Bourke, NSW

Darling River Towns

Bourke, NSW, the legendary Darling River town in Outback Australia where it is easy to agree with famous Australian poet Henry Lawson when he wrote, "if you know Bourke, you know Australia" (1882). The iconic Darling River town of Bourke is such part of the fabric of outback Australia and is an RV’ers mecca for a truly outback experience.

More than just an outback river town, Bourke is region that, figurative, is demarcation between the outback and the east; anything further inland is known as the 'Back o Bourke' which is a colloquial term deeply etched in Australian vernacular meaning to be a long way away from anything.

On the contrary, and this is probably what Henry Lawson meant, the further inland you go, the closer you get to the true essence of Australia.

It is not hard to agree with famous Australian poet Henry Lawson when he wrote, "if you know Bourke, you know Australia" (1882). The iconic Darling River town of Bourke is such part of the fabric of outback Australia and is an RV’ers mecca for a truly outback experience.

More than just an outback river town, Bourke is region that, figurative, is demarcation between the outback and the east; anything further inland is known as the 'Back o Bourke' which is a colloquial term deeply etched in Australian vernacular meaning to be a long way away from anything.

On the contrary, and this is probably what Henry Lawson meant, the further inland you go, the closer you get to the true essence of Australia.

The origins of (European) Bourke can be traced back to the 1830's when inland explorer Major Mitchell built a stockade 35km downstream from today's Bourke. The stockade was required as Mitchell's encounter with local indigenous was somewhat hostile (unlike that of fellow explorer Charles Sturt). The stockade was a base for tracking the Darling River.

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• RV camping at Mt Oxley Bourke Outback NSW
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Originally known as Prattenville, Bourke later renamed in honour of then Governor of the Colony, Richard Bourke, and soon become an integral part of the inland transport system.

Early pastoralists started to open up the interior of Australia as they saw the potential with cattle and sheep and this potential increased William Randell was the first person to take a paddle-steamer (The Gemini) up the Darling as far as Brewarrina in 1859. The stage was set as there was a means to get the Australian Wool clip to the shipping ports at Adelaide (down the Murray) and Melbourne (up the Murray to Echuca).

By the 1890's, Bourke was a major port for the transport of the southern Queensland and northern NSW wool clip that was transported down the Darling to the Murray River and onto Adelaide for ship transport overseas.

The Port of Bourke was the focus of the worlds wool industry with up to 80 riverboats servicing the region.

The opening of the rail system in Australia and the unreliability of the river flow saw the gradual demise of the 'River Highway' by the early 20th century.

This was not the death knell for Bourke though and today it is a town that still, in essence, is the same it was back then; a town on the edge of the wilderness with great historical, cultural and geographic significance.

Located where the Kidman Way meets the Darling River, Bourke is the ideal access point for The Darling River Run.