Peter and Vicki's Travel Blog: We went to Wentworth

Another glorious day and our adventure today was another foray into NSW. We headed across the George Chaffey Bridge and zipped up the Silver City Highway (goes to Broken Hill) through Dareton and Curlwaa - established in 1890 as the first Government irrigation town in NSW - and then on to Wentworth.

Wentworth holds the honour of being the town where the Mighty Murray and the Darling, our two longest rivers, merge. Also, sitting in the south-west corner of NSW, it is the most distant town in the state from Sydney.

Wentworth was once bustling with river trade as Australia's busiest port in the late 1880's. Being uniquely located at the confluence of the two greatest rivers in Australia it is understandable it was one of the busiest ports in river-boat history and as such, because of the major role in trade and transport, Wentworth was short listed as a site for the new nations capital! Love these little snippets of information!

It's a lot more peaceful today with the paddleboats replaced by houseboats and other leisure craft. What is lovely about this quiet, peaceful river town is that it has retained its Colonial charm. After exploring this charming, historic little town and its surrounds, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the popular Services Club, overlooking the Darling River.

A stroll around historic Wentworth and her lovely surrounds................enjoyed her story and her interesting tales and characters.................

Darling Street,the main street of Wentworth

Police Station

The Court House, opened in 1880, is a National Trust building

Rebuilt in 1899 its unusual architectural features for the area make it one of the most prominent structures in Wentworth.

The Royal Hotel was built by Felgate in 1866 and was immediately classed as the best hotel in the district.

A bit of intrigue! - the hotel is believed to have a series of underground rooms and tunnels that went down to the river bank in order to smuggle goods into Wentworth so that duty taxes didn't have to be paid at the Customs house.

Artback Australian Gallery and cafe, originally the River Murray Trading Company,1879

Customs House, 1884 is now a private residence

The Wentworth Wharf, built 1879 using local timber, was a major landmark of the town at the height of the river boat trade. Outside of Sydney and Newcastle it was the third busiest port in NSW. During one week a record 31 steamers were docked at the wharf. The original wharf was deteriorated and was demolished in 1983. This similar replica stands in its place.

The Darling River

The Darling and the towns it meanders through to join the Murray at Wentworth

Found this gentleman sitting on the wharf

Rendelsham House
Built 1882 by William Gunn the first Mayor of Wentworth.

The Captain Sturt Hotel
Originally the Commercial Hotel built in 1886 by John Leary. It was renamed in 1925

The Tractor Monument

The first tractor monument in the world was established by the people of Wentworth in honour of the TEA20 Massey Ferguson tractors' part in the building of the massive levee banks that protected Wentworth in the devastating 1956 floods. The cairn of stones is set at the height of water that would have inundated the town had not the clay levee banks been put in place.
"By God and by Fergie we beat the Flood!

"Fergie" on a pedestal in Fotherby Park

One of the beautiful tree lined streets - love that we are seeing it in autumn!

An interestingly landscaped garden

The old Wentworth Gaol, built in 1879-1881and designed by colonial architect James Barnett, was the first Australian designed gaols (Hay and Dubbo gaols followed this one).
I think I have a strange sense of humour - when the old gaol closed it was used as extra classrooms for the Wentworth Central School until 1963. "Bye, I'm off to gaol." lol

St John the Evangelist Anglican Church

The Anglican clergy were the first to visit Wentworth District, services being held in the dining room of the now demolished Wentworth Hotel. The parish of Wentworth was formed in 1871 and reverend William Cocks organised the building of the church. It is the first church erected on the banks of the Darling River and is heritage listed by the National Trust.

Beside the 1881 classroom at the Wentworth Public School is the students' thriving vegetable plot - they were all out there busily working and loving it!

Perry Sand Hills

Someone else has been walking here - these aren't our tracks!

According to geologists the Perry Sand hills originated in the Ice Age (40,000 years ago) and are formed by wind erosion over thousands of years. Skeletal remains of giant mega-fauna (kangaroos,lions,emus, wombats and goanna) have been found here.
The sand hills were used as a bombing range during WWII. Today the sand hills are used as a backdrop in many films, TV shows and ads, as well as for fun - sliding down them!

Hmm?? Who's been walking on my sand!?
Mega-fauna???
Wonder what they'll think about my fossilised K-Swiss footprint!!??

Another set of different tracks!

P S Ruby is in the process of being restored
Built at Morgan,SA in 1907 she transported passengers and cargo between Echuca, Mildura, Wentworth and Goolwa.

River art!

The Confluence of the two great rivers was were Wentworth's story began when captain Charles Sturt arrived here in 1830, naming the Murray River here after recognising the end of the Darling. James McLeod and a Mr Bates made camp here around 1840 after explorers such as Thomas Mitchell, in 1836, and overlanders, Joseph Hawdon and Charles Bonney, in 1838 opened the way by using the junction as a "crossing" for cattle and sheep, to begin the "Sydney/Adelaide Highway".

Wentworth grew in strength and prosperity during the Riverboat era because of its position at the confluence of Australia's two greatest rivers and the commencement of the grazing industry.

The Murray and Darling river system is the fourth largest river catchment in the world - Wentworth is the confluence of all rivers west of the Great Dividing Range.

The confluence (junction) with the Junction Sand Spit in the middle

The beautiful Red River Gums in Junction Park - the sentinels of the river!

Picnic in Junction Park - follow those "people eaters"!!

Caught up with you! Can we join you?

The Common.
This entire area, bounded by the Murray and Thegoa Lagoon was once a common. The common was used by town-folk as an area to run their animals on. They paid the town council an annual fee for pasturing their stock.

We are standing at Lock 10 near the river's junction (You are here). The Junction Sand Spit between the rivers before they join can also be seen on this map. The Murray is in dark blue.

The man called "Possum" - a great story!

A life size statue of a man known as "Possum", who when disgruntled by life during the "Great depression" took to living off the land in and around Wentworth. He slept in trees (thus the name), walked many miles,swam the rivers, living the life of a hermit and avoided human contact for some 50 years before his death at the age of 81 years. A proud man, "Possum" worked for the graziers in exchange for food and clothing, although he would always wait until the folk had left for town before he began his work. He was known to upset some of the property owners when he let the dogs loose because he felt sorry for them. :)

On display in Fotherby Park

Wentworth's first Court House
Wentworth's first Police Sergeant resided in the house in 1860 and it was used as the Court House pending construction of the present Court House in Darling Street1879

Junction Island is a shoal of land between the Darling and the Murray.
At the end of the shoal the rivers converge.

The Junction Sandbar is where a large number of Aborigines, armed with spears and weapons, threatened Captain Sturt in 1830 as he sailed down the Murray on his expedition, and here he had arrived at the confluence of the Darling and Murray Rivers. Four Aboriginals who had befriended Sturt's party on their journey and followed them on foot along the river were the ones that intervened and negotiated on Sturt's behalf and therefore the "intruders" presence was accepted. Sturt named the Murray on that day, at the point where the two rivers converged. Since the construction of Lock 10, resulting in the increased height of the river, the clay bank described by Sturt has seldom been visible since the 1930's. Flora, fauna, wildlife and birdlife abound on this island reserve.