Outback reflections

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This was published 11 years ago

Outback reflections

Lulled by the lapping waters of Lake Menindee, city slicker Effie Mann feels an unexpected affinity with the land.

Rich hues illuminate the dusk sky in the Menindee Lakes district.

Rich hues illuminate the dusk sky in the Menindee Lakes district.Credit: Destination NSW

The outback is, in many ways, as I envisioned: kilometres of long, straight road linking small communities; rugged four-wheel-drives rolling across the vast land.

Barflies hold up bars in towns consisting of little more than disused railway lines and boarded-up streetscapes. Weathered faces still make time to smile, their familiar greetings catch a townie off guard, highlighting the strange loneliness of crowded city living.

Our ride slows to avoid the zigzag of a curious emu mob, kangaroos spring from camouflage and wild pigs and goats trash the undergrowth, as our dust disturbs them. The soil spins its own colour wheel, from apricot to curry powder.

This is the outback of Banjo and Henry, of white explorers, and of the sacred stories of the Dreamtime, the landscape that brings to the fore the all-encompassing power and beauty of Mother Nature.

The surprising sight, however, is the water.

We have covered a lot of ground, from Bourke — where the "real" outback is said to begin — to the near-ghost town of Wilcannia, gold-paved Cobar, and Burke and Wills' last brush with civilisation, Menindee.

Our guide, Jeff, keeps reminding us to "imagine it without all the green" as, not long ago, only dirt and dust filled the gaps between the trees. Now the shrubs are flourishing and there are bright scatterings of wildflowers, although the grasses have dried off.

The murky grey waters of bulging Lake Menindee slap eerily against the beach as the tide creeps in. Long-dead, gnarled gums stand knee-deep in water that forms part of the Darling River catchment. Mid-century shacks house a holiday community drawn to its banks.

We've entered Kinchega National Park, the land of the Barkindji, or "people of the river". Early pioneers ran an enormous sheep station under a 99-year lease, but the property has now been returned to its original custodians. Here, white and indigenous history seems to have existed in relative harmony: a shared love of the land perhaps binding fragile relations.

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The wool shed still stands, now a museum, wind whistling through the nail holes in the corrugated-iron roof, reviving the scent of fleece. Shears hang, suspended, next to the silvery timber stalls. I run my fingers along the old wool-classing table and am sure I sense the greasy mark of lanolin.

Sharing billy tea with the Aboriginal caretakers while looking out over the subtle green-grey of the landscape, Menindee-born Tom shares: "There's nothing better than living by the river. It's the best way of life."

Later, chugging along the Darling at sunset, the tortured trees serve as perches for a stunning array of birdlife — the floods have rejuvenated the wetlands and all who call them home. Wings flap in all directions, my camera purring to keep up. Tom's words resonate: the waterway is a life source and I feel, quite simply, connected to this land.

Arriving back in Melbourne, the bustle is unnerving, so easily have I slipped into the languid outback tempo.

Unpacking, I'm reassured to find evidence of my adventure — a rust-red film coats the contents of my bag.

THE FACTS

Fly Regional Express from Melbourne to Broken Hill via Mildura.

Stay Kinchega National Park Shearer’s Quarters, Menindee, nationalparks.nsw.gov.au, (08)80803200.

Eat The Maidens Hotel, Yartla Street, Menindee, (08)80914208.

Tours Tri State Safari Outback Tours, (08)80882389, tristate.com.au; Lady River Cruises, (08) 80914125.

Effie Mann travelled with Tri State Safari Outback Tours as a guest of Destination NSW.

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