'Bogan', a word used these days to describe a lewd lout or rebel ratbag, usually unkempt, always loud and invariably stupid. So why on earth would one find a NSW Shire and a quite major river bearing this less than flattering name? Well, as you may have guessed, the word had a very different meaning when the district was initially explored.
John Oxley was the first into this area in 1811. He was followed by Captain Charles Sturt, who, on crossing the river on 1 January 1829 actually named it New Years Creek, but for some obscure reason this name did not stick.
For reasons equally obscure, by the time the next famous early Australian explorer, Major Thomas Mitchell, made his way through this part of the country in 1835 the river was already known as 'The Bogan'. Nothing has changed since.
Mitchell's association with the area has a sad byline. One of his party, the renown botanist Richard Cunningham, had the habit of wandering off into the bush in search of new species. Unfortunately for him, on 17 April 1835 he did not return. It was later discovered he had been killed by local aborigines with whom he had made contact, allegedly after they became disturbed by his apparently erratic behaviour.
But what did 'Bogan' actually mean in those days I hear you shout.
Well, just to complicate the matter further....two things. It was an aboriginal word meaning 'birthplace of a notable headman' and also the Gaelic word for 'bog'.. So here we have it...... two entirely different meanings from two entirely different languages a complete world apart.......take your pick!
And I still have no idea who was responsible for naming the river which flows for just over 600 kms north-west across the Continent from its headwaters near Parkes to join the Darling River near Bourke.
Irrespective of the history of the river's naming, and the now entirely different and highly unflattering meaning of the word in the modern vernacular, the good folk of Nyngan have embraced it with verve as we discovered during our one brief jaunt around the town,
a gallop which we began by making our way out of our park and across the adjacent reserve to the road bridge across the river.
As we plodded towards the span, I was immediately taken by the sign facing approaching traffic.
Now that's something we'd never seen before (we didn't see any horses either!)
Just beyond the bridge we came across an artistic reminder of Nyngan's past and present.
Squatters followed Mitchell into the area and established numerous sheep runs. Wool remains a major industry in the Bogan Shire, together with cattle and cropping. The district is one of the most productive in NSW.
The town of Nyngan, named after the aboriginal word 'nyingan', meaning long pond of water, has a population of about 2,000 and is the main service hub of the district. Here the Mitchell and Barrier Highways meet. The Barrier, which we know only too well, extends west from Nyngan, through Cobar, Wilcannia and Broken Hill to end just south of Riverton in South Australia's mid north. The Mitchell, which begins life in Bathurst, takes travellers north through the country to its end near Augathella in Queensland. Interestingly, both are of almost identical length, just over 1,000 kms....and we have traversed most of them.
As we made our way in towards the main Nyngan CBD, I was again taken by a roadside sign.
The local vendors and purveyors of goods in Nyngan are not slow to encourage passing trade!
In no time at all we were on the final approach to the business district, which, given that it was now Good Friday, was all but deserted from a commercial perspective.
But not entirely.
The local 'fisho' certainly recognised an opportunity to cater to those who feel spiritually or otherwise bound to eschew meat on this Christian holy day.
It was now mid morning, and he was doing a roaring trade. The thought of a tasty prawn tempted temporarily, until I was reminded that our planned evening meal was already in the process of defrosting. My raw prawn for the day did not come from the Nyngan fish vendor!
Apart from the excellence of the rebuild, an explanatory sign nearby regales all and sundry with some 'fast facts' about the company which operated these coaches. I have to admit I learnt quite a deal about the scope of this impressive organisation which was so much more than one which merely presented challenges to Australian bushrangers!
And now ladies and gentlemen, the very sight for which you have been waiting so patiently, the statue which, if not elevating Nyngan to significant cultural heights, demonstrates that the town fathers have been quick to seize on a tourist opportunity even if it is potentially at the expense of the town's social reputation!
The Big Bogan stands proudly in its own patch of park on the main street of Nyngan, the epitome of what the word has now come to mean. It sports all the necessary attributes.....a 'mullet' haircut, a Southern Cross tattoo on the left upper arm, the obligatory garb of singlet, 'stubbie' shorts and thongs, and an esky close at hand. The only false note for me was the fact that our metal mate was raising his thumb, not a stubbie or a tinny.
Needless to say, the venture to capitalise on the modern usage of the Shire and district name and to encourage increased tourism by erecting this statue (in September 2015) did have its critics amongst the town's cultural elite. Our experience in the IGA supermarket late on Thursday afternoon would suggest that the presence of the statue may just be a case of 'be careful what you wish for' but that could well be viewed as an unkind observation!
It would probably be equally unreasonable to make anything of the fact that the town's most impressive pub, the Overlander Hotel, is within spitting distance of the statue.....let's move on!
Further into the relatively small main business hub,
four impressively tall palms (what was it with our forebears which compelled them to plant palms in the Australian bush?) mark the entrance to Davidson Park, complete with rotunda and public picnic areas.
And then we came to what was, for us, the most interesting section of the street, where the imposing building which began life as the Nyngan railway station now houses the town museum.
And, as you can see, the forecourt is dominated by a decommissioned Iroquois helicopter, that enduring symbol of the Vietnam conflict, the flying warhorse which took so many fit, young (and often outrageously conscripted) Australians into battle and sadly brought so many out again.....broken and bloodied......or worse.
For many Nyngan residents, this iconic chopper played an equally critical role in their lives. The story unfolds on this nearby series of plaques, the first of which details the flood crisis of 1990 when the decision was taken to airlift the entire population of the town to safety once the levee walls were breached and the town was totally inundated. This in itself was a marvellously managed exercise, when the military aircraft were supplemented by helicopters from various media organisations and others in private use.
As you can read, RAAF Iroquois A2-1022 was later presented to the town to commemorate the role played by these helicopters in the evacuation.
But this is only the beginning.....for the next nineteen years A2-1022 stood as a symbol of the flood and its immediate aftermath. What no-one had realised during this time was that this aircraft had been one of several flown by members of RAAF 9 Squadron during the Vietnam War, but more significantly, it had been this very helicopter and her sister ship, A2-1020, which had been flown to resupply the troops of D Coy, 6 RAR with ammunition at a critical stage of the battle of Long Tan on 18 August 1966.
I am sure most will know that this was the most intense and challenging battle fought by the Australians during the war, one in which the heavily outnumbered diggers (26-1) fought 2,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops to a standstill in the rain soaked rubber plantation where they had been surprised. What you may not know is that, as a direct result of this engagement, the commanders of the North Vietnamese army took the conscious decision to avoid deliberate direct engagement with Australian troops for the remainder of the conflict.
I'll again rely on one of the plaques to complete this extraordinary story.
So there you have it......two incredible stories of hardship and sacrifice intertwined in this one Nyngan main street display.
We did not visit the museum, but took the opportunity to climb the nearby bridge over the railway line from where we could see the front of the old station and the still well used railway tracks.
These are part of the main western line which originally ran from Sydney to Bourke, but which now terminates at Cobar. Just as this section of the line has been closed, so too have the passenger services to Nyngan....today this line carries freight only.
And with the railway comes another story of local significance, because until it was built and finally reached Nyngan in 1883, this town did not exist.
The small town of Canonba, some 20 kms or so north-east of Nyngan, was the site of the initial settlement of this area. From the early 1840's it was the service centre for the nearby Canonbar Station and other grazing runs. The coaches of Cobb and Co ran through the flourishing little town, which by 1880 boasted four hotels (of course), banks, a police station, telegraph station, churches and several stores.
And then came the Western Railway line, which by-passed Canonba and crossed the Bogan River at Nyngan. The result.....the entire town upped stakes and moved, to what is now Nyngan. By 1890 Canonba was no more. The Municipality of Nyngan was proclaimed in February 1891 with a population of 1355. What a difference a railway line can make!
But the name of the original town still lives on in the main street of Nyngan in the form of the Canonbar Hotel.
And now ladies and gentlemen, the very sight for which you have been waiting so patiently, the statue which, if not elevating Nyngan to significant cultural heights, demonstrates that the town fathers have been quick to seize on a tourist opportunity even if it is potentially at the expense of the town's social reputation!
The Big Bogan stands proudly in its own patch of park on the main street of Nyngan, the epitome of what the word has now come to mean. It sports all the necessary attributes.....a 'mullet' haircut, a Southern Cross tattoo on the left upper arm, the obligatory garb of singlet, 'stubbie' shorts and thongs, and an esky close at hand. The only false note for me was the fact that our metal mate was raising his thumb, not a stubbie or a tinny.
Needless to say, the venture to capitalise on the modern usage of the Shire and district name and to encourage increased tourism by erecting this statue (in September 2015) did have its critics amongst the town's cultural elite. Our experience in the IGA supermarket late on Thursday afternoon would suggest that the presence of the statue may just be a case of 'be careful what you wish for' but that could well be viewed as an unkind observation!
It would probably be equally unreasonable to make anything of the fact that the town's most impressive pub, the Overlander Hotel, is within spitting distance of the statue.....let's move on!
Further into the relatively small main business hub,
four impressively tall palms (what was it with our forebears which compelled them to plant palms in the Australian bush?) mark the entrance to Davidson Park, complete with rotunda and public picnic areas.
And then we came to what was, for us, the most interesting section of the street, where the imposing building which began life as the Nyngan railway station now houses the town museum.
And, as you can see, the forecourt is dominated by a decommissioned Iroquois helicopter, that enduring symbol of the Vietnam conflict, the flying warhorse which took so many fit, young (and often outrageously conscripted) Australians into battle and sadly brought so many out again.....broken and bloodied......or worse.
For many Nyngan residents, this iconic chopper played an equally critical role in their lives. The story unfolds on this nearby series of plaques, the first of which details the flood crisis of 1990 when the decision was taken to airlift the entire population of the town to safety once the levee walls were breached and the town was totally inundated. This in itself was a marvellously managed exercise, when the military aircraft were supplemented by helicopters from various media organisations and others in private use.
As you can read, RAAF Iroquois A2-1022 was later presented to the town to commemorate the role played by these helicopters in the evacuation.
But this is only the beginning.....for the next nineteen years A2-1022 stood as a symbol of the flood and its immediate aftermath. What no-one had realised during this time was that this aircraft had been one of several flown by members of RAAF 9 Squadron during the Vietnam War, but more significantly, it had been this very helicopter and her sister ship, A2-1020, which had been flown to resupply the troops of D Coy, 6 RAR with ammunition at a critical stage of the battle of Long Tan on 18 August 1966.
I am sure most will know that this was the most intense and challenging battle fought by the Australians during the war, one in which the heavily outnumbered diggers (26-1) fought 2,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops to a standstill in the rain soaked rubber plantation where they had been surprised. What you may not know is that, as a direct result of this engagement, the commanders of the North Vietnamese army took the conscious decision to avoid deliberate direct engagement with Australian troops for the remainder of the conflict.
I'll again rely on one of the plaques to complete this extraordinary story.
So there you have it......two incredible stories of hardship and sacrifice intertwined in this one Nyngan main street display.
We did not visit the museum, but took the opportunity to climb the nearby bridge over the railway line from where we could see the front of the old station and the still well used railway tracks.
These are part of the main western line which originally ran from Sydney to Bourke, but which now terminates at Cobar. Just as this section of the line has been closed, so too have the passenger services to Nyngan....today this line carries freight only.
And with the railway comes another story of local significance, because until it was built and finally reached Nyngan in 1883, this town did not exist.
The small town of Canonba, some 20 kms or so north-east of Nyngan, was the site of the initial settlement of this area. From the early 1840's it was the service centre for the nearby Canonbar Station and other grazing runs. The coaches of Cobb and Co ran through the flourishing little town, which by 1880 boasted four hotels (of course), banks, a police station, telegraph station, churches and several stores.
And then came the Western Railway line, which by-passed Canonba and crossed the Bogan River at Nyngan. The result.....the entire town upped stakes and moved, to what is now Nyngan. By 1890 Canonba was no more. The Municipality of Nyngan was proclaimed in February 1891 with a population of 1355. What a difference a railway line can make!
But the name of the original town still lives on in the main street of Nyngan in the form of the Canonbar Hotel.
Enough history.....let's return to a pictorial jaunt through a few of the streets of the town, beginning with the large RSL-Services Club which of course was closed for Good Friday.
As too was the equally large Khan's IGA store, one of a chain of such establishments, the last of which we had visited in Lightning Ridge in September last year.
From here we wandered into a few of the back streets, where this towering tree was one of several which are a feature of this part of town.
From this corner, another all but visually obliterates
the old Court House building which stands at the head of what is probably Nyngan's most significant street from the perspective of buildings of interest.
The Town Hall and adjacent Council Chambers looked to us for all the world like a Peters Ice Cream cake with their mix of pastel colours,
and as we looked more closely it was obvious that
the elected leaders of the community at the time of the completion of these important town buildings were determined that their names should be preserved for posterity.
The present seat of power of the Bogan Shire is far less ornate.
As is the case in just about every country town we have visited, the Nyngan post office can be easily found by merely raising one's eyes skywards to locate the now ubiquitous communications tower which is such an essential part of everyday modern life.
Well, that's about it for our very limited and somewhat disjointed wander around an almost deserted Good Friday Nyngan.
Let me conclude with another of those signs which so tickle my fancy and prompt me to stay alert, even in the back streets. In this case, as I looked beyond the gate to that which Fierce Fido was ostensibly protecting, I quickly gained the impression this owner may have delusions of grandeur......
....but perhaps that's a harsh judgement...I'll let you make up your own mind!
I have to say that Nyngan is not a town which would readily draw us back, particularly given the state of the highways by which it is reached, but we had enjoyed what we had found here in our brief visit, the highlight being the extraordinary story relating to the RAAF Iroquois.
Tomorrow we move on to the even smaller town of Gulargambone on the Castlereagh Highway to take up residence in a park which we have been told is 'fun central'. We shall see.
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