Bourke Attractions
The far west of New South Wales is a fascinating and typically Australian region, depicted in poetry and folk tales as an endless red plain spangled with wild flowers and patterned by rocky hills and dried-up rivers. Much of the year is very pleasant, but it can be very hot in summer. Anything 'back o' Bourke', it is said, is the real outback.
The town (pop. 3380) is the supply center for a vast area of sheep country which produces over 50,000 bales of wool a year (formerly shipped downstream on the Darling River). The construction of the Bourke Weir in 1892 made it possible to grow citrus fruits and cotton in irrigated fields, amid arid plains covered with salt bush and Mitchell grass. During his 1835 expedition Thomas Mitchell built Fort Bourke. The town itself, founded around 1860, developed into an important coaching station.
The Bourke Historical Museum (45 Mitchell Street) offers an excellent survey of the history of the outback.
The town (pop. 3380) is the supply center for a vast area of sheep country which produces over 50,000 bales of wool a year (formerly shipped downstream on the Darling River). The construction of the Bourke Weir in 1892 made it possible to grow citrus fruits and cotton in irrigated fields, amid arid plains covered with salt bush and Mitchell grass. During his 1835 expedition Thomas Mitchell built Fort Bourke. The town itself, founded around 1860, developed into an important coaching station.
The Bourke Historical Museum (45 Mitchell Street) offers an excellent survey of the history of the outback.
