"Queen City of the West" Wilcannia by M0B1US

Wilcannia was founded in 1864 and at the end of the nineteenth century and was a major port on the Darling River, from where produce was transported by paddle steamers and barges down the Darling -Murray river system to Adelaide.

Once the third largest inland port in Australia, sandstone was quarried during the boom years of the 1880's and there are a number of beautiful buildings still remaining as a reminder of that era.

Sadly, the image of Wilcannia that most travellers along the Barrier Highway have is of a town with a lot of Aborigines standing around in the main street looking very suspicious and intimidating.

Whilst I don't wish to propagate these observations, I can say that literature in the Lonely Planet and conversations with friends had also painted a foreboding picture Wilcannia, which didn't seem to be helped any when we visited.

Apparently this image is 'Unfair and inaccurate. Sadly very few travellers get out of their cars, have a look around this historic town and talk to the local Aborigines, who are, almost without exception, very friendly and only too happy to talk about this delightful township on the banks of the Darling River. After all many of them are Barkindji people who have been living in this region for 40,000 years.'

What I did see during a school day whilst we filled up at the fortified petrol station whilst an ambulance and police car were parked outside the local pub, was a town where many of the streets had small gangs of aboriginal children wandering around. What discipline I saw was in the form of harsh swear words...

In a way, our hands were tied as we were short of time for getting to White Cliffs and so we settled for a quick drive-by tour of some of the heritage sites - so we played it safe and avoided any encounters, which is very sad as I do feel that I did allow prejudices to cloud my judgement in finding out for myself.

This is not an attack on Aboriginals, as only the most racist bigot can claim that they haven't been treated with anything other than the most barbaric and malicious cruelty since Europeans arrived in Australia.

In a way it's like the Native American reservations I saw, with their culture shattered it is almost as if they have lost the will to live, turning to the western vices of alcoholism and gambling in a downward spiral of self-destruction. Unfortunately as Westerners, the only aborigines we usually see are these unfortunate wrecks.

Aborigines that are allowed to retain their culture on traditional tribal lands are far less likely to suffer these problems, however those are the ones that we rarely see...

That's my 2 cents for what it's worth...:-(

Old Wilcannia Post Office

If you're feeling bold, there are a number of impressive sandstone buildings you can visit, including the Athenaeum Library (1883), which is now the town's Pioneer Museum.

There is also a tourist office, on 21 Reid St and an Arts and Crafts centre on the same road.

A Swarm of Galahs

You're only really going to be able to get out here by car.

Sadly, once you're here, I also recommend that you do as much of your sightseeing as possible from the safety of your car as the town seems very intimidating and it is therefore better to err on the side of caution whether those fears are grounded or not.

Wilcannia is #1 out of my four 'NSW Outback' pages.

To gain a greater understanding of the region, you should read my other Outback pages...

#2: White Cliffs - The nearest thing Australia has to a Martian Colony.

#3: Broken Hill - Art, Mining, Flying Doctors - it has it all!

#4: Silverton - Mad Max meets Priscilla Queen of the desert in this ghost town.

• Pros:Steeped in Outback History
• Cons:Rampant alcoholism, truancy and sporadic violence
• In a nutshell:Tread carefully, but please don't just keep on driving without having a look around!