While the floodwaters are finally receding in Outback New South Wales, tourist numbers most certainly are not.
The small regional town of Menindee, near Broken Hill, is a perfect example. The area has long been popular with grey nomads for its authentic Outback character and exceptional fishing.
The fact that Lakes Menindee and Cawndilla were filled with water from the Queensland floods for the first time in a decade only added to the allure. Now, it seems, we can’t get enough of the sort of experience on offer … water or no water.
“Our numbers have been higher, even before the water came … we were enjoying huge visitor numbers when there was no water in the lake,” Regional Tourists Association President Karen Page told the ABC. “Now we are getting a lot of people returning to experience it full … they’re telling us they simply had to come back to see what the lakes were like full.”
But the small Central Darling Shire town is enjoying a boom time thanks not only to the tourism trade but also to an influx of workers who have been busy improving the road and rail infrastructure.
Of course, the camping at the rest area near Lake Cawndilla, beside Emu Lake or along the river in Kinchega National Park really adds to the area’s appeal to grey nomads.
