Brewarrina

Brewarrina is a small town with a population 1,651 in 2016 in Northwestern New South Wales. It is known for possibly having the oldest human construction anywhere in the world, with the fish traps being ten times older than Stonehenge, and suits travellers interested in a quieter, lesser known destination, rich in the 65,000 years of Aboriginal history of a sunburnt country.

History
The town is located amid the traditional lands of the Muruwari, Ngemba, Weilwan and Yualwarri peoples. Brewarrina has a long Indigenous Australian history and was once the meeting ground for over 5,000 people.

The first European settlers arrived in the district around 1839–40. The first people to own land where the town now stands were the Lawson brothers, who had two holdings - one called "Walcha" and another called "Moona". The town was first known as "Walcha Hut" but this later changed to "Brewarrina".

In 1859, somewhere between 300 and 400 Aboriginal people were massacred by white settlers in an event known as the Hospital Creek Massacre, recollections of which vary. A memorial was erected by the local Aboriginal Land Council near the site of the massacre.

In 1859 a riverboat called Gemini, skippered by William Randell, reached the town. This opened the possibility of developing the town as a port, and by the early 1860s Brewarrina was recognised as the furthest navigable point on the Darling River. Brewarrina became a port for shipping wool to Adelaide via the Darling and Murray rivers. The town was formally surveyed and laid out in 1861 and proclaimed on 28 April 1863.

The paddle steamer Wandering Jew of 66 tonnes, 22 × 4.4 × 1.5 m, was built in 1866 and registered at Sydney. On 15 December 1914, Wandering Jew was lost due to a fire on Barwon River. "The Wandering Jew represents an earlier maritime era and provides a direct link to the riverine heritage of Brewarrina. Its colourful history and repeated damage by fire is evocative of the dramas associated with riverboat travel".

The 1870s were something of a boom time for Brewarrina. The courthouse was built in 1871. The Telegraph reached town in 1873. The Mechanics Institute formed in 1873. The following year two hotels, two stores and the Commercial Bank all opened, and in 1875 the Parish of Brewarrina was formed and public school was opened. All this development was largely due to Cobb and Co, which had a number of coach services passing through the town. There was a service from Byrock, one from Dubbo via Warren and, in 1874, a direct service from Brewarrina to Enngonia, north of Bourke. The number of people moving through the town at this time would have been considerable and would have given rise to the increase in stores and hotels. The Barwon Bridge opened in 1888, the previous method of crossing the Barwon River was by punt and pontoon. The impetus for Brewarrina bridge, was to capture the New South Wales wool trade from the river paddle steamers and direct it away from Melbourne and Adelaide to Sydney. It is a rare bridge because it, and the lift bridge at North Bourke, are the only surviving examples of the first series of lift bridges in New South Wales. The bridge has been assessed as being of state significance and is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register.

In 1901 the Brewarrina railway line opened to Brewarrina from Byrock, on the Nyngan to Bourke line. The Brewarrina Line closed in 1974, and the wood-framed Brewarrina Station burned to the ground in 1980. The local telephone exchange was established in 1913. The town was surveyed in 1920. Brewarrina was used as a location for the Australian silent film Moora Neya, or The Message of the Spear (1911).

The Brewarrina Ngemba Billabong has a strong cultural history. From 1876 to 1967 the Ngemba Billabong was the Brewarrina Aboriginal Mission for local Aboriginal people whose land was taken for grazing. The entire 261 hectare property is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register. The Brewarrina Aboriginal Mission was the oldest institutional-type community in the state, it ran until 1965. Brewarrina Mission was the first institution formally established by the Aborigines Protection Board as part of its policy to segregate Aboriginal people.

In August 1987 Brewarrina erupted into a riot that was triggered by the death in police custody of Lloyd James Boney. This coincided with 10 August 1987 when the Prime Minister Bob Hawke announced a Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

Climate
Brewarrina has the typical hot semi-arid climate of north-western New South Wales, with hot summers frequently over 40 °C, cool winters and generally dry all year round. Brewarrina's highest recorded temperature was 48.9 °C, whilst its coldest was −4.1 °C and the average annual rainfall is 412.2 mm.

Get in
The only way you can get in to Brewarrina is by car. From Brisbane, take the M1 down, and exit at B76, and continue following it for about 900km. You could also use the M2, A2, A39 and B76 from Brisbane which is a lot shorter in distance; but more winding.

From Sydney, you'd go the way you'd normally go to Dubbo, but then keep following A32 until Nyngan. Instead of continuing on A32, instead go straight onto B71 until Coolabah. From Coolabah, follow Arthur Hall VC Way, until Brewarrina.

However, it isn't too far from nearby Bourke:

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.

But from here, you'll need to drive.

Get around
The town is pretty small; enough that you can basically walk throughout the town. It's mostly flat, but it can get quite hot in the summer. Taking the car out might not be ideal, since Brewarrina is quite an old town, and that means the streets are quite narrow. It's best to come to Brewarrina, and park your car, and only take it when you're going out of Brewarrina again.

See
Brewarrina is particularly known for its rich Indigenous Aboriginal heritage. It's also famous for having the world's oldest human construction, anywhere in the world (most think this is ten times older than Stonehenge but the actual date is still unknown). While Brewarrina is often quite underrated for its rich Aboriginal heritage, that doesn't mean that it's not a tourist spot at all, but in fact, Brewarrina is quite popular with frequent outbackers, and it's a beauty in its own right.



Buy
Many will wonder, what's actually unique to buy in a small tiny rural town with only a mere couple of thousand people. And the answer is quite different than you think. Since this town is rich in Aboriginal culture, there's a lot of authentic Aboriginal items you can probably not easily buy in big and major cities, or even major region cities like Dubbo or Wagga.

Eat
Isolation and the general smallness of most rural towns hinder them from having abundant eating options. Brewarrina can get you lost in time though.

Drink
There are only two pubs in Brewarrina, and the RSL also has some alcoholic drinks as well.

Mobile coverage
Telstra has full strong 4G and 3G coverage in Brewarrina, with an approximate 20km radius out of Brewarrina. Optus and Vodafone have no coverage at all and thus, if you're using Optus or Vodafone, bring a satellite phone with you.

Internet
There's free Wi-Fi in the visitor centre.

Go next

 * Goodooga should be your next choice
 * Bourke is a famous outback town, situated on the Darling River a few kilometres west
 * Lightning Ridge is quite famous not only for mining, but for its quite unusual name