Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from 2021

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

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