Air Adventure Australia

Destination Profile - Bourke, New South Wales

Located 789 km north west of Sydney, Bourke is situated on the Darling River 110 m above sea level. It is a thriving country town with a population around 3500 and the centre of a large wool, cotton and citrus area.

When Charles Sturt passed through the district in 1828 he thought that the whole area was 'unlikely to become the haunt of civilised man'. Henry Lawson said "Once you cross the North Bourke bridge - you will return"

Sir Thomas Mitchell returned to the area in 1835 and constructed a fort about 13 km south of the town site which he felt was suitable protection against attack from local Aborigines. It was named Fort Bourke after the governor of NSW, Sir Richard Bourke (1777-1855). Eventually the district and later the town came to be known by this name. Fort Bourke was short-lived but it did establish the possibility of settlement in the area and over the next decade pastoralists (some of them speculators) moved into the area.

The unreliability of the rainfall - it averages 340 mm but is likely to vary from 150 mm one year to 800 mm the next - forced many of the optimists out of the area.

For decades Bourke was the transport centre for the whole of south west Queensland and western NSW. Its port was the only efficient way to transport wool to the coastal markets and at its height in the late 1800s over 40 000 bales of wool were being shipped down the Darling annually.

The river transport continued until the last commercial riverboat in 1931.

Part of our tour includes a cruise along the Darling on board the quaint Jandra - the only outback paddleboat in Australia - which has become the first paddleboat to be launched on the Darling in 70 years. Take a leisurely cruise on the beautiful Darling River, the only sound you will hear is the splash of the paddles and the voices of the river .

This destination is part of the Islands in the Sun Australian Adventure.