Darling River Run – Bourke to Idalia

To travel on the dirt roads we lowered our tyre pressures in the Jeep and the Eco Tourer to reduce the risk of punctures and give a smoother ride on the rough corrugations. Most of the road on the east side of the Darling River from Bourke to Louth was not too bad, and while there was some damage from the recent rain we didn't have any problems. That road passes the Gundabooka National Park but the roads into the park were closed because of poisoning activity.

At Louth there is a bridge over the river which is about 10m above the current water level. There is a strange sign on the bridge prohibiting jumping – perhaps it is relevant during floods. Louth has a pub and nothing else. Somehow they manage to accommodate 6,000 people when the locals organise the annual Louth races. During the races traffic along the dusty road must be chaotic. On this section of the road we only passed about six vehicles all day and two graders repairing the road.

We crossed the river to the road on the western side and continued in a south westerly direction until we reached a sheep station named Idalia which provides outback river accommodation. We stayed at a powered site on the riverbank but alternate accommodation includes a cottage and shearers' huts. There was only one other couple there staying in their camper trailer.

The dogs had a good run around as they have been confined to their crates or leads while in caravan parks, and the cats went for a long (slow) walk. The dogs keep picking up burrs in their soft paws because they are used to walking on the manicured lawns of the Gold Coast.

The owner left a package for us at the back gate which included a brief overview of the work of the station, a history of the six generations of white folk who have lived and worked on the station over the past 140 years, and a book covering a lot of the early history of white settlement in the area. Sheep shearing is in progress now so the six people who live and work on this large station are all busy. The other major activity is goat herding and they installed 45 kilometres of electric fencing for this purpose. They have a couple of planes and small helicopters for mustering. We have seen hundreds of feral goats so it is good to see the farmers are able to make money from herding them for export.

We saw a small flock of goats but it included a single kangaroo. The roo stayed with the flock even after one of the goats ran into him while getting away from our vehicle. The other wild life included a flock of red tailed black cockatoos.