Pooncarie is a village in south-western

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Wentworth Shire Wentworth Shire is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the far south-west Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. This Shire is located adjacent to the Murray River, Murray and Darling Rivers. The Shire's major roads ...

. It is on the eastern side of the

Darling River The Darling River (or River Darling; Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka''), is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth. Including its long ...

between Wentworth and

Menindee Menindee (derived from Minandichi, the original Indigenous name for Lake Menindee, and frequently but erroneously spelled "Menindie") is a small town in the far west of New South Wales, Australia, in Central Darling Shire, on the banks of the Da ...

. The surrounding region of Pooncarie is semi-arid with an

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...

landscape rich in

eucalypt Eucalypt is any woody plant with Capsule (fruit), capsule fruiting bodies belonging to one of seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

woodlands. At the , Pooncarie had a poulation of 226 people.

History

The region was first settled by Europeans during the 1840s when they took up illegal grazing runs on crown land. During the 1860s the government formalised these illegal (and unfenced) claims in an attempt to gain control of the region. As more settlers followed the town became a service hub for outlying stations. In the mid-19th century, the town's Darling River wharf was very active as paddle-steamers carried wool from north-western NSW and south-western Queensland, travelling through the port on the way to South Australia. The

Burke and Wills The Burke and Wills expedition (originally called the Victorian Exploring Expedition) was an exploration expedition organised by the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) in Australia in 1860–61. The exploration party initially consisted of nine ...

expedition passed through Pooncarie on their journey across Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. They reached the Darling River near Tarcoola Station to the south of town on Wednesday, 26 September 1860 and the next day made Camp XXX (their thirtieth camp since leaving Melbourne) at what is now Bilbarka Park. The expedition stayed here until the morning of 11 October 1860 when they headed north to Menindee. In 1863 the town was originally gazetted as "Pooncaira". Popiltah station, 80 km north-west of Pooncarie, was the relocation site of

Nanya Nanya (c.1835 – 1895) was an Aboriginal Australian man who founded a family that would be one of the last to live by traditional indigenous means in New South Wales. Nanya was born around 1835 and was of the Maraura tribe of the lower Darling ...

and his family, one of the last peoples to live by traditional indigenous means in New South Wales. Pooncarie is approximately east of, and the closest centre to, the burgeoning BEMAX Resources Ginkgo Mineral Sands mine on Malara

Station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

. The mine commenced partial operations in December 2005. Today the village has a postal centre and Centrelink office (which is housed in the former Pooncarie police station), a school, a cafe (situated overlooking the Darling river at the historic Old Wharf site), a hotel, a golf course, a tennis court, a general store, a cemetery, and a racecourse, where the Pooncarie Cup - held on Labour Day (NSW and SA) - attracts a crowd of over 1,500 enthusiasts. Pooncarie is the closest centre to

Mungo National Park Mungo National Park is a protected national park that is located in south-western New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately west of Sydney in the Balranald Shire. Mungo National Park is the traditi ...

which is away, and fuel is available at the store which reopened in July 2013.Pooncarie
Retrieved 4 July 2009

Heritage listings

Wentworth Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: *

, Polia Station, Pooncarie: PS ''Rodney''

Climate

Pooncarie has a

hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(''BWh'') under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, featuring very hot, dry summers and short, cool winters. The annual average rainfall is which would make it a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

except that its high

evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the combined processes which move water from the Earth's surface (open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation) into the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of w ...

, or its barrenness, makes it a

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

climate.

References

External links

Burke & Wills Web
- a comprehensive website containing many of the historical documents relating to the Burke & Wills Expedition
The Burke & Wills Historical Society
The Burke & Wills Historical Society.
Pooncarie Cemetery records
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Populated places on the Darling River Wentworth Shire Pooncarie, New South Wales

History

Heritage listings

Climate

See also

References

External links