Thursday, 19 May 2016

Wilcannia to Menindee Lakes

On Friday we will go to Menindee Lakes and this will be our final leg of the Darling River Run. Wilcannia is almost a ghost town with very few businesses operating. There are fabulous historic sandstone buildings but many have been abandoned. A series of new flood height markers up the bank of the river tops out at 12m.

I explored the caravan park property in 4WD and located a stand of magnificent red gums. The largest has a girth of more than 11m. There is an emu here which is kept in a fenced yard. Apparently it was hand raised by an Aboriginal family but when it grew too big it was dumped at the park. It used to have the run of the place but developed bad habits like stealing food from caravans, and removing earrings and necklaces from unsuspecting guests. There is also a lamb which appears to be looking for its mother. It comes quite close to camp sites and keeps bleating. At least it looks healthy.

Many of the trees have complex mud and stick birds nests but my favourite bird hideout is under the water tower where several generations of swallows have built nest upon nest.

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