Thread: Wilcannia & Beyond

We did the trip in Dec/Jan ..Wilcannia we bought fuel there and drove around to look at the great buildings...In Broken Hill we found a little caravan Park in the back blocks nothing special, looked run down but the amenities were first class as was the swimming pool and there were swings for the kids..as I was the only female I had the amenities to myself.....$15.00 for a non powered site for the two of us...Silverland Caravan Park 100 Jabez St


Mrs hh

About 2 years ago, my D3 had an EPB failure causing a tyre fire, and lots of other damage. We were about 2/3 the way from Burke to Wilcannia. Limped with 3 brakes into Wilcannia and spent 2 days and nights there. Turns out the motel owner and the shopkeeper (at the Shell station) were downright friendly and helpful. Even my 22 yr old tall blonde daughter enjoyed walking about the place and chatted to a few of the (sadly petrol-sniffing) locals. She got a few of them to spend 2 hrs telling her about some of their myths about the Darling River there. Some of the locals are angry, stoned and can get abusive, but it turned out that for us the town was no more risky than when wearing the wrong colour scarf and being surrounded by the supporters of a losing footie team.

I worked in Willcania for a couple of months, though before that I went to the area twice on holidays. It is full of history from the days of the paddle steamers, cameleers and the locals.

At one time it was the second largest port in australia after Sydney and its court house still bears the symbol that it is also a Maritime court. Yet it is 900kms from the sea. Check out the bank of London, Post office and other old buildings. Read what you can about the place before you go to get the full picture. The flood waters maybe passing through this part of the river system so you may see the river in flood. There is a old paddle steamer over 20kms from the river which lost its way off the river during the floods and couldnt find the river again. A good trip would be to travel down the side of the river to Menindee and have a beer in the same pub as Burke and Wills and check out the lakes. Last time i was there they were completly empty and the river was not flowing. The local kids were digging there feet into the river mud and finding old Resches Beer Bottles from the 100y ago. Willcania was were Resches began and you can have a beer in the golf club which was part of the old Brewery.
I went there a few years back and we paddle from Willcania down to Menindee on the back of the flood waters and ate yabbys, Yellow belly and the occasional muscle which were the size of a large steak.

It would be a shame not to spend a couple of hours here and have something to eat and wonder the streets and read the history on the signs.
This is a major part of outback history.

Thanks Chris

Just came back from the area. by the time you go, locusts will be swarming everywhere from about Dubbo west. they were starting two weeks ago and will get worse. take some flyscreen or similar to cover the front of your car enough to throw away several times. if you havent been out there from Cobar over the McDonnell ranges there are some great photo opportunities. lots of water around the Wulkaraka floodplains. not many roos when I went through, but lots of goats between Cobar and Willcannia. theres water in the Darling River but the floodwaters wont have got there when you are there. The Stephens Creek Reservoir just outside Broken Hill may be worth a look just to see how the towns water supply works. It is at capacity at the moment, and you will see a few lakes just off the road, rarely seen in the countries history. The towns a bit arty these days and all the featured artworks are well worth investigating. I could go on but there is a good tourist bureau there. from a recent 5k road trip I cant recall any road warnings.....stick to 100k.....there are a lot of unmarked patrol cars on the highways.

all the river roads are closed......no acess at all.