Burke Shire - General Information
Burketown on the Savannah Way, some 25 km from the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, sits on the Albert River and is the dividing line between the wetlands to the north and the savannah grasslands and the rolling plains to the south.
When Lord Stokes stepped ashore from the Beagle and viewed the savannah plains in 1841, he saw lush grasslands reminiscent of a gentler English landscape and dubbed them the Plains of Promise. These 'Plains of Promise' would test the endurance of the first European settlers later in the 1800s.
Hopes of a land of plenty were replaced with disappointment as year after year cyclones, tidal waves, floods, fever and isolation took their toll. If ever there was a town that could lay claim to a history wilder than that of any of the old wild west, then Burketown of the early 1860s would hold the clear and uncontested title.
Stories of disrepute, villainy and tragedy mixed with heroism, optimism and hope are not unusual in the records of any frontier town, but in Burketown, all seemed to occur at once and with an extra measure of high drama and excess thrown in.
The Burketown cemetery is a testament to this turbulent history. Here too, lie the victims of a virulent outbreak of Gulf Fever... thought to be typhoid or malaria.
The Burketown Pub, well over a century old, remains the oldest building in the Gulf and the original town bore still continues to issue water daily, to create a billabong where birds gather.
Beyond the town the saltflats are a daunting exercise in space... 130 square kilometres of salt encrusted and seemingly lifeless plains in the dry months, and seasonally inundated and teeming with a myriad of bird species in the wet.
Wet or dry, the saltflats are an exceptional experience but must be approached with extreme caution, so please check in with local authorities before heading out.
The Nicholson River, some 17 km to the west, is perennial freshwater. The wetlands are the breeding grounds of crocodiles, barramundi, prawns and birds, which are particularly prolific in the summer months.
From Burketown, the World Heritage listed Lawn Hill National Park and the Riversleigh Fossil Fields can be accessed to the south. If you've been to Burketown, you can truly say you've seen the Gulf.
From mid September to December a peculiar cloud formation occurs. The Morning Glories are tubular in shape, they roll out of the Gulf in lines of three or four. These impressive clouds extend from horizon to horizon and are accompanied by violent winds.
The coming of Europeans disrupted the culture of the Aboriginal people of the Gulf who had been living in harmony with its natural rhythms and flows for tens of thousands of years. They were displaced from their traditional lands and took refuge in missions. Evidence of their ancient culture can be found in rock paintings and engravings, shell middens and tool making quarries, and the traditional knowledge is once again being passed on.
Today the communities of Doomadgee and Mornington Island comprise small townships with schools, hospitals, council administration and other government services set within the traditional lands of Aboriginal people.
Must See
- The Salt Flats
- The Morning Glory Cloud Formations
- The old Machinery of the Boiling Down Works
- The 100 year old Town Bore
- The Landsborough Tree
- the Old Post Office c1888
- The Burketown Cemetery with graves dating back to the 1860s
Must Do
- Have a beer with the locals at the Burketown Pub and find out where Barra are biting
