When I was a child the Back of Bourke was a way of saying the middle of nowhere. These days it’s only 2 days from Sydney. Which makes me wonder where the middle of nowhere is now? I might have to work it out and plan a trip there.
When you leave Sydney on the first leg of your trip you should head for the Blue Mountains. Technically I am not sure if you have officially left Sydney but let’s pretend we have. The blue Mountains are fabulous, and a place you must stop at. If you have never been there before here is a shopping list of places to see in the Blue Mountains:
- The Three Sisters, great to look at and you can walk down the 1000 stairs to the Valley floor
- There are over 140km of walking tracks so put on some comfortable shoes and go for a walk
- Ride the Cable car and enjoy the serenity or take the world’s steepest railway to the valley and enjoy the thrill
- See the glow worms and explore the caves
When you are tuckered out from doing this it’s back into the car and off to Mudgee which is about 1.5 hours away. When you get there you need to do two things. Firstly visit the Trip Gorge. It is beautiful and a relatively easy walk. The second it decide who the designated driver is today because in Mudgee they make wine, lots of wine.
After you have finished wine tasting you have another 1.5 hours to drive to get to Dubbo where you will stop overnight. There is so much to do in Dubbo. Check these out:
- The Dubbo Western Plains Zoo
- The Old Dubbo Gaol
- Shoyoen Japanese Gardens
- The Royal Flying Doctors Visitors Experience
When you leave Dubbo you are heading for Warren which is about 1.5 hours away. If you like cars and planes then you have gone to the right spot. Warren has two museums you are going to want to check out. The first is the National Packard Museum for the cars and the second is the Ernie Hall Aviation Museum. Once you’ve done that it’s back in the car crank up the stereo and head to Bourke. It’s a three-hour trip so be ready to play a very long game of eye spy.
When you get to Bourke don’t just rush to go to the back of the city so you can check it off your bucket list. There is plenty to do in Bourke. As an aside I had one of the best fish and chip meals I have ever had in Bourke. I realise it would have made more sense to have eaten steak, but the heart wants what the heart wants. Speaking of fish and chips go to the Bourke historic wharf and check out the Darling River. There is the Mulgowan Aboriginal Rock Art Site, Bourke historic Cemetery where Fred Hollows is buried. Then head to the Gundabooka National Park, it’s not really the back of Bourke, but you can see it from there.
When you have done all of that you will wonder why people ever return to Sydney.
Have a great trip and send us your pictures.
