April 21-23, 2023

Walgett, another town we had only once passed through and not stopped at so this time we took advantage of the town RV Stop the only other option being the Showgrounds which from all reports are quite “rundown”.

Situated almost at the Western end of the town area the area is not large but seems to be able to accommodate 15 -20 vans with some using the additional parking space outside the circular camping area; new toilet and hot showers with a drinking water tap completes the offerings . Next door to the camp is a small park with pond and in the driveway a memorial to Banjo Pattersons “Been There before” written about Walgett:

Been There Before

There came a stranger to Walgett town,
To Walgett town when the sun was low,
And he carried a thirst that was worth a crown,
Yet how to quench it he did not know;
But he thought he might take those yokels down,
The guileless yokels of Walgett town.
They made him a bet in a private bar,
In a private bar when the talk was high,
And they bet him some pounds no matter how far
He could pelt a stone, yet he could not shy
A stone right over the river so brown,
The Darling River at Walgett town.

He knew that the river from bank to bank
Was fifty yards, and he smiled a smile
As he trundled down; but his hopes they sank,
For there wasn’t a stone within fifty mile;
For the saltbush plain and the open down
Produce no quarries in Walgett town.

The yokels laughed at his hopes o’erthrown,
And he stood awhile like a man in a dream;
Then out of his pocket he fetched a stone,
And pelted it over the silent stream –
He’d been there before; he had wandered down
On a previous visit to Walgett town.