Bourke 2011

As an aside, occasionally I travel by accident.

One day in July, a friend rang one Friday from Bourke - her car was broken into to be stolen, but the thieves were unlucky (it had an immobiliser - no key, no start) and so was she. It was undrivable. She had to be back in Melbourne on Tuesday, so never one to be backward I went up on the Sunday and drove her back on the Monday. Bourke is about 1000 km from home, so it only took ten hours (quite a bit in NSW was 110 and I didn't have to stop for fuel).

A few weeks later I did the reverse, picking her up from her home and driving her up to Bourke. Again it was simply the day up, overnight, then back the next day.

Unfortunately it was soon found out the thieves had done a botchy job - the car was not economically repairable, so she couldn't drive it home. I was away, so she came back by public transport. After a lot of looking around, she ended up buying a new car in Werribee. It spent its first night under my carport, then I drove it up to Bourke (and ran it in). We stayed up for a weekend, then packed all her belongings in (they fitted!) and we took it in turns driving it back.

I had made the offhand comment that I enjoyed driving so much that I never had the cash to really indulge it enough, so she took me at my word and we both benefitted.

For anyone interested, the route was the Ring Road, Hume Freeway, Northern Highway, then the Kidman Way. Very interesting scenery and towns like Shepparton, Griffith, Hillside and Cobar broke the drive up. Take music because radio reception is discontinuous. A very enjoyable trip which could be expanded up to a week and varied by returning through Deniliquin and Echuca - then three weeks, a week each way and a week in and around Bourke - or shorter, as required, but three days minimum. Bourke does has a Maritime Courthouse!