Wilcannia

Wilcania is a town that most of us have heard of, and not in a positive way.  

It was once a town where no traveller stopped, except to fill up their tanks with fuel at the heavily barricaded service station.

Wilcannia, is on its own, a junction on different highways, 196 km from Broken Hill in the west, 260 km from Cobar in the east, 338 km from Hay in the south, and a small Opal mining town, called White Cliffs, 90 km in the north.    And nothing in between those towns except for one or two roadhouses, which may or not be open.   

Wilcannia appeared to be full of angry people, and to stop at the park or to walk down the main street meant being yelled at or verbally abused, and there was a chance that a visitor may observe a fight taking place between the people who lived there.

Slowly the shops that were there closed down.   And everything was barricaded with strong metal screens.  It was most definitely not a happy place.

So why did this happen?   I am not really sure.   We were told by residents of White Cliffs that too many different Aboriginal tribes lived in Wilcannia, but now the trouble makers had been moved out. 

That was their story, and perhaps it was correct.    All I can observe is that problems have been resolved and Wilcannia is making great progress.

Perhaps the following recognition which I obtained from my Google search has contributed to the positive atmosphere in the town. 

  'The traditional owners of Wilcannia are the Paakantyi (pronounced Barkandji) river people.   The town is surrounded by some of the most significant known sites of Aboriginal occupation in Australia.   In 2015, the High Court of Australia handed down a declaration recognising the Paakantyi Native Title Rights.'

 

 The NSW government, the Federal government and the local Shire have invested much time and money into renovating buildings and putting in better infrastructures.   The people who live there appear to have responded positively and the town is buzzing.

The New South Wales Tourist Board are encouraging people to visit Wilcannia and have put the town on one of their tourist trails.

We stayed in the council camping ground on the opposite side of the Darling River, which has been revamped with a new amenities block.     It was a beautiful setting, with trees and concrete paths for the caravans.    There were about fifteen caravans there every night.   We stayed two nights.

The weir on the Darling River.

The new amenities block is on the left of the photograph.

The Darling River is very muddy looking, and the water has dropped considerably since we visited two years ago.   It was then at the top of the banks.

The old bridge across the river, which was a centre lift bridge that allowed the boats to travel under the bridge.

                                         

This was a delightful cafe, staffed by friendly people and popular with tourists and locals.   The coffee was a little weak, by our standards, but the cakes were home made and most delicious. 

Walter looking very happy.

                                       

There is a strong European history in the town.   Wilcannia was the third largest port in NSW, after Sydney and Morpeth near Newcastle.   In 1887, 218 vessels arrived in Wilcannia with 36,170 tons of goods and 222 left with 26,552 tons.

  The boats plied their trade from Bourke (NE of Wilcannia) down to Wentworth where the Darling joined the Murray River.   This was called the Darling River Run.    The boats then continued on down to Goolwa which was the port at that time.

Often the water in the Darling was too low to travel by boat and they would be marooned until the next rains occurred.    In the end the river trade stopped due to railways being built, which then carried all the goods.    Places like Wilcannia went into decline, although it was still a regional centre.

I am not sure what this building was used for as it looks fairly new.  The windows have metal panels on them.  

The Athenaeum was built in 1884 and had the youngest son of Charles Dickens, Edward Dickens, on the original committee.   Wilcannia Cricket Club at one time had two of Charles Dickens' sons and a son of another English author, Anthony Trollope, as members.

A hotel standing in name only, as there no hotels open for trade in Wilcannia.   No alcohol is sold in the town.

This was the site of Knox and Downs, a department store, which was burnt down in 2002.   The front wall of the old sandstone building is incorporated into a new building being built behind it.   This will be the new Aboriginal Cultural Centre.    Most impressive.

The London Chartered Bank built in 1887.   Upstairs was the bank manager's residence with good views of the town from upstairs.   The building has been beautifully restored.

I think this was once a Cathedral, with a convent behind it. The convent housed the Sisters of Mercy for many years.

The back of the cathedral has crumbled down.  Hopefully this magnificent building will be restored in the near future.  There is a relatively new Catholic Church next to it.

The new general store (white front) is open and doing a great trade.   The old store was covered in metal security screens when we were here in 2022, with only a door open.   We did a little bit of shopping there, and found the prices to be very high.   How do people manage to pay for vital groceries in this town?

The Anglican Church, with people working on it, on the Saturday morning we drove past.

Another hotel, up for sale, and currently used as a B & B plus art gallery.

The old courtrooms,

and police complex (1881).   Both buildings have been well looked after.

This was the Rich & Co Emporium where held most of the goods that were unloaded from the river boats.  It currently holds a number of the sculls that were used on the river.    Wilcannia had a large rowing club and races on the river where very popular.

There is also a beautiful park between the main street and the river.   Sadly I forgot to take a photograph of it.    

And for those people travelling on the Barrier Highway, Wilcannia is a great place to stop, and unwind, either as a lunch break or an overnight stop in the council camping ground.