Trip to Central Australia 2009 - Wollongong to Burra

We left Wollongong late afternoon Wednesday 24 June for our journey west to Central Australia. After two days with family in Canberra we continued on to Wagga Wagga arriving mid afternoon Friday at about the same time as the rain. We enjoyed a meal at the RSL that evening and hoped the rain would clear overnight. With rain forecast for the next couple of days we resigned ourselves to mostly indoor activities over the weekend.

We started our tour of Wagga Wagga by visiting the Regional Art Gallery, the National Art Glass Gallery and the Museum of the Riverina, the first two located within the very modern Civic Centre together with the Council offices and Town Library. The Art Gallery had an exhibition of aboriginal art from the Roper River area but we weren’t particularly impressed by the very bright colours and mostly childlike drawings. The multi-coloured glass coolamons were the exception. The Art Glass Gallery had a collection of glass objects d’art and there were a couple of items which were outstanding. The Museum was situated in the old Council Chambers building and had an exhibition of photos by Max Dupain. We had previously seen an exhibition of his work in Canberra and were fascinated by the way he chronicled Australia at work and at play from the 1940s through to 1980s.

On Sunday we drove approx 10kms north-west of the city to the Charles Sturt University campus which is situated on the surrounding hills with picturesque views over Wagga Wagga and the rural countryside. The modern campus buildings are well spread out around the campus with more under construction. It was relatively quiet being the university holiday period but we took the opportunity to sample some wines and cheeses produced at the University Wine & Cheese Centre for which they’ve won quite a few prizes in national competitions.

We departed Wagga Wagga the following morning headed west to Balranald however after many hours of fairly boring driving through flat farming country we decided to stop overnight in Hay instead. With the afternoon still ahead of us we checked out some of the tourism attractions in town the first being the old Anglican Bishop’s Lodge which was built in 1888-89 by Bishop Linton, the first Anglican Bishop of the Riverina. The house was designed by John Sulman who became a well respected architect & artist in Sydney (viz annual Sulman Art Prize). It was a very revolutionary design for its time – the single level U-shape house of 115 squares was sited to take advantage of the prevailing cooling winds in summer with wide verandahs giving shelter from the extremes of weather; built up on stumps so that air could flow under the house; external and internal wall cavities as well as ceilings were hard packed with Cyprus pine sawdust for insulation; 14 ft high ceilings with vents at the roof level to allow hot air to escape; exterior walls of corrugated iron with zinc coated tin plate on most of the interior walls which were very fire resistant; house frames constructed of Cyprus pine to stop termite attack; the kitchen and laundry housed in a separate building adjacent to the main house to lessen the incidence of fire and to help keep the house cooler in summer. The 9 foot wide verandahs had also successfully protected the paintwork on the external walls which is only now starting to deteriorate 120 years after its first application – not a bad recommendation for whatever brand of paint was used! Most of the rooms were hugely proportioned by today’s standards and in its early days as a Bishop’s House they were well used (the first two Bishops each had 6 children) and saw plenty of visitors. It was also used as a Boys Home for some years. The house had extensive gardens, although now a bit neglected, which included a large variety of roses some of which were originally brought out from England by the first Bishop.

Our next stop was to the Shear Outback Museum depicting the history of sheep shearing in both the local area and throughout Australia. This relatively new and very interesting museum highlights the conditions under which the shearers have worked over the years together with examples of their work tools and how they have evolved over the years. The exhibits were very well presented with accompanying audio visual narratives of the various aspects of a shearer’s way of life including the support team which makes up a shearing gang; with many photos of old shearing sheds and equipment used since early colonial days.

We soon revised our initial intention of staying only one night in Hay and the following morning we set out for a walk around the historic precinct of the town which has some lovely old buildings dating from the late 1800s-mid 1900s. These buildings included the Courthouse, Post Office, Fire Station, banks and churches. In one of these old buildings we came across the Chris McClelland Gallery. McClelland was a station manager near Hay for most of his life but about 10 years ago - he’s now 66 years of age - he visited Zaire in Africa with his wife. He had recently started to sketch as a hobby and while in Africa he started sketching local tribesmen, various animals etc. despite having no formal training as an artist. His obvious talent has ultimately led to a new career as a wildlife artist with many subsequent trips to Africa. His artwork, which often takes 200-300 hours to complete, is very finely detailed using black and/or coloured pencils which have won him multiple prizes and awards. A very unexpected find in a small country town which left us feeling like we had spent an hour on safari in Africa – his sketches were so lifelike and his descriptions so vivid.

Our next stop was the old Railway Station which although beautifully restored is no longer in use since the railway line closed down however the building is used for various community purposes. We were interested in an exhibition housed in two old railway carriages parked permanently at the station which outline the history of the nearby POW Camp in Hay during WWII. This was a fascinating insight into a small remote country town suddenly being thrust into the role of host to a POW camp and having its population doubled almost overnight to 4,000 increasing to 6,000 at its peak. History boards throughout the carriages told the story of both the locals and the POWs over this period. The majority of the prisoners were in fact European refugees fleeing from the Nazis who were inadvertently classed as POWs and secretly transported from England to Australia in a ship called the “Dunmera”. The prisoners became known as the Dunmera Boys. They were later joined by other Australian residents of Italian, German or Japanese extraction who the authorities feared could be spies because of their supposed allegiances to their country of birth.

That afternoon we also visited the former Hay Gaol which was built in 1878 and has been used as a gaol, a maternity hospital, an insane asylum, a POW detention centre, an institute for wayward girls and now a museum. The history of the goal was told by information boards and memorabilia in each of the cells and throughout the building which included various artefacts from Hay’s early history.

On Wednesday 1 July we continued our journey crossing the seemingly barren Hay Plains with hardly a tree in sight although the paddocks were green amongst the mallee bush and there was plenty of water lying in depressions near the road. We were also kept entertained for a while by a yellow crop dusting plane flying extremely low over vast irrigated fields climbing and diving between his runs. We stopped briefly in Balralnald before arriving at a lovely park on the edge of the Murrumbidgee River in Euston for lunch. Euston is situated near the junction of the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers. We reached Mildura early that afternoon booking into a caravan park located along the banks of the Murray River about 3km out of town. It was a lovely quiet spot and we watched the paddle steamers pass by on their twice daily tours along the river.

The following day we walked along the river bank towards town, admiring the native birds and the PS Melbourne on its afternoon tourist run until we reached the Old Mildura Homestead complex. As well as being the homestead for the original pastoral lease it also became the home of two Canadian brothers, George & William Chaffey, who were convinced by Alfred Deakin of the huge development potential of the area if they adopted the irrigation methods they had used successfully in California. The Chaffeys developed a series of steam-driven pumps to lift the water from the Murray River which was then used to irrigate large areas to grow grapes and citrus fruits. George Chaffey ultimately returned to California while William Chaffey remained and built a grand home “Rio Vista” (River View) on the banks of the Murray not far from the Old Mildura Homestead. The present road bridge over the Murray River between NSW and Vic was named after George Chaffey.

On Friday we headed north as part of a guided tour to Mungo National Park. The NP is at the centre of the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area and evidence of human occupation has been dated back to well over 60,000 years. We explored the ancient sandhills which were formed over thousands of years by the action of wind and water from Mungo Lake which dried up at least 20,000 years ago. As the sands have moved they have unearthed ancient fireplaces, burial sites, stone tools and animal fossils. The sandhills are known as the Walls of China and look quite impressive from a distance although they only rise approx 9 metres above the ancient lake bed at their highest point. We enjoyed a picnic lunch inside the 140 year old Mungo Woolshed which was constructed by Chinese labourers for the local grazier using rough hewn local timber, fencing wire and hand made nails. Over 40,000 sheep were shorn each year by approx 36 shearers at a time – quite an impressive undertaking and the shed itself is a fitting memorial to the area’s pastoral history.

Our next excursion was to explore the historic port town of Wentworth approximately 30km west of Mildura. Our drive took us through small communities growing oranges, mandarins and sultana grapes and we noted the heavily laden bushes with fruit rotting on and beneath the trees and vines. Apparently this is due to the farmers being unable to compete with overseas imports. Something appears to be very wrong if this is the case!

Wentworth is located at the delta of the Murray and Darling Rivers and was once touted as the future National Capital of Australia. Armed with information from the local Visitor Information Centre we drove a further few kms west until we reached Perry’s Sandhills which have a similar history to Mungo NP. Over the years much of the flora has been buried or almost buried by red sand as evidenced by one particular Murray River Red Gum, estimated to be approx 500 years old, the trunk of which has been buried beneath tons of sand resulting in its spreading upper branches now being at ground level. The sand dunes have also been used in many international and Australian movie scenes including “Man from Snowy River II”, “Burke & Wills”, “Flying Doctors” and “Boney”.

Driving back into town we visited the Old Wentworth Gaol built in 1879-1881 designed by colonial architect James Barnett who went on to design many Government buildings, particularly in Sydney, and many of the State’s gaols eg Hay, Dubbo and many others which are still standing today. There were a number of other beautiful old buildings around town dating back to the late 1800s including the Post Office, Customs House, Town Hall, hotels and churches. We also visited Lock 10 & Weir which is located just below the junction of the Murray & Darling Rivers.

On our return to Mildura we visited the Mildura Arts Centre which incorporates “Rio Vista”, the former home of William Chaffey (see previous note) where William’s wife lived until her death in 1950. The house has retained many of its original features such as furniture, fireplaces, wood panelling, wallpaper etc. which was of interest but the Arts Centre was a big disappointment as far as its current exhibitions were concerned.

Sunday 5 July saw us on the road again for the relatively short 2 hour drive from Mildura to Renmark where we checked into another riverside caravan park only a 10min walk from town. After lunch we drove the short distance into town and boarded the PS Industry which is a steam powered paddlewheeler built in 1911 as a workboat pulling snags out of the river and assisting to build the weirs and locks. After being abandoned for some years it has now been restored to its former glory by a dedicated team of volunteers. We were fortunate to have timed our arrival on the first Sunday of the month as this is the only day each month when it takes passengers on a 90min cruise up and down the River. It was a leisurely way to explore this section of the River and Richard especially enjoyed checking out the huge boiler and pistons which turned the paddlewheels on both sides of the boat. The home made scones were also enjoyable!

We walked back into town the following day for lunch at the Renmark Club. This institution was originally a “gentlemen’s club” open only to male membership however times have changed and it now welcomes everyone. Although not large, the Club is housed in a relatively new modern building built right on the riverbank. It would be a lovely spot to sit outside overlooking the river in the warmer weather but at this time of year we enjoyed an excellent view from inside and we especially enjoyed the large tender steaks which were one of the lunch specials that day.

On Tuesday 7 July we left Renmark driving north-west to Burra making a stop for morning tea at Morgan which was once a bustling river port during the mid 1800s – mid 1900s with paddle steamers ferrying goods and passengers along the Murray River to Morgan where they were met by the railway for their onward journeys. At that time it was the second largest port in South Australia after Port Adelaide. There are still some lovely old buildings in town as a testament to its past but the paddlewheelers have been replaced by dozens of leisure houseboats. There is also a ferry which operates on demand to carry cars the short distance across the river. As we drove across country we continued to glimpse the river winding its way south in the distance. Nearing Burra the North Mount Lofty Ranges rose ahead of us in the distance beyond the plains covered in a carpet of fresh green pastures which indicated some welcome recent rainfall. Burra is a small picturesque, quaint township which appears to be much as we remembered it from our last visit three years ago.