This is only half what remains of the original shearing shed, about 100 km south-east of Broken Hill, where the 6 millionth sheep was shorn in 1967. This was when the Kinchega section of the the Kinchega/Kars pastoral lease held by the Hughes family since 1870, was dedicated as Kinchega National Park.
National Parks and Wildlife Service visitors guide informs "at its grandest, the property extended from Menindee to Broken Hill and covered an area of over 800,000 hectares".
Blue-Bonnet |
Signage reads in part: Wool production soared during the good times. But west Darling graziers soon learned that this landscape could not run the huge numbers of sheep they had at first thought possible. The combination of drought, intensive pastoralism and devastating rabbit plagues slowly undermined the viability of grazing across western NSW.
A devastating drought in the late 1900's combined with the collapse of the Australian economy, spelt disaster for the pastoralists and the towns servicing the stations. Between 1894 and 1899, the number of sheep shorn in the Broken Hill district plummeted from 136,000 to 31,000.
The iconic Southern Cross windmill
Sharing with Scenic Sunday
a way of life synonymous w/ how many of us think of 'old australia' - thanks to the movies, at least.
ReplyDeleteInteresting scenery!
ReplyDeleteJan
Wonderful looking country, I love it. The map was very interesting to me although I still do not have an idea of the distances involved but it appears its no simple thing to hop in a car and drive from east to west N.S.W. We're talking a bit of time here? Where is Lake Macquarie in relation to everthing on the map?
ReplyDeleteJohn: the distance about 1150 km, and travel time from Sydney (east coast) to Broken Hill is 13 hours. Wish it weren’t so far; I’d love to explore some more, walking around the national parks and billabongs. Lake Macquarie is 150 kms north of Sydney.
ReplyDeleteI love that structure! It blends in nicely with the landscape. The wooden posts are nice. It very much fits with what I think of when I think "Outback".
ReplyDeleteLovely post and it is wonderful that this place was dedicated as a national park. Wonderful photos and a pretty bird. Thanks for sharing, hope your Sunday is a great one.
ReplyDeleteGreat series and tour of an old sheep station. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
ReplyDeleteThat is a big shearing shed. Beautiful photos.
ReplyDelete