The "Dig Tree" and Innamincka

The tree on the right is the "Dig" tree.

Well, after a few detours, delays, worries about whether we had enough petrol to see us there and back from this very remote spot , we finally made it to the iconic “Dig Tree”.

It is well worth the trip to see this historic area with its tragic connection to the ill-fated Burke & Wills expedition in the summer of 1860/61. 

Photo taken in 1919.

Carving of Burke's face made in the 1890s.

It was originally called the Victorian  Exploring Expedition and its aim was to cross Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria at the very north. It consisted of 19 men, 26 camels, 6 wagons and 23 horses and it left in August 1860. They had to contend with wet, muddy route in Victoria but by the time they reached the Darling River it was summer with extremely hot weather. Burke continually split the party leaving ‘depots’ along the way with provisions. When he left here (Cooper’s Creek Depot Camp 65) he expected to return after reaching the Gulf in 3 months, if not the 4 Depot men were to return to Menindee. It turned out that on the very day they left in the morning (after delaying a further month), Burke, Wills and King arrived back in the afternoon to find the place deserted. However supplies had been left buried with the nearby tree blazed with the word ‘Dig’. Not sufficient though to last across the desert to Mount Hopeless station in South Australia, they returned to Coopers Creek and Burke and Wills died here at the end of June 1861. King only survived being cared for by the local aborigines until a relief expedition arrived in September.

It was near here that sole survivor, King was found being cared for by the local indigenous people.

They achieved their objective to reach the Gulf, but at a tragic cost. Travelling through this countryside in the height of summer and ill-provisioned with only rice, flour, sugar, salt beef and pork and biscuits, its no wonder some contracted scurvy and others fell ill and died in the heat. Madness to us now looking back at such a disastrous event.

We, however, camped very happily under Coolibah trees right by Coopers Creek. We dined extremely well on barbecued marinated pork steaks, campfire baked potatoes and salad with a glass of red (for me) and beer (for Peter). Later we sat outside by the fire watching the full moon rise over the water. A brilliant evening but thoughts always straying to that ill-fated expedition 153 years ago.

Further on along the Bulloo Developmental Road – again very good bitumen road with just a few gravelled parts but very little traffic, we crossed over the South Australian border and soon reached Innamincka. There’s been a ‘town’ here for well over 100 years, but mainly consists of the usual pub, general store, fuel supplies, a couple of houses and a Regional Reserve Park Headquarters. The pub/hotel is a step up from your usual outback pub, as it offers excellent meals and accommodation. The staff wear t-shirts proclaiming “Burke & Wills never had it so good”. True – they would have been overjoyed (and alive!) to have found it. We enjoyed a good long chat with fellow travellers over a roast dinner one night.

It is another remote, dusty outback settlement and you wonder how anyone would survive let alone flourish in such an environment. The local indigenous people did however and knew it was a land of plenty for them with fish, animals, edible vegetation and native fruits all they needed.

Our camp by Coopers Creek

We’ve had two days here camping by the river without power or water supplied, but we’re well prepared with two tanks of water, gas, and solar panels which re-charge our heavy duty battery to supply lighting at night. We’ve been most comfortable with good weather blue-sky days, but just a little ‘nippy’ at night. We love sitting by camp fires at night

and once the sun sets we have views of the most amazing sky at night – the stars are so bright and brilliant you sometimes feel you could just reach up and touch them.

Bourke and beyond

Bourke is not a town you immediately think of in terms of intellectual discussion, but this rough and ready outback town surprises. One night we sit around campfires listening to the local 'bard' and his poetry (Poetry on a Plate), and today I walk into a shop and am immediately drawn into a discussion on the merits of an English language university degree and then the origins of some English words. I love the unexpectedness of it all.

The old Bourke Bridge over the Darling River.

Bourke has had a bad reputation as a very rough, dirty - and sometimes dangerous - outback town. However we've visited twice over several years and have found it clean and tidy and very safe. It has a fabulous local history museum (Back o'Bourke). The old RSL is now Diggers on the Darling [River] and is a popular place to eat as is the great Chinese restaurant at the Bourke Bowls Club.

Locals are lovely and enjoy a chat, as a result it's one of our favourite places.

Leaving Bourke we travelled north then westward towards the Queensland/South Australian border.

On nearby Mt Oxley.

Distances are vast in the outback. Often you drive several hours without passing another vehicle. We travelled almost a thousand kilometres over two days to the Dig Tree. The first night we free-camped by the Wilson River not far from the Noccundra Hotel before reaching our destination. We have to calculate distances fairly precisely as sometimes it is 200-300 kilometres between fuel stops. There are good sealed roads in areas where there are mining or oil wells, but there are also great stretches of unmade graveled roads with accompanying corrugations and clouds of dust. We also have to look out for straying cattle, horses, emus, kangaroos with eagles, crows and corellas feasting on any roadkill.

Caravanning North 2015

Setting off from our home on the Mornington Peninsula on a sunny but cold and wintry Monday, we drove up busy car filled freeways skirting the Melbourne CBD until finally we were free of the city and began the long drive up through central Victoria where we had our first overnight stop at Echuca. We like this town and have stayed here before enjoying the closeness of the Murray River and the old colonial buildings.We have in the past had paddle steamer rides to wineries and with gourmet lunches on the river bank and exploring the old port precinct which still retains much of the history of the area. This time however, apart from the usual "oh - remember that!" we just settled the van in at the Echuca Tourist Park, thankful for some heating on a rather cool night.

Next day we again headed north crossing the border into New South Wales and hoping for a bit more sunshine and warmth. We  reached Hay and continued on along the Cobb Highway eventually aiming for Wilcannia and then on to White Cliffs (opal mining town). After about 200 kilometres through dead flat countryside we reached Ivanhoe for a night stop. We found very friendly locals and had an excellent dinner at the small but popular Ivanhoe Hotel. Overnight it rained and rained with a thunderstorm thrown in for good measure. Not daunted
we set off next morning only to find a sign on the outskirts of town advising that the Cobb Highway north to Wilcannia was closed for two days. Nothing for it but to turn around and drive back the long 210 kilometres of the Cobb Highway, a brief stop at Hay then another attempt to drive north along the Kidman Way. Success at last and this day's travel brought us to Cobar - once an important copper mining area. We decided to stay here a few nights to brush off the now dry red mud and have the usual wash and brush-up and replenishing of supplies.

We've had a little rain since but it is definitely warmer here - enough to sit outside for a cuppa and chat and to feed all the very friendly birds around the park - and even do a little rug-hooking.