Colour Day!

Well, what a colourful day! The photos don't do it justice but here are a few to tempt you. Yesterday we officially passed into 'Outback NSW' and today we were delighted to experience the incredible colours that came with the change in both vegetation and the different colours in the soils as we travelled from Nyngan to Bourke. Cypress pine, coolabah trees, blue gum and river red gum trees only added to the stunningly beautiful red, orange and yellow soils. Scrubby vegetation, which we took to be biddy and salt bush, in colours ranging from deep green, light green, blue, purple and red was interspersed between the bigger trees, all against a backdrop of blue, blue skies. Beautiful! My camera got a real workout. Now I just have to work out how to add some of the photos on the blog!

We drove through towns with interesting names like Canonba, Girilambone and Coolabah. The tourist brochure stated that Girilambone means 'Place of Falling Stars' because a meteorite was said to have struck a hill near the town (when?) and that there was a general store still running since the days of the Cobb and Co coach, unfortunately we blinked and missed it!

There were signs along the road that warned of camels, emus and kangaroos but the kangas were the only ones to show themselves. Probably a good thing too - we didn't fancy any surprises in camels and emus fleeing across the road in front us!!

Tonight we are in 'The Kidman Camp', 7 kms from Bourke. The place is like an oasis, complete with palm trees, 2 swimming pools and the Darling River nearby. We met up this afternoon with a couple we met in Nyngan last night so had 'Happy Hour' with them before dinner tonight. There is so much to see in and around Bourke that we're staying for 2 nights. This afternoon we took a paddle boat ride down the Darling River, tomorrow we're off to experience "The Back O' Bourke Exhibition Centre" before taking a "Back O' Bourke" bus tour tomorrow afternoon.

Last night's country music was fab. A guy in his mid-40's sang for almost 2 hours before we all started to freeze and had to give up. Sorry Louise, no boot scootin! But I have to admit, the music was great.

By the way, if you ever get the opportunity to visit Nyngan, do it! The history surrounding the place is fascinating, especially the flood of 1990. Nyngan was first visited by Major Thomas Mitchell in 1835 and it was 50 years before the railway came but the town started growing almost immediately and is now important for it's mining and pastoral activities in wool, wheat and cattle. In the Nyngan Museum there was a video of the flood and it was simply unbelievable what that town's residents tried to do to stop their town from being inundated with the massive flood waters pouring down the Bogan River. Sadly, the town was flooded and the entire population was airlifted to Dubbo. A very interesting place to visit which we can highly recommend.

Ok, that's it for today.