Back O' Bourke

Had a very interesting visit to the Back O' Bourke Exhibition Centre. Two videos particularly impressed for their quality of production. The first was a very good introduction to the Centre, and the second was a depiction of being on a paddle wheeler complete with the top deck to view the film, giving the impression that we were actually sailing down the Darling River - Brilliant! The Centre was very informative and one really got a feel for the 'real' NSW Outback. The characters who've passed through, or stayed in permanantly, Bourke, are so varied we wondered how on earth they ended up in such a place. Take Sheik Abdul Waheed, who later become known as Abdul Wade. Mr Wade was apparently a wealthy camel importer with a penchant for English suits and white camels. He liked to make a grand entrance into town on a pure white camel with locals at his beck and call to help him get off the camel, run his errands and pour his bath! Abdul was very unpopular with the local bullock teams and drovers because of his claims that camels could outdo horses and bullocks because of their ability to withstand the heat and go without water for days. It all came to a head when a cowboy accepted the challenge to race his horse against Wade's camel for 100 miles. Well, Abdul won arriving in comfortable time whilst the cowboy's horse collapsed and died 3 miles from the finish line, and the cowboy himself being carried over the line by his mates. After a restful night Wade then did the return journey comfortably the next day.

The township of Bourke was almost deserted and we heard that if it weren't for the tourist trade the town would die. This despite a healthy cattle and sheep trade in the area, as well as numerous crops grown for the Australian and international markets. It left us wondering if the Woolworth's buying policies had a bigger impact upon rural economies than Woollies would like us all to know!