The Outback New South Wales town of Menindee was famously a stopping place for explorers, Burke and Wills, on their ill-fated expedition … but that hasn’t stopped plenty of modern-day adventurers following in their footsteps.
As well as the fascinating history of this once busy trading hub, the settlement – located about 110 kilometres southeast of Broken Hill – is also famed for its incredible inland lake system. These lakes, filled by the Darling River, naturally attracted large Aboriginal populations and the first European exploring party, led by Major Thomas Mitchell in 1835, encountered significant local hostility.
Nonetheless, the first settlers, Tom Pain and his family, arrived in 1852 and quickly opened a hotel to provide services to travellers along the Darling River.
The sunsets are spectacular at the Menindee Lakes. PIC: Broken Hill Ciity Council
Although the original pub burned down in a fire in 1999, it is now open for business again and is the second-oldest still-operating hotel in NSW.
Burke and Wills visited the pub in 1860 before heading north to their doom. Just outside of town, a cairn marks the exact place where they camped beside Pamamaroo Creek.
Once it was discovered that the Darling River was navigable and could be used for trade, Menindee grew. By 1878, it reportedly had a school, four pubs, two good stores, a post office, a courthouse, and a police station. Ah Chung’s bakehouse was built around 1880 and is still standing in Menindee Street. Today, the town boasts a population of a little over 500.
The Menindee Visitor Information Centre has a mini museum containing a number of interesting artefacts from the town’s earlier days. Here, visitors can also pick up a copy of the Menindee Heritage Trail, a self-guided experience featuring 19 historical sites across the ‘first town on the Darling River’.
Certainly worth a visit are the ruins of the Old Kinchega Homestead, 15 kilometres or so southwest of town. There are interpretive signs here offering a clue to what was like back in the day, and the nearby cemetery is similarly fascinating. The Kinchega Homestead Billabong Walk starts here and wends its way through countryside ranging from open sand plains to river red gum forest and wetlands.
Just a few kilometres from the homestead is the Kinchega Woolshed, built in 1875 from corrugated iron. While the area boasts a fascinating human history, it really is the stunning lake system, full of dead trees and surrounded by sand and saltbush, which is its biggest drawcard.
The Menindee Lakes have been developed into a water storage location and, when full they reportedly hold three and half times as much water as Sydney Harbour. There are many vantage points around the lake system with views of the lakes, flooded gums, Outback scenery, and rich birdlife.
The lakes are, of course, also a popular spot for water pursuits including sailing and swimming, and fishers here relish the opportunity to try to land Murray cod, silver perch, catfish and European carp.
Much of the system is contained within Kinchega National Park, which has several scenic camping options. The 20,000-acre Nelia Gaari Station also offers camping, and fully serviced van park options nearby include the highly-regarded Copi Hollow Caravan Park.
