The Adventures of Lilian and Roy: Cobar to Bourke

My wife and I enjoy travel, and love to get to know the places we visit. This is our personal report of the places we stay along the Kidman Way, and beyond.

We highly recommend that you too make the opportunity to visit the friendly historic towns along the Way.

Trade in the city escalators and bustling shopping complexes, and meet the Outback.

It is a very interesting experience. A true Aussie adventure.

Cobar to Bourke

Looking for a short break we decided to go to Bourke, just an hour and a half’s drive from Cobar.

It is typical outback scenery – spinifex, red soil and stunted trees. The wildlife also reflects the area – emus, goats, a few kangaroos and many colourful birds.

Unfortunately there are no coffee shops along the way!

We were looking forward to a coffee and snack at the Bakery in Bourke. We were not disappointed, the food is good and the coffee is hot.

After booking in to our accommodation, we decide to have a tour of the town.

Bourke has a very interesting past. Points of interest in town are the old Court House, the Wharf, the Crossley engine and many other historic buildings.

Bourke is a very old town and has long been the hub for local landowners, drovers and anyone else wanting to rest awhile on their journey north or south.

Although not as thriving a town as it once was, Bourke is still well served with:

• 2 supermarkets,
• a butcher,
• an electrical store,
• chemist,
• hardware store,
• coffee shops and takeways.

Also on hand are gifts, crafts and souvenirs shops.

North Bourke

North Bourke is where the B-Doubles turn into road trains.

We were entranced by the site and sound of these heavily laden trucks taking off. An amazing sight.

North Bourke is a thriving little community with pubs, a corner store and lots of accommodation.  

From Kidman’s Camp and the Mitchell Tourist Park, through to serviced motel apartments.

Back-O-Bourke Exhibition Centre

We ventured along the road towards Cunnamulla and came upon the Back-O-Bourke’ exhibition centre.

What a find!  The technology was amazing for such a small town, way out in the outback .

As an Aussie child,  Lilian felt it great to see our history conveyed in such a dramatic setting. All those things I learned in school came to life before our eyes.

For Roy it was a new experience – Banjo Patterson, Henry Lawson,  explorers like John Oxley and more.  All those unknown and unsung people who pioneered the this harsh, and at times unforgiving, land.  It is a credit to the Bourke Shire Council.

Unfortunately the season was drawing to a close, so we weren’t able to dine in the Cafe.  It’s a treat to look forward to on our next visit.

P.V.Jandra, Paddleboat on Darling

Whilst there, we booked our seats for a River Cruise on the P.V. Jandra Paddleboat, for the next day.

After checking the location of the paddleboat, at the rear of the Kidmans Rest, we then decided to head back to town for some liquid refreshment and a rest.

We ventured into a pub and were warmly treated by the locals. After a couple of cool ones we went back to our accommodation for a rest, before venturing out in search of a meal.

Our search for a meal brought us to the Bourke Bowling Club, and its Chinese Restaurant.  It is a beautiful spacious club with a friendly atmosphere.

Next day we travelled back to North Bourke and our Paddleboat Trip.

How sad to see the once mighty Darling River so low, ours was the second last trip for the season and there weren’t many paying passengers, just a Swiss couple and ourselves.

It was a lovely trip and would have been better with more people, as with just four of us to entertain, the Captain did not give his usual commentary.

After our trip it was back into town for coffee and cake at the Gecko Coffee Shop, and a look around the shops.

Fred Hollows Rests

Refreshed we went out to the cemetery where Fred Hollows is buried.

It shows how well Fred was revered by the country people, when you see the monuments and the tributes paid to him.

After visiting with Fred, we then took a drive to Mt Oxley.

Mt Oxley

The road to the summit was sealed as we had been told, but was only wide enough for one vehicle.

With deep ruts on the inside and a very steep fall on the outside, it was a very scary climb – and even worse coming down!

The view from the top was fantastic, it felt like being on top of the world and there was some very good barbecue facilities as well.  Unfortunately we missed seeing the eagles soaring, maybe another time.

After leaving Mt Oxley we travelled along the Tarcoona Road leading to Byrock.

This was an unsealed road, with plenty of soft red soil, a little too deep in some places, anyone travelling behind us would have had to keep their distance or swallow our dust.

One drawback of the area is no mobile coverage, and as there was little or no other traffic, not a good place to break down.

The only form of wildlife we saw were emus and we saw plenty of those.

Byrock

After a couple of hours of careful driving, we arrived in Byrock and stopped for refreshments at the local hotel.

This is a very nice establishment, with the bar and seating made of local mulga wood.

Very inviting and comfortable, they also have camping and dormitory style accommodation. Adjacent to the hotel is small shop post office and bank and that is Byrock.

Finally we made our way back to Bourke via the sealed road, for a rest before dinner.

That evening we went into the main drag for a meal and came upon Elysian Cafe. The owner, Tony,  cooked Australian and Chinese meals to order. We ordered Chinese it was excellent.  Tony is to be commended and supported.

We had an enjoyable stay in Bourke and returned to Cobar next day.