April 13-15
Brewarrina Video
Heading South from Dirranbandi the small settlement of Hebel is just above the QLD/NSW Border. The main road south from here takes you through Lightning Ridge but we decided to leave that for another time and travelled the dirt road via Goodooga direct to Brewarrina. This is definitely a dry weather road only as much of it is just graded blacksoil, very little used other than by the locals but in the dry a very good back road.
Goodooga is very run down as can be witnessed by burned out houses and even a church which has been torched. Not a place to stay around!
Brewarrina is also one of those towns with a reputation for social problems but we saw no evidence of that except for the Police patrolling the camping area about 4 or 5 times a day; nice to know that you are secure. In town it is also noticeable that both the Supermarket and Pharmacy have no front windows.
The free camp here is known as the Four Mile Reserve and incorporates the town’s boat ramp onto the Barwon River. Between here and Bourke the Barwon and Bokhara join, then the Barwon, Culgoa and Bogan Rivers join to finally become the Darling River.
The Four Mile campground is another great riverfront area with lots of space spread over almost a kilometre; a small toilet block, cold showers (for those who want a swim off the boat ramp or Jetty) and rubbish bins complete the facilities. There is river water via a slow tap if you want some for washing etc.
Heard conflicting reports about Brewarrina is it safe to leave your van at 4 mile reserve
We have stayed twice and it was regularly checked by Police, we have never had a problem leaving our van anywhere in over 7 years, it is well out of town and the locals who use it are there for the boat ramp and small jetty where the kids go for a swim.