Bourke (the real outback)

We are staying in a nice caravan park for 2 nights which is just on the outskirts of town. It's a good chance to catch up with the washing and we needed to fill our tanks with water. Had a good drive in, not many roadtrains on this route which was good. The town is quite nice and there is a lot of tourist things to do. It has been lovely and sunny these past 2 days and its lovely to feel the warmth on your face. Today we got up early to get down to the paddle boat at 9am but we discovered we were 45 mins behind as we hadn't put our watches forward so we missed that cruise but went on it this PM. We went to visit Fred Hollows grave, he was an eye surgeon who did a lot of work with Aborigines and also overseas in Nepal etc. You may have seen his foundation advertised on the TV, I have always admired his work, he died of cancer in 1993. It is quite fascinating looking in old cemeteries, there are graves of people who have been shot, died of consumption and childbirth. They died so young in those days and not many graves of the late 1800's have people over 50. We then went to a new interactive centre that depicts the history of Bourke and its surrounding areas, we also had a walk beside the darling River which was lovely. This PM we went for an hour's river cruise on the paddle boat Jandra, so we have had a full day. Tomorrow we have a driving day and hope to cross the border into Queensland. I don't seem to be able to download my photos so may have to publish them in another post.