As predicted and for the first time this trip, “He” dressed in a tee shirt and shorts. As we move west, the temperature has increased with tops of about 28 forecast over coming days. Nights are still relatively cool.
We enjoyed another continental breakfast and during our morning briefing, we agreed to take the club mascot “Kenny the Koala” for the day. “Kenny” is used to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service with the Winnebago RV Club donating about $22,000 last year. It cost us $5 to have “Kenny” for the day.
After leaving the township of Bourke, we stopped at the local cemetery and visited the burial site of Fred Hollows. Fred was a pioneer eye surgeon who spent most of his life working with the Australian indigenous people and in other remote areas of the world. He specialised in cataract surgery and his legacy lives on through his foundation. He is responsible for restoring sight to a large number of people. Fred is buried under a large rock and a small memorial sits near his grave.
Our trip today was only relatively short but was to be travelled on gravel roads on part of a route called “The Darling River Run”. This iconic road starts at Walgett and finishes at Wentworth where the Darling joins the Murray River. The road follows the path of the Darling River.
He road was actually in better condition than some of the sealed roads we have recently travelled on and we found we could travel safely at a speed somewhere between 70 and 80 kph. During this short run we saw an abundance of wildlife and numerous lizards on the road. On one occasion we were surprised to see goats run across the road about 100 metres in front of us. We also saw emus and kangaroos.
We arrived at Louth just after 11:00am and stopped at the local pub where we enjoyed a cup of coffee.
Last year at the CMCA Charity Safari we made friends with a couple who are full-timers and travel in a fifth wheeler. When able, they spend time of properties helping out during tourist seasons. Many reader of this blog will know them as “Ma and Pa”. Several weeks ago we learnt that they were working at Trilby Station which is located about 25 kilometres from Louth. So we made arrangements to visit them today. Trilby Station is a working property of 250,000 acres. The property also provides accommodation for those wishing to stay adjacent to the Darling River.
We had a wonderful afternoon reliving past experiences and also planning where and when we could meet in the future. “Pa” is a bush poet and he offered to join our group in the evening and provide us with poetry and stories. We stayed for several hours before saying a temporary goodbye, We were the last to arrive at our camp site which was on the Louth cricket oval.
The motor home was very dirty from the gravel road but much to our surprise, there was a lot less dust in the storage bins than expected. We had been advised to run the truck fan on full and on fresh air. This would create positive pressure in the vehicle and reduce dust penetration. It had worked. “He” cleaned the dust from the main storage bin and we joined our other travellers for an early happy hour.
Prior to our evening meal, we were taken on a walk where we could view the run reflecting on a local structure called “The Celtic Cross”. This structure was built by Thomas Matthews in memory of his wife who died in 1866. The monument was designed to reflect the setting sun into the front door of their house every year on the anniversary of her death. We took photographs that will be added to this blog later.
Today our hosts had organised a surprise dinner for us at the Louth Pub. Dinner was exceptional and enjoyed by all. We were joined by “Ma and Pa” for dinner and then entertained by Pa with bush poetry and stories. We all enjoyed the experience. The owners of the Louth Pub went out of their way to make us welcome and hopefully we can return this way sometime in the future. If you drive through Louth, stop at the pub and have a cold beer!
We retired to the motor home at 10:00pm and went to bed after we received a phone call from “Pa” confirming that they had arrived back at Trilby Station. The vehicle they were using was having a few issues and we intended to “rescue” them if the vehicle had problems during their return journey.