We travelled via the road beside the Darling River from Bourke to Louth, I say river but in some parts there is no water at all. It is sad to see, after what once was a beautiful river deep enough for the paddle steamers, now so dry in many places.
Louth is a small town well actually it is a pub/general store/coffee shop all in one. Yet once a year in August it host's over three thousand people for the Louth horse race. Last year it was the Fiftieth Anniversary and over 6,000 people turned up which caused a few problems on the day....not enough ice or loo's !!
Arriving for our stay at an outback station ( after nearly colliding with a big emu with no road sense), we were greeted by Liz the Trilby Station owner http://www.trilbystation.com.au/index.htm.
Liz gave us a quick run down of the station and then gave us a map which showed where all the camp spots were. Liz told us to choose anyone we liked.
Our car(1998 Ford station wagon) did a bit of four wheel driving as we followed the track along the river..well sometimes a river. Finally after much debating we settled on one of the powered sites. I know not really roughing it but ready to see what living on 200,000 acres was all about.
First impression is how dry everywhere is, no decent rain falls for a long time. It is a lovely property and the life saver was the swimming pool as the temperature rose throughout the day to 40 degrees. Our fellow campers all 6 of them enjoyed the pool as much as us.
Two of the men Rob and Jimmy said they were going down and putting the nets in to catch some yabbies so we would have a feed later that night. They caught hundreds, a lot which they froze for taking back to Sydney with them. I must say we enjoyed the ones we had, so thanks boys.
We did some exploring the next day down by the billabong where all sorts of water birds live. Once again the wild flowers were on show with an amazing show of colour. Drove around the property once again putting the car through the challenge of pretending to be a 4x4. It held up really well, although maybe we should invest in an off road vehicle!!
Gary, Liz's husband was out working catching feral goats. They rounded up two B Doubles (trucks) which hold 1,200 goats and send off down to the abattoirs in Albury/Wodonga from there they go to the Middle East. That is only a small amount of the goats roaming the place.
On the station there is all different types of accommodation from cottages and a bunk house plus so many different camp sites. It is all set up really for a great relaxing holiday or if you want you can help out around the station. Fresh farm eggs also on hand for you to collect.
The time went by very quickly, although a few hours were just spent chatting around the pool or camp site.
We have said we will go back one day when they have had some rain as I am sure it would look totally different. Liz told us that one year a long time ago they had a flood and used the boat to collect the mail from 3ks down the road where the mail box is!
We really recommend anyone travelling out that way to stop a while. You will be warmly welcomed and we can honestly say you will enjoy your stay.
