Bourke

Located in the Orana Region of western New South Wales, Bourke is the edge of the Outback. To many Australian, the saying Back O’ Bourke means in the middle of nowhere.

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Visitor Centre

Our first stop was the Back O’ Bourke Tourist Information Centre, so that we could find out if there was anything new in the area to see. The friendly staff told us about a local artist’s gallery, a display at the airport and a riverboat cruise. They also gave us a map of the local cemetery, which had graves of interest marked, which was very helpful.

Outside the main building, an excellent sculpture artwork, The Dance of the Echidnas combines aboriginal culture and local flora, to form a great display.

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Bourke Airport

As suggested by the tourist visitor centre, we dropped into the local airport, where the terminal is named after famous Australian aviator Nancy Bird-Walton. Nancy Bird-Walton, was a pioneering Australian aviator, known as “The Angel of the Outback”, and the founder and patron of the Australian Women Pilots’ Association. In the 1930s, she became a fully qualified pilot at the age of 19 becoming the youngest Australian woman to gain a pilot’s licence.

In addition to information and photos on Nancy Bird Walton, the airport terminal shows the history of aviation at Bourke and how important it was to Australia’s development of aviation. Many air races and original air routes passed through Bourke, before flying became what it is today.

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MV Janda Riverboat

Heavy rain in the previous month meant that the Darling River was rising. We were lucky to get on the last river cruise because of the river’s height. The amount of silt washed down stream due to flooding meant that the river was brown.

The peaceful and relaxing 90-minute trip took us passed river red gums and farm land before returning.

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Bourke Wharf

The wharf is a reconstruction of the original and is primarily a tourist attraction. However, it still shows how it operated, even as the river rose and fell seasonally, with multiple levels available to access the ships.

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Crossley Engine

Sitting undercover near the wharf, the Crossley engine was donated by Bob Crawford and family from Narromine in 2001. Operated on weekdays for an hour by volunteers, and fully restored to working condition it is worth seeing.

Originally used from 1923 to 1938 in the Sydney Power House to generate electricity for Sydney it moved to the Allowrie Butter Factory in Coffs Harbour until 1949. It then went to a property in Narromine in 1949 to pump water for irrigation until 1964.

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Historic Buildings

The centre of town has many lovely old buildings, which makes a walk through the main streets interesting, as you are constantly looking to see what is around.

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Bourke Cemetery

Many people were visiting the cemetery when we arrived, mostly to see the grave of Fred Hollows. Fred was an ophthalmologist became known for his work in restoring eyesight for thousands of people in Australia and many other countries.

Our map from the Tourist Information Centre showed several other interesting graves. We found the most interesting to be the Afghan graves and associated mosque. Camels carried freight in the early days of colonial Australia, until replaced by trucks in the 1930s.

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What did We Think of Bourke?

We found Bourke to be a very relaxed town, easy to find your way around, with plenty to see and do.

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

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