Driving the Long Paddock

The Long Paddock tourist route follows the Cobb Highway from Moama (just over the Murray River from Echuca) to Wilcannia, in NSW's far north west. We followed it for 200km as far as Hay, before turning east towards the coast. Although this is only about a third of the full route, it includes the majority of the information panels and sculptures on the route.

The Long Paddock refers to the stock routes used by early drovers to bring their cattle and sheep from Queensland and remote NSW to markets in Adelaide and Melbourne. These routes followed streams and inland rivers to keep the stock watered during their long journey. Settlements, pubs and townships sprung up along the route, some of which died once rail and trucks came into their own, and some of which expanded to form today's inland towns.

The sculptures we've pictured here pay tribute to the drover and his horse and the Cobb and Co coaches that provided transport between the new townships, as well as to the legend of the headless horseman that haunted Black Swamp. The real story behind this legend apparently involves a local butcher who would dress up as the feared ghost and ride amongst the drovers' campsite to throw fear into their hearts and panic amongst the stock. In the resulting pandemonium he would expertly cut out a couple of prime head who would be herded off to a secluded place and slaughtered to supplement his shop's supply!

The full story of the Long Paddock can be found at www.thelongpaddock.com.au.

The other photo below is of a decorated ute, commemorating the 'Deniliquin Ute Muster', an annual event celebrating the great Aussie utility vehicle.