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Bourke & Beyond - Day 8
Oct. 11th, 2020 06:14 pmEuston to Ardlethan
A small, simple breakfast at the same little take-way shop up the road from our Motel, then a false start, due to Google mapping us to the nearest petrol station, which was on the wrong side of the border. We could have got petrol there, but would have had to wait 2 weeks before we could go anywhere with it. So, having found the 2nd nearest one, on the right side of the checkpoints, away we went, following the Murray River eastward, then as it dropped away south, the landscape became flatter & we were in big sky country again
And there’s not really much more to say about the drive to Ardlethan than that - it was a fairly uneventful day on the road, with no real photo opportunities, apart from one I only really saw as I was driving past it, but didn’t stop, or turn ‘round for... then spent the next 30 kilometres wishing I had
Being in big sky country meant we could see the rain clouds approaching from maybe about 100 kilometres away & thought initially that they’d slide past us on the right... & the initial rain bursts did just that, but the sky gradually turned greyer, then darker & then we were in the thick of it for about 5 minutes, then it would stop for 5, rain for 5, stop again... all rather frustrating really. Especially when we stopped in the town of Narrandera for a break & some pastries from the bakery & found that the rain had once again, washed off all the mud & dust we’d spent the last 2 days getting re-applied on the way down from Broken Hill. Our friend in Ardlethan will never believe where we’ve been, because all the evidence is gone...
The only stop we could have, maybe should have made, was to Altina Wildlife Park, which we saw a sign for about 200m before its gates, so we braked hard & turned left to go into the car park. What we could see from there was a lot of concrete walls & mesh fencing, which was a little too ‘Tiger King’ in appearance for us, so we elected to not go in, because if it was anything like Joe Exotic’s place, it was only going to make us angry & that’s not what this holiday is for. That’s what work is for...
We arrived in Ardlethan just after the school’s finishing time, so messaged our friend to let her know we were in town, then took a little drive round to see it. And a little drive is all that was needed, for a town of only 375 people. Shortly after that, we turned up at our friend’s doorstep, for an afternoon/evening of catching up, a great country pub meal (in the town's only pub) & playing with her dog. She informed us that the Altina Wildlife Park is apparently quite a good & reputable one, so we shouldn't have judged quite so quickly & it’s earmarked for a future trip down this way... She also had a lot of background information about the towns of Brewarrina, Bourke, Ardlethan & Wilcannia regarding the tensions with the aboriginal communities there & the occasionally violent & always racist treatment meted out to them by the white settlers, then the police & courts, not to mention government policies over the last 175 years or so. It's going to take a lot of communication, understanding, reconciliation, apology, one hell of an attitude shift &, unfortunately, probably a couple of generations before the wounds are healed
Kilometres travelled:404 - we ticked over 3,000 kilometres today
A small, simple breakfast at the same little take-way shop up the road from our Motel, then a false start, due to Google mapping us to the nearest petrol station, which was on the wrong side of the border. We could have got petrol there, but would have had to wait 2 weeks before we could go anywhere with it. So, having found the 2nd nearest one, on the right side of the checkpoints, away we went, following the Murray River eastward, then as it dropped away south, the landscape became flatter & we were in big sky country again
And there’s not really much more to say about the drive to Ardlethan than that - it was a fairly uneventful day on the road, with no real photo opportunities, apart from one I only really saw as I was driving past it, but didn’t stop, or turn ‘round for... then spent the next 30 kilometres wishing I had
Being in big sky country meant we could see the rain clouds approaching from maybe about 100 kilometres away & thought initially that they’d slide past us on the right... & the initial rain bursts did just that, but the sky gradually turned greyer, then darker & then we were in the thick of it for about 5 minutes, then it would stop for 5, rain for 5, stop again... all rather frustrating really. Especially when we stopped in the town of Narrandera for a break & some pastries from the bakery & found that the rain had once again, washed off all the mud & dust we’d spent the last 2 days getting re-applied on the way down from Broken Hill. Our friend in Ardlethan will never believe where we’ve been, because all the evidence is gone...
The only stop we could have, maybe should have made, was to Altina Wildlife Park, which we saw a sign for about 200m before its gates, so we braked hard & turned left to go into the car park. What we could see from there was a lot of concrete walls & mesh fencing, which was a little too ‘Tiger King’ in appearance for us, so we elected to not go in, because if it was anything like Joe Exotic’s place, it was only going to make us angry & that’s not what this holiday is for. That’s what work is for...
We arrived in Ardlethan just after the school’s finishing time, so messaged our friend to let her know we were in town, then took a little drive round to see it. And a little drive is all that was needed, for a town of only 375 people. Shortly after that, we turned up at our friend’s doorstep, for an afternoon/evening of catching up, a great country pub meal (in the town's only pub) & playing with her dog. She informed us that the Altina Wildlife Park is apparently quite a good & reputable one, so we shouldn't have judged quite so quickly & it’s earmarked for a future trip down this way... She also had a lot of background information about the towns of Brewarrina, Bourke, Ardlethan & Wilcannia regarding the tensions with the aboriginal communities there & the occasionally violent & always racist treatment meted out to them by the white settlers, then the police & courts, not to mention government policies over the last 175 years or so. It's going to take a lot of communication, understanding, reconciliation, apology, one hell of an attitude shift &, unfortunately, probably a couple of generations before the wounds are healed
Kilometres travelled:404 - we ticked over 3,000 kilometres today
