Day 239 - Lightning Ridge to Moree

Nearly 400 km on a beautiful day made cool by the rain yesterday, was our target for today - from Lightning Ridge to Moree.

The first leg on the Castelreagh Highway took us to Walgett but we passed "Stanley" on the way. He sure catches your eye.  Originally his creator wanted to display him on the Birdsville Track but the only resources forthcoming were from the people of Lightning Ridge, so that's where he ended up. His body is a Volkswagen.

011214 Stanley on the Castlereagh Hwy near Lightning Ridge

011214 Stanley's story

Walgett is named after an aboriginal word which means "the meeting of two rivers", in this case the Barwon and Namoi Rivers.  It is the regional hub for wool, wheat and cotton industries.  It not significant so much for its population of 2300, about half of which is aboriginal, but for the facts that Dr James Oswald Little AO is buried there and Banjo Patterson wrote a poem which mentioned it. 

011214 Main street of Walgett

011214 Plaque for Jimmy Little, who is buried in the Walgett Cemetary.
Remember the song "Royal Telephone" ?

011214 "Been There Before" a poem by Banjo Patterson
which makes reference to Walgett

011214 The Namoi River at Walgett

011214 The Namoi River from the other side of the bridge

Walgett is visibly suffering from the drought and the view at our morning tea stop demonstrated this. 

011214  A sign designed for better days at Walgett

011214 The pond at the park in Walgett

From Walgett we headed east along the Kamilaroi Highway to Collarenabri.  Collarenabri is a small river town on the Barwon River with a population of about 380. Wheat and cotton is grown nearby and there are sheep and cattle stations as well.  Once again the country showed evidence of the drought.

011214 The main street in Collarenebri

011214 The weir on the Barwon River at Collarenebri

011214 "Look at me, look at me.  Aren't I beautiful?"  "Yes, but it's a shame
 you squawk". This on the banks of the Barwon River

011214 The Barwon River above the weir

While we contemplated and discussed the seriousness of the drought our attention was diverted immediately we started on the road to Moree, 140 km away.  It was diverted to the road. We bucked, rocked, rolled, and crunched the 140 km to Moree.  The only saving grace was that the road was paved. We drew some consolation from the fact we were told the road between Moree and Goondiwindi is worse, - and we are not going that way. We can only wonder at what the road might be like between Moree and Glen Innes, our route for tomorrow.

That aside, Moree is a lovely town and it even has a few traffic lights.  It has a population of around 9300 and is a centre for cotton growing.  It is on the Mehi River.

011214 Coming in to Moree

011214 Traffic lights in main street in Moree