprised to find a new visitor  and exhibition centre. If you look past the bordered up shop windows, (there isn’t a glass shop front to be seen they would all be smashed otherwise), Bourke can be a nice experience. Or am I looking through rose tinted glasses? Maybe.

                                                                                                                               Byrock Rock Holes

Darling River at Bourke.

 Bourke Post Office.

Jandra Paddle Steamer

Jandra Cruise.

Nyngan

Nyngan suffered through one of the biggest floods in it’s history, when in 1990 the Bogan River burst it’s banks when the levee would not hold. The majority of the  population had to be airlifted to safety. A new levee, one metre higher, now protects the people from further floods.

John and I came through Nyngan last October and liked the Nyngan River Caravan Park, the Bogan River flows at the back.. When we planned this trip, Nyngan was on the itinerary. There’s not a lot to do around town, but it’s nice to do some grocery shopping and have a coffee and speak to some of the locals. We walked down and around the river, this morning was sunny and cool.

One tail light was out on Syd, so I caught up on some reading while it was fixed. There’s a good museum in Nyngan, I decided because I had seen it last time I would pass, and John found it shut when he went across. There’s also a museum on the history of shearing, which we had visited last year.

We decided to cook a bbq for dinner in the camp kitchen and met a chap in his sixties with a little Jack Russell dog called Scruffy. The poor guy was living in a tent while he was waiting on accommodation, he was chatty and of course we heard his life history, which I told him to write it all down, if half of the travel tales he told us were true, would make for interesting reading. He was living on his pension, had no car because he lost his license because of a medical condition. I think the local church was helping him out. The little dog was cute and friendly and reminded us of  two other little Jack Russells we know.

A lady in her sixties arrived at the park, traveling in a van by herself and had driven quite a long way. She told us she was writing a book on her travels, calling it “Safari of the Soul” all in longhand. I told her I would look out for it when she has it published.

John and I are hoping we meet some normal travelers on this trip soon.

Syd is getting some admiring comments. We are finding the motor home very comfortable and happy to have more room to move around in. The shower is an asset; we haven’t had to go to the park showers at all.

Tomorrow we will drive to Bourke, passing through Byrock, where my grandmother was born.

Dural to Orange.

Monday morning early we were ready to leave to do the last minute packing of clothes, groceries etc and head out for our short trip to Dural Caravan Park for our first night in our new home. We said goodbye and thanks to the staff at Suncamper, they were always on hand to answer any queries we had. We were ready to go.

 Family and friends called out to see us and say farewell at the park, after all we will be away for about three to four months. Except for a slight delay in realizing the hot water heater wasn’t turned on, we had an uneventful night and late showers.

Tuesday morning we were up early after a good night’s sleep, we followed the Bell’s Line of Road out to Lithgow and Bathurst, on to Orange for two nights.

One of the perils of having a two way radio in the motor home is listening to the choice language of the truckies, laughing at them talking about the drivers on the road, then knowing they are swearing about us! They hate caravans and motor homes, especially when you are in front of them! Only they called John that guy with the campervan, in some not so nice description! I felt like saying “hey it’s a motor home”! Only one stays silent, you don’t want to be abused anymore. The ears are burning by then.

We arrived in Orange and booked into a park for two nights. Nice town, the autumn colours are still there to appreciate, although some trees are already bare. We have been having early nights, John is up at 5am, so I need all the sleep I can get before then.

We drove Syd out to Lake Canobolas this morning, very cold, the beanies and coats were out. Yes, Syd is our name for the motor home, a grand name like “The Sydney by Suncamper” lends itself to a name, so Syd it is.

John has “lost” his glasses twice already, found them again of course after much searching. I was hoping the first couple of days would be stress free.

Off to Nyngan and roads west tomorrow.

Dural.

 Lake Canobolas Park.








Spillway.

Lake Canobolas

Terrace houses on Mitchell Highway, Orange.

Orange caravan park.

Everything coming together.

The motor home is almost ready for us to start the trip to WA, John and I have been busy transfering clothes and household goods into cupboards the past two days. The men have shown us how everything works, although we have had vehicles before from Suncamper, every new one is a bit different. The "Sydney" has so much more storage, we are happy with the space and to have the island bed is a big plus. The separate shower room is great. We plan on leaving on Monday, 23rd. Dural Caravan Park is only a short drive from home so we will book in there for the first night, just on the off chance something isn't working and it's not far back to the factory.

Just a few finishing touches needed.

The motorhome is almost ready to be registered, shouldn't be long and we can start packing it, that will take a day or so. It's looking good, a few more finishing touches and we should be ready to go. We called into Suncamper today and were shown how to work a few of the switches etc. There is usually something new to what we had before in  previous motorhomes.

                                     This is looking into the bedroom with shower on the right and toilet on the left.

                                   The bed mattress and lounge cushions have to be added yet.

                                     Looking very smart, with wording and stripes added.

Almost finished

                                        LOOKING INTO THE BED AREA, THE SHOWER DOOR ON THE LEFT  AND TOILET DOOR ON THE RIGHT.

                                        KITCHEN AREA

                                        WINDOWS ARE IN NOW.

The motorhome should be ready for us by the end of next week. Now we are planning on starting out by 23rd May. Once we can get it all packed and everything checked out, we will have a night in a caravan park close to home to see if we know how everything works. It's not our first vehicle, however there is always something new we mightn't understand, hence one night close by.