Wentworth, meeting place of great rivers ...

The town and its rivers...

Wentworth NSW (pop: 1300) holds a unique and historically significant position at the confluence of Australia`s two longest and most iconic rivers: the Murray and the Darling, whose basin covers one million square kilometers of the Australian mainland, and about 80% of NSW, almost everything west of the Great Dividing Range. This location is the very reason for the town`s existence and past prosperity, making it a key hub in the history of inland Australia. During the late 19th century, Wentworth was Australia`s busiest inland port. Paddle steamers navigated the vast river system, bringing essential supplies to remote pastoral stations and transporting wool and other agricultural products from the outback to markets in South Australia and Victoria. The rivers were the lifeblood of the region, and Wentworth was at the heart of it all. Today the era of paddle steamers is gone but the rivers remain central to Wentworth`s identity, supporting local agriculture and recreation like house boating and fishing, and serving as a constant reminder of the town`s vital role in Australia`s pioneering past. The town has been flooded many times, the worst being in 1956, when both rivers flooded together. The confluence of the Murray and Darling is more than just a geographical feature; it is the soul of this town, named in 1859, of course after William Charles Wentworth. Wentworth`s explorations covered the Blue Mountains and he did acquire large pastoral by squatting (paying only token £10 fees!) holdings in south-western NSW but, it seems, he never came quite this far west. We visited the town primarily to see the confluence of the rivers.

Since that paddle steamer era, water levels have dropped significantly, and the rivers are not consistently navigable. Sometime the Darling is reduced to nothing more than a series of muddy waterholes. The reasons for the dropped levels are irrigation and water management infrastructure, dams, weirs and locks, and more recently, climate change and drought.

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One of the finest buildings in Wentworth is the 1879 jail, of course. It became a school building in 1935, now a museum. The weird `gaol` spelling comes from 13th Century Norman French. [4882]

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Great Cormorant skimming the Darling River waters. [4869]

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Taken from Curlwaa NSW, this bridge crosses to Murray to Yelta Victoria. [4821]

The meeting of the two waterways, the Murray and the Darling, creates a striking visual contrast, especially when the Darling River is in flow. The Darling`s waters, often a milky, muddy brown due to the clay in its catchment, meet the clearer, blue-green flow of the Murray. The contrast was manifest during our visit, with faint eddies apparent between the two flows.

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Seen from Wentworth, the muddy Darling River merges into the clearer Murray. [0039]

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A casual approach to boating is evident here at the very end of the Darling River at Wentworth. [4824]

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Toad of Toad Hall liked `mucking around in boats`, and here you can see why. [4842]

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With a glimpse of Wentworth on the right (plus what looks like a new subdivision), the Murray, left meets the Darling, right and proceeds to the Lock & Weir #10 downstream. [0013]

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Aerial view showing the confluence viewing point and the mixing of muddy and clear rivers. [0001]

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The clear colour distinction and the turbulent eddies at the boundary seems to prrove that the Darling RIver is actually in flow into the Murray, no matter how still it seems. [0009]

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At Wentworth the muddy Darling meets the much clearer Murray, as these two great Australian rivers finally join. [0038]

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Leaving just a narrow pinch between them, the Murray and Darling Rivers come very close together just upstream of their confluence. [0025]

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Disinterested in the birds before him, this young fisherman is focussed on getting dinner. [4876]

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Wentworth thus recognises the role that humble Ferguson Tractors played in the building of levees to save the town from the 1956 floods. [0010]

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Looking from the Victorian side, the Murray River passes Lock & Weir #10. [0011]

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Part of the gigantic Murray-Darling Basin water management system, Lock & Weir #10 at Wentworth, enjoyed by pelicans. [4879]

Abundant Birdlife...

We didn`t go to Wentworth for the wildlife, but we found the intersection of the two rivers one of the best places to see and photograph birds. Luckily we had the long lens on board. The birds were not exotic species, although we did find one which didn`t belong there, and may have been an escaped pet, but they were plentiful, active and cooperative! We suppose the riverine woodlands, floodplains and wetlands combine to produce this abundance. Birds we (think we) identified and managed to photograph were the Australian Pelican (of course, they are everywhere!), egrets, cormorants and the Australian Darter.

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Showing an impressive wingspan, a pelican on final landing approach. [4827]

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Keeping an eye out, an Australian Darter dries his wings on the banks of the Darling. [4829]

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These look like Darters but they don`t flock much, so (AI tells us) these are more likley to be Great Cormorants, flying over the Darling River at Wentworth. [4835]

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Flapping hard to take off with wet wings, this is a Great Cormorant. [4836]

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This pelican and great cormorant appear to be competing for the same landing strip on the Darling River. [4838]

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Australian Darter flapping hard to take off with wet wings after a fishing dive. [4844]

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Rather a good match for his background, this Green Rosella surveys the scene overlooking the Darling River. Trouble is, he only belongs in Tasmania and nearby. ChatGPT thinks it might be an escaped pet or some hybrid. [4858]

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Pelicans seem to use their feet as brakes when they put their landing gear into the water. [4862]

The Perry Sandhills...

The Perry Sandhills are located in Barkandji country, 6km west of Wentworth, adjacent to the Wentworth Airport. The name Perry is after George Murray Perry, the first Land Commissioner in the area. The sandhills cover an area of approximately 160 hectares (400 acres), and have been formed over the past 40-50 thousand years by wind erosion, from the days when the two rivers were much deeper and faster, and were sandier rather than clayier. Fossils of megafauna have been found here. The sandhills are still continually shifting due to the wind. As the sands move, evidence is periodically uncovered of prehistoric animals and Aboriginal use of the sandhills area. Given this significance, we are a little surprised that the hills are not better protected, but it is touted as a `FREE adventure park offering a great deal of fun for young and old alike!`. Each year, the sandhills are used for Music Under The Stars, part of the Mildura Wentworth Arts Festival which features famous artists. They have been the location for scenes in movies, TV shows, music videos and commercials. During World War II, the sandhills were used as a bombing range. Hoping they had cleaned up any UXBs, we visited the sandhills, showing due respect. It was on a fine day, and there were less than half a dozen other people there, just walking around as we did, or tobogganing down the steeper sand slopes.

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The Perry Sandills, formed by wind erosion, can be seen to be proud of the surrounding flatlands. [4884]

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Brush and tracks evident of this view of the Perry Sandhills. [4889]

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The Perry Sandhills as seen from under a shady tree. [4894]

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Sure signs of toboggans being dragged into the Perry Sandhills. [4897]

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Someone else`s photo of the Music Under The Stars concert with a blazing sunset/ [4899]

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This River Red Gum Tree, hundreds of years old, is known as the `God Tree`. Sand had covered its trunk, but seems to have been dug out. [4902]

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From one edge to the other, it can be seen that the Perry Sandhills are not so big. [0044]

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Pne view of the Perry Sandhills with the God Tree at top left. [0004]

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The carpark at Perry Sandhills betray no many visitors right now. [0052]