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Toorale homestead - Louth

We set off from Bourke  , we had stayed the night at Kidmans camp , which was a lovely spot and headed off south to start the Datling River run. For the first few hours we didn’t see any river as our first destination was  TooraleHomestead The drive in was pretty good , lots of dust and a little bit of corrigation but really quite good  We seen some wildlife including an eagle  Bit blurry as it was taken through the windscreen of the car ,  Some Emu’s and kangaroos  The homestead itself is closed to the public except during school holidays ,so we didn’t get to go in but , we knew before we arrived that was the case and I was keen to see it anyway. Sir Samuel McCaughey in partnership with his Brother John and cousin purchased Toorale, Nocoleche and Dunlop station. Acquiring 800 000 acres of land and 130 000 sheep and 80 horses.  Eventually Samuel bought his brother and cousin out. He built the homestead in 1896 as a wedding gift to his niece. The golden years for the homestead were betw
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Brewarrina

Brewarrina, a short 8 hr drive northwest of Newcastle  Was our home for two nights  Located on the banks of the Barwon river , Brewarrina , home of the aboriginal fish traps is a lovely little town, founded in 1863.  Brewarrina was once the highest point for paddle steamers travelling up the Darling river.  The Brewarrina Barwon bridge was built in 1889 and was designed so the centre could lift allowing the paddle steamers to pass underneath. Originally four of these bridges existed  along the Darling ,only two now survive.  We were very fortunate to see the Barwon river full  However it did impead our view of the aboriginal fish traps, see above I borrowed the image below from the guardian so you can better see how the fish traps are designed.  We were extremely fortunate to undergo a tour with a local , whom provided us with an understanding of how the traps worked  It is believed that the fish traps date back over 30000 years and were  a site of gathering and celebration for 8 abori

Burren junction - Brewarinna

Beds on Barwon We left Newcastle at a reasonable time on Friday morning not gadgets ( my husband) usual 4am start and headed west.  We really never planned this trip out as such we vaguely decided that sitting by a river with a fire was our plan , a chance to take a deep breathe and slow down our lives for a bit. Almost 13 years ago we were extremely fortunate to do the darling river run with some wonderful friends and thought that we would love to repeat that trip and hopefully see the Darling river with water this time.  However at this stage our plans are a little up in the air with the road to Louth currently closed due to rain and some of the national parks closed for the same reason. Soo where are we heading , not sure but wherever we are heading it will be an adventure. So on day one we drove to Burren Junction where we spent our first night of our adventure at a truck stop  This is our new travelling Duo Reggie ( car) and Ruby ( van) we decided last year it was time to say good

Longreach

We left Barkley station and travelled to a place called McKinlay.  We spent the night in the van area behind the Walkabout Creek hotel.  This hotel was used in the crocodile Dundee  movie.  We had a few drinks on the front verandah enjoying the quiet , well between the road trains.  This was a nice little pub and the van area was pretty neat and tidy .  We headed off early the next day arriving at Longreach for a late lunch.   We went to Darcy’s Dinner and had the best hamburger and chips we have had for ages.  I really liked the town of longreach it was neat and tidy and everyone was really friendly. We had a wander around the shops.  The next morning we visited the stockmans hall of fame.   The stockmans hall of fame was opened in 1988.  It consists of five halls with displays that highlight , stockman , aboriginal women and men who worked the land. The flying doctors service.   It had a full size version of a plane , carriages a

Nitmiluk

Yesterday we decided to finish our stay at Katherine with a bang, well  really a whirr We spent the morning tidying up Bridget ready to leave early the next morning then headed to meet our helicopter and pilot.  As we flew over Katherine gorge our pilot pointed out the 13 gorges explaining how they were lower than normal.  We drifted over this amazing landscape. We landed beside a gorgeous little waterhole ( which you will see later) to see 5 Art galleries belonging to the Jawoyn people.  The above image shows a kangaroo and barramundi fish. The art work is exposed to the elements but is protected as much as possible. Part of the stunning waterhole ( sadly a little drier than normal). But no less beautiful. Another image showing a female, this one half hidden by the trees around it. Normally there is an opportunity to swim in this water hole, but as the water was barely flowing the pool was quite stagnant. But still pictu

Katherine

We arrived in Katherine on Wednesday afternoon. We pretty much just set up Bridget and relaxed for the afternoon.  We became acquainted with the local. The bird above were pretty much always around looking for a feed and one if his colleagues actually decided to enter Bridget to see what he could find. The wallaby’s above were a huge source of entertainment. There were two adult wallabies and this little guy who made a brief appearance then disappeared again, back into his mums pouch. We rose earlish on Friday to do the dawn cruise on the gorge. Again the drought has limited our adventure and we were only able to explore two gorges ( I know this is nothing compared to whatthis weather is doing to our struggling farmers).  However two gorges were enough to fill our hearts with love for this beautiful place. Our guide onthe boat trip was so informative, pointing out baby peregrine falcons on the ledge above us , explaining how the water had carved o

Mataranka

Today we truely did a short trip just 168kms from Daly Waters to Mataranka. We didn’t travel into town but immediately turned off to the Mataranka homestead camping ground.  Upon arriving I discovered  This homestead a replica of the original Elsey station homestead, built and used for the 1982 movie “ we of the never never”.  The house was moved here shortly after production was completed. The real Elsey station was located about 14 kms east of Mataranka.   The dresses in this case are some of the original costumes worn by Angela Punch McGregor in the film. The house also has other household items shown in the movie. Once we had set Bridget up , we wandered down to the thermal pool.  The thermal spring is not heated by some underground “hot spot” but by a vast underground reservoir that is heated by the temperature of the ground. The above image shows rainbow spring where the water rises to the surface  The pool itself was