Create your own legend by touring the Darling River Run, the latest Touring By Car route from Tourism New South Wales. Starting from Wentworth in the south or Bourke in the north of the State, and incorporating a side trip west to Broken Hill, this historical driving route is a wonderful journey following one of Australia�s great rivers through outback New South Wales.

The Darling River Run is a unique route. A pioneering route. A literary route. A legendary route. A transportation route. A 4WD drive route. An outback route and more.

Retrace the steps of explorers Sturt, Mitchell, Dowling, Burke and Wills and discover pioneering history in the many historic towns and stories beaming from the area. The legends forged by explorers and cattlemen still reverberate in outback stations and along the stock routes of the region. Literary works were penned by Henry Lawson, Will Ogilvie and Breaker Morant, while vast pastoral kingdoms were created by legends Kidman, Tyson and McCaughey. Even many of the Light-horsemen of World War I were bred on these dusty plains.

Learn the importance of the River today to the area�s agriculture, horticulture and town life as it was once a major transportation route creating the river ports of Bourke, Wilcannia and the Wentworth to serve the burgeoning wool empires. At the same time, militant shearers wrestled with landowners, shaping the birth of unionism in the country.

Experience and photograph stunning scenery including red raw outback soils, shearer's sheds and classic outback stations around Trilby, Idalia and Kallara or the natural beauty of Gundabooka and Kinchega National Parks, featuring archaeological deposits and Aboriginal rock paintings. Enjoy a paddle-steamer ride or take a bird-watching and wetlands tour as you soak up the sunset, serenity and enormity on Menindee Lakes, an area some seven and a half times larger than Sydney Harbour. Why not have a yarn with all six locals at the very small town of Tilpa or enjoy hardy outback pub food and local hotel hospitality, including the Maiden Hotel at Menindee where Burke and Wills once stayed and the bush hotel at Tilpa.

Further south, Mungo National Park boasts one of the most significant anthropological and archaeological sites in the world and is the gateway to the Walls of China, the crescent shaped sand dunes. Nearby Wentworth features the junction of the mighty Murray and Darling Rivers and the spectacular geological treasure of the Perry Sandhills, where bones of mega fauna and evidence of human activity from ancient times have been found. With a side trip to the iconic silver city of Broken Hill, visit Thankakali (Indigenous experience) or Pro Hart galleries, take an underground mine tour or stop at nearby Silverton where �Priscilla Queen of the Desert� was filmed and have a refreshing drink at the famous Silverton Pub.

Today, the Darling River Run touring route is a combination car and 4WD route, with a mixture of sealed and unsealed roads, an element of the �frontier� and some rugged 4WD�ing, depending on river levels. Tourism New South Wales recommends that four wheel drive vehicles set off on The Darling River Run touring route.

For further information on the Darling River Run or to register for a free Touring By Car kit please call 13 20 77 or visit www.visitnsw.com.au

For media information only, please contact Gretta Lie on 02 9931 1498 or gretta.lie@tourism.nsw.gov.au.