MENINDEE and the Lakes

Saturday, 4th August 2012

Today we drove down to for a relaxing day out.  Initially driving out along the highway, we came across a large number of emus (probably the most we have seen in the whole trip) on both sides of the road and thankfully very street smart and uninclined to check out the front of our vehicle.



Our hostess on arrival



Calling the rest of the crew........


I just found out Emu can break wind!!!!!



After checking us out the flock slowly headed over the rise and onto greener pastures...



... which they had to share with many other bird species.



We did make sure to close our doors because we didn't trust the birds with our gear (would be terrible to get back and find an emu running off with our caravan mirrors or something. 

This land was travelled by the Paakantji Aboriginal people when living around the length ofthe Darling from Wilcannia through Menindee towards Wentworth. 

The first Europeans to visit the area followed the Darling River in search of pasture for their sheep, and it was here that William Wright (the man blamed for the demise of Burke and Wills) joined their party when they stopped here during their exploration to the north.

Charles Sturt's exploration parties spent time in this area, also camping at Kinchega.

Moving on after playing with the wildlife, we came to the Kinchega Woolshed.  In the Kinchega National Park, this restored woolshed and adjacent buildings were originally built in 1870.

Initially the property (owned by Herbert Hughs) ran 35,000 sheep, but in 5 years with the addition of  steam tractor driven dams (tanks) and bores, the property increased its sheep holding to 72,000 in 1875.

This should give a pretty good impression of the size of this engine

 

This picture below shows you the walk up to be shorn from the sheeps eyes (funnily enough, at the bottom of this ramp there were the obligatory 'stinging nettles' that seem to go hand in hand with all races)



Inside, all the equipment on display has been exceptionally restored, including all the holding pens as well as the shearing stands, classing tables and wool presses.

At the woolshed, camping facilities are available with showers and toilets, and also accommodation in the modernised shearers' quarters if preferred.

As we left the woolshed, we traversed the gravel road and spent a little time playing with wildlife again!



This Shingle-back Lizard was sunning himself on a very warm, but very busy road, (silly guy)



 

So I told him to move over to the bushy side where the cars can't run over him and off he went.
We made sure he was off the road and in a nice warm sand spot and then drove off happy in our knowledge that we had saved a cute little native lizzy.




Unfortunately, there were others doing the same crazy kamikazi stuff, but we persisted......





....and occasionally got a rude gesture, but we did save them (hopefully they didn't just wait till our back was gone from view and then went straight back to the tyre-dodging acts)



This was a small section we saw before arriving at Menindee for lunch in the 2nd oldest pub in NSW.(next pic below)

Burke & Wills also stopped here for refreshment on their expedition to the Gulf.

After lunch, we headed off to find Burke & Wills' campground on the Darling River.

We found this spot shortly, but before finding the campsite, we noticed a huge amount of birds circling above, the answer for which we found shortly later.

This was the site of the camel expedition on the Darling River.


The trees (Red River Gums mostly) in this spot were some of the largest all in one area we have seen anywhere.

This is what a cormorant looks like when it first gets out of the water after fishing (No wonder they sit for so long drying their wings)

 In the pic below, you can see lots of the birds circling in the air.  The birds were thick as bats, and the waterway filled with fishing birds (cormorants, heron, pelicans and with kites, hawks, crows and eagles all above -  Man, DO NOT OPEN YOUR MOUTH AS YOU LOOK UP TO GAWK! - Could be dangerous)

 The water rushing through here is actually coming underground from a "weir" set up on the other side of the sand hill.

There are 4 lakes in all here, Lakes Tandure, Pamamaroo, Menindee and Cawndilla.  All are inter-connected and also overflow into the Darling River, but the waterways joining each lake are actually a natural occurance, just enhanced now.

The lakes' system is a haven for animal life.



We found this unusual duck waiting for it's partner

And this spoonbill nonchalantly digging around in mud

This is a view of one of the overflows from the top of one of the weir's gates.  How about all those birds??

Some of the birds were actually starting on the other side, and diving down and letting the water flow drag them through to the other side (easy pickings of all the fish beside them!)

 .

Most of the Red River Gums on the side of the banks had this root system exposed.  Several trees had fallen also, obviously unable to hold their top weight any longer.

In this photo, you can see the power of the water surging through underground from the other side.

 Here on the way out we came across someone's camels -  Very calm and happy enough to have their pics taken, but Greg just refused to go catch one (they even had rope and collars) so we could go for a ride (Man, sometimes he just has no imagination - or rather, maybe too much imagination - Would have made for good photography shots or Funniest Home Video I'm sure)

Tomorrow, off to White Cliffs (home of the underground houses!)........

                Sleep well everyone and catch you soon.