From Fred Hollows to fossils

This post has been a long time coming, as we moved out of internet reception soon after Bourke. Sorry about that.

 

During our couple of wonderful days in Bourke, John finally achieved an ambition that had eluded him on two previous visits to the town: He visited the grave of Fred Hollows.

Fred's grave.

The famous eye doctor had expressed a wish to be buried in the town, a special place for him for that was where he first became aware of the appalling eye health of Aboriginal people and he meant a lot to the people of the district.

Although a lot of the historic cemetery is fairly parched, Fred’s grave lies under some coolabah trees, topped with a huge polished granite boulder, with a wonderful carved sandstone sculpture nearby. The whole area is surrounded by rocks in the shape of an eye and there is an evocative storyboard from the Fred Hollows Foundation, telling his story.

We also spent quite a long time at the Back O’Bourke exhibition in the fairly new tourist information centre, a series of linked pavilions set in grounds dotted with indigenous trees. As well as an outback show featuring horses and camels, and a splendid restaurant with a large outside area, the centre has this audio-visual exhibition explaining just what ‘Back O’Bourke’ really means.

People such as Henry Lawson and C.E.W Bean are quoted and there are masses of historical photos. It has all been done enormously well.

We topped off one exploring day with a trip on the PV (paddle vessel) Jandra for an hour on the Darling River, passing under the old bridge erected in the 1880s, from segments manufactured in

England and brought to Bourke in pieces aboard one of the many paddle steamers that plied the Darling. The Jandra was made locally as a replica of the original Paddle Steamer (PS) Jandra. But the paddle wheels (now electrically operated) and the whistle came from the PS Nile, a sister ship of the original Jandra.

A highlight of that cruise was the huge old river redgums that line the river, certainly one of the great survivors of the Australian landscape.

The Cunnamulla Fella

Eulo's diprotodon

When we left Bourke we headed north across the Queensland border, passing through the hamlet of Enngonia (that had its annual race meeting that day, but at 10am showed no sign of any such festivities). After stocking up on a few things at a Cunnamulla supermarket, just before it closed at noon, we went west to Eulo, where we spent the night in the grounds of the Eulo Queen Hotel, next to a huge old pepper tree. The village is home to the world lizard-racing titles held each August, and also has a bronze replica of a diprotodon at the eastern end of the main street. It’s the ancestor of the wombat and koala and was among important fossils found nearby as recently as 2011.

That country pub is full of character and has information about the woman known as the Eulo Queen, who ran a pub there in the late 1800s and wore a good deal of opal jewellery from the nearby opal fields.

Off we went to Thargomindah on Sunday, July 6, stopping briefly at its supermarket to buy more instant coffee, in case we ran out in less civilised areas. Would you believe that a 100g bottle of Nescafe Gold was more than $12? We also checked out the meat cabinet, in case we wanted to add to our stock in the freezer. Not bloomin’ likely, with a medium-size leg of pork $54 and a tray of four lamb loin chops $29! So the coffee, some sliced cheese and six bread rolls cost about $24.

The French and British flags
fly beside the Australian one

That little town, population 250, was the third place in the world to have street lights lit by hydro electric power in the 1890s, just one day after Paris and some time after London (see pic).. Those cities presumably used water from the Seine and the Thames, but Thargo (as the locals call it) used artesian water, coming out of the ground at 84C in a great pressurised plume.

The system then switched to diesel, especially after householders also wanted electricity in the 1950s, and now is on the national grid. There’s a replica of the old hydro artesian plant, and they let go some water every afternoon, but we were there in the morning so didn’t see it.

The road west from Thargomindah

The road just kept going west, a thin strip of bitumen going on and on, with John moving the motorhome off it for road trains coming towards us, laden with cattle. Eventually we reached Noccundra, where there is a pub and not much else. Lots of people in campervans, camper trailers and caravans were camping on the banks of the river, where there’s quite a lot of water.

A youngish couple from Adelaide next to us in a camper trailer had driven along the Birdsville Track, then to Innamincka, and planned to visit Cameron’s Corner before returning to Adelaide to work.