Back O’Bourke: the Outback

BOURKE is mainly known for its remoteness, and this alone is enough to attract tourists; once you’ve crossed the North Bourke Bridge that spans the Darling River, you’re officially “out back”. Bourke was a bustling river port from the 1860s to the 1930s, and there remain some fine examples of riverboat-era architecture, including the huge reconstructed wharf, from where a track winds along the magnificent, tree-lined river. The Darling River water has seen crops as diverse as cotton, lucerne, citrus, grapes and sorghum successfully grown here despite the 40 °C-plus summer heat, while Bourke is also the commercial centre for a vast sheep- and cattle-breeding area. However, Bourke has suffered in former years due to prolonged periods of drought, consequently losing one-third of its population (some 1000 people), who have had to move out of the region to find employment..

Mutawintji National Park, 130km northeast of Broken Hill in the Byngnano Ranges, has magnificent scenery, with secluded gorges and quiet waterholes attracting a profusion of wildlife. The main highlights of the park are the ancient galleries of Aboriginal rock art in the caves and overhangs. The historic site can only be visited accompanied by a certified tour guide, or on a one-day tour from Broken Hill with Tri-State Safari. While on the tour you get to visit the Mutawintji Cultural Centre, an amazing multimedia collaboration between indigenous Australians and the NPWS, which tells of tribal history and myth in sound and pictures.

More Aboriginal rock art can be seen on a series of walks from the Homestead Creek day area, ranging from the wheelchair-accessible Thaaklatjika Mingkana Walk (800m return; 30min; flat) to the excellent Byngnano Range Walk (7.5km loop; 4–5hr; moderate to hard). About 10km southeast, the Mutawintji Gorge Walk (6km return; 3hr; easy) is equally good, heading into one of the park’s most picturesque gorges, ending at a peaceful rock pool enclosed by towering rusty red cliffs.

Mungo National Park, 135km northeast of Wentworth, is most easily reached from the river townships of Wentworth and Mildura (over the Victorian border about 110km away). Organized tours run to the park from both towns, but as long as the roads are dry it is easy enough to drive yourself in an ordinary vehicle. The last 90km to the park are dirt, as are all the roads in the park.

The park is part of the dried-up Willandra Lakes System, which contains the longest continuous record of Aboriginal life in Australia, dating back more than forty thousand years. During the last Ice Age the system formed a vast chain of freshwater lakes, teeming with fish and attracting waterbirds and mammals. Aborigines camped at the shores of the lake to fish and hunt, and buried their dead in the sand dunes. When the lakes started drying out fifteen thousand years ago, Aborigines continued to live near soaks along the old river channel. The park covers most of one of these dry lake beds, and its dominant feature is a long, crescent-shaped dune, at the eastern edge of the lake, commonly referred to as the Walls of China. This low dune system barely rises 30m from the level of the lake bed, but it is a dramatic spot especially around dawn and sunset when the otherworldly shapes and ripple patterns glow golden and kangaroos and goats make their way onto the dunes for meagre pickings.