Staying with the Outback Beds network allows you to experience working sheep and cattle stations, bush pubs, log cabins, living underground, Bed and Breakfasts, a little luxury and tranquil river campsites.... even camel campouts.
The Darling River meanders through NSW from its origins in Queensland's Darling Downs - via the Warrego and Culgoa Rivers - and from the northern NSW tributaries of Barwon, Gwydir, Namoi, Castlereagh and Bogan rivers.
Part of the Murray Darling Basin, which covers 1,061,469 square kilometres (14% of the total area of Australia), the Darling River is Australia's longest river flowing 2,739 km. The river has always been an integral part of Aboriginal culture was named the Darling after it was 'discovered' by explorer Charles Sturt in 1829 who named it in honour of Sir Ralph Darling - the then Governor of New South Wales.
The Darling River flows south-west though outback NSW through the Menindee Lakes on towards the confluence with the Mighty Murray River at Wentworth on the NSW/Victoria border.
From there the Murray continues to flow through South Australia onto Lake Alexandrina and into The Southern Ocean.
Long before European settlement and their search to find the 'inland sea' of Australia, the region was home the first Australians and indigenous culture in the area is said to go back over 45,000 years with more than an estimated 15 Aboriginal language groups.
The area is steeped in Aboriginal culture from the fish traps at Brewarrina, a vast array of historical and sacred sites, through to the world's oldest ritual burial ground at Lake Mungo. For centuries the river had been home, fishing and hunting ground and trade route to the Aboriginal tribes.
The relative newcomers to the area, the Europeans, believed that the rivers of aastern Australian all ran into a vast inland sea. Early explorers were correct in thinking there was an inland sea but they were about 50 million years too late when the climate was vastly different during the Cretaceous period.
Today we can travel in the comfort of modern motor vehicles, but spare a thought for those 'strangers' to land who explored the Far West. It is no surprise that Sturt, Mitchell, Dowling Burke and Wills are synonymous with the modern history of the region.
The 'Wild West' was a frontier for European settlement in the 19th century and cattlemen began to carve out vast stations and forged stock routes to to the major commercial centres of Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne.
In 1859 a riverboat called Gemini skippered by William Randell reached the reached Brewarrina (formerly know as 'Walcha Hut' and early as 'Fishery') and with this first successful navigation of the Darling there was the potential for it to become a major transport route.
By the 1890's, the river ports of Bourke, Wilcannia and Wentworth and serviced the 1+ million hectares wool empires that were enabled by the Darling River opening up the region.
Paperbark Tours offers a different way to see Australia – small groups, 4WD coaches, unique accommodation and the chance to get up close with nature, learn about Australia’s culture and history, and meet the local characters.
The River
