Bourke

Bourke is a town in Northwestern New South Wales, about 140 km south of the Queensland border. It has a population of 1,699 (2021). This article also covers North Bourke, a smaller settlement a few kilometres to the north.

Understand
Back of Bourke is Australian slang for the middle of nowhere. If you head north west from Sydney you'll have no difficulty understanding the origins of the slang. However, Bourke is a service town for a large surrounding area.

Historically, Bourke is another remnant of the grand vision the Australian European pioneers had for opening up the inland of Australia. Bourke was even (briefly) an inland port on the Murray Darling, as steamer companies set up business along the Murray, shipping agricultural produce down to Adelaide. The steamer companies soon lost money because of snags, water levels, and the general lack of suitability of the Darling as an inland waterway for shipping. You can still see the wharf in Bourke.

Get in
Airlink fly to Bourke from Dubbo. Flights to Dubbo are available from Sydney and some other regional locations.

NSW TrainLink have a daily train service to Dubbo from Sydney connecting with a bus service to Bourke. The trip will take a full day's travel.

Get around
You can hire a car in Bourke, but none of the majors operate here.

See
Bourke is situated on the Darling River.



Go next

 * Hungerford and Currawinya National Park.
 * Brewarrina is only a few minutes east, home to the world's oldest human construction.