Following Burke & Wills

Travelling in the footsteps of Burke and Wills

By Mary Bremner

With international travel only existing in our dreams and state borders closed for much of the year, many of us have satisfied our wanderlust within our own state.

As travel Plan A, became Plans B and C, the Silo Art Trail was popular, and towns such as Bright and Beechworth have been heavily booked. As for my husband and me, our Plan A was a camping trip to south-west Queensland. Destination – the Burke and Wills Dig Tree. A visit to this location has been on my travel bucket list ever since I learned the story of this ill-fated expedition as a child. It was impossible not to be moved at the utter despair that must have been felt by the party of three explorers, who stumbled into the depot camp on the banks of Coopers Creek to find no one there and the coals of the fire still warm. The support party had waited over four months, but gave up hope on the lives of their fellow explorers and departed for home only nine hours before.

Burke, Wills and King were three survivors of the party of four that had set out for the Gulf of Carpentaria, thus

Burke & Wills ‘Dig Tree’ explanatory board at Mt Hope achieving the purpose of the expedition – to cross Australia from south to north. They found the word ‘DIG’ carved into a tree and unearthed some basic supplies buried at its base. Burke and Wills later died in the desert, while King survived, thanks to sustenance supplied by the local indigenous people. It is still possible to see the tree and its famous blaze, and to camp near the location of these dramatic events. Our journey was supposed to take us into New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland – a route that became impossible under COVID-induced border closures. Not to be deterred, we decided to stick with the Burke and Wills theme, and follow their journey from Melbourne to the point where they crossed the Murray River. A guide book provided us with maps for the roads that most closely follow the explorers’ actual route. It also contained background information with excerpts from their diaries. To complete the experience we listened, while driving, to an informative podcast about the expedition from the Explorers series.

The Victorian Exploration Expedition, consisting of 19 men, 23 horses, 26 camels and six heavily laden American wagons, left to great fanfare from Royal Park in Melbourne on 20August 1860. Robert O’Hara Burke had been selected to lead the party, notwithstanding his complete lack of exploration or outback experience. Their first camp was at Queens Park in Moonee Ponds and their second camp is now covered by a runway at Tullamarine Airport. With Melbourne out-of-bounds, we picked up the trail on the Lancefield road, near Sunbury, close to the site of Camp 3. The cold and showery weather resembled that experienced by the expeditioners. From the comfort of our Ford Ranger, we had pity for the men and their animals – the overloaded wagons soon became bogged, while the camels, purchased at huge expense for their abilities in the desert, struggled to walk on the muddy ground. The ‘officers’ on the expedition took full advantage of hospitality offered at station homesteads and available hotel accommodation along the route.

The remainder of the party camped in rain-soaked tents. We enjoyed the comfort of our well-appointed caravan, settled into parks at strategic points along the route. Our maps showed all the significant locations, including buildings from the era still standing and the many signs and memorials scattered along the way.

Keen to bask in some of the reflected glory of the expedition, the major towns in proximity to their route erected impressive monuments. A granite obelisk in Castlemaine, where Burke had been stationed as a police officer, commands a fine view of the town. The good citizens of Bendigo contributed a shilling each towards a monument in the form of a Grecian column, located in the cemetery. More recently, the 150th anniversary of the expedition prompted local shires to erect explanatory signs at the location of the overnight camps.

Our travel theme led us off the main roads and into some experiences that we could normally have bypassed. This did include testing out the fourwheel drive capacities of our vehicle on some ‘dry weather only’ roads – there was no shirking a bit of mud for these modern-day explorers.

We were fortunate to have our own experience of the hospitality of strangers in the form of a warm welcome at the Burke and Wills winery. Attracted by the winery’s name, we were invited in, not only for a wine tasting, but seated at the kitchen table for a delicious lunch which included borsch (beetroot soup) made by our hosts’ friend and neighbour, Peter Russell-Clarke.

It would have been easy to drive past Terrick Terrick National Park, to the north of Bendigo, but the party’s Camp 11 was nearby. Like Burke, we wanted to climb to the top of Mount Terrick to take in the view of the surrounding plains. A delightful camping ground, hidden within the woodlands and native grasslands, attracts bird watchers from far and wide.

The explorers came to rest at Swan Hill and so did we – due to Victoria’s lockdown number 6. They made Camp 15 on the banks of the Murray River –we camped nearby at the Big 4 Riverside Caravan Park. There could have been worse places to be locked down. Within our five kilometre range, we visited the local points of interest, including the ancient Moreton Bay fig, supposedly planted by Burke at the doctor’s residence, where he had resided during the party’s week-long sojourn in the town.

The red and blue flashing lights of police cars stationed at the bridge brought a halt to our time with Burke and Wills. As for the Dig Tree – that will be an adventure for another time.

The modern day explorers relaxed by the Murray River. Mary Bremner summits Mt Terrick. A 160-year-old fig tree in Swan Hill, said to be planted by Robert Burke.

References: The Dig Tree – the story of Burke and Wills, Sarah Murgatroyd, Text Publishing 2002 Burke and Wills Across Australia – a touring guide, David Phoenix, CSIRO Publishing 2015 The Explorers Podcast – The Burke and Wills Expedition, June 2020