Tibooburra (Marilyn)

It was early 2011. My friend Rhian had won a competition on behalf of our book club: A copy each of a newly-released book and a visit to our group by the author.  I did some research into the author, Julietta Jameson.  She had grown up in a neighbouring suburb to me, went to the school my son now goes to and had written a number of books.  One of them was set in Olinda, close to where I now live.  Another one, entitled “Tibooburra” intrigued me.  It chronicled three months of her life that she spent living in a very remote part of NSW.  We were two months away from setting off on our own trek through the outback and we would be passing through this tiny town.

Our trip was delayed by 12 months due to my health, but on July 4 2012 we finally set off.  We travelled through Mildura and onto Broken Hill.  Next stop Tibooburra.  We had done much planning for our trip, but the one thing we hadn’t factored in was the weather.  Tibooburra is known as the hottest and driest town in NSW.  On the day we wanted to go there the road was closed due to rain.

It looked like my fascination with “Tib” would lead to nothing.  Alternate “safe” routes were being discussed, staying put (in Broken Hill) was also mentioned.  Fortunately for me, the “adventurous” spirit of my family kicked in and we decided to drive as far north as we could and wait out the road closures closer to our destination.

The gods of adventure, whoever they are, were on my side, we made it through to Tibooburra without incident.  We set up camp in Dead Horse Gully and this morning did a walk through the main street. Many of the shops mentioned in Julietta’s book are still here.  We had a drink at the Family Hotel and ate lunch in the Corner Country Store.  We walked past the Primary School, Drive-In and the Two Storey Hotel.  Some things have changed. The Family Hotel has new owners and the house with aboriginal artwork mosaic is now empty.  And old Alf has died.

We are currently stranded in Tibooburra as more overnight rain has closed all roads.  Even so my stay will be short, nothing like Julietta’s three months, or the lifetimes spent here by the locals.  I am very thankful that the gods of adventure were kind and that I was able to experience the desolate, remote, vast and beautiful Tibooburra for myself.