Tibooburra

I don’t know what Tibooburra was like pre-covid, but it is a sleepy little town right now. We arrived on a Thursday and were the only travellers in town, so we had our choice of spaces in the Granite Boulder caravan park. We wandered around the town, visited the Information centre but it was closed. Checked that the pubs were open, bought an ice cream from the grocery store then went back to the van.

We were there for two nights and did the usual caravan park thing, cleaning and washing, and the ever important, emptying of the toilet canister. Unfortunately for us, the caravan park does not have a dump point, but we were given directions of where we could go to empty the canister.

“Go up the road to the dump. When you get there drive past the burn trenches, then just keep going till you see a hole in the ground, that’ll do.” Hmm!

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The point is that Tibooburra does not come under any LGA or council, it’s classed as ‘Unincorporated’. As a result, it has none of the usual local council controls or services and locals are largely left to look after themselves. Some people would see this lack of governance liberating. I mean who has the right to tell you that you should keep your dog on a lead? I guess the same people who collect your rubbish every week and do all the necessary ‘dirty work’.

I only mention this because the caravan park does not have the infrastructure to install/maintain a dump point. Hence our trip to the local dump. Their answer to the rubbish problem is to dig trenches, and when they’re full, burn it. Of course, it’s not as simple as that, and this isn’t a criticism of the town, only a statement of fact. But the dump is a dirty smelly, place strewn with broken glass, sheet metal, old cars, you name it, and though it was a necessary trip, it was most definitely not a highlight of our visit to Tibooburra.

It is a nice little town and we look forward to seeing it again on our way back from Cameron Corner.