Technology brings Bourke’s past alive

Andrew Drane and Andrew Hull during their recent Poets Trek journey through Bourke and beyond. Photo TWH

The annual Poet’s Trek was a drawcard for history buffs and adventurers who wanted to experience an outback trip, walking in the footsteps of Henry Lawson and the other literary giants who traversed our hostile landscape.

Now, technology has caught up with tradition to make the Poet’s Trek more accessible to people who want to experience this unique itinerary. Using a digital code on your mobile phone, the logistical difficulties of staging the Poet’s Trek have been overcome.

Bourke writer and performer Andrew Hull, in partnership with web designer Andrew Drane, set up Gidgee Media to tell the stories of the Poet’s Trek, part of an annual event called the “Festival of a Thousand Stories”.

“Because Bourke historian Paul Roe and some of the key people aren’t there driving the event any more, it’s less likely to occur frequently or regularly, so the plan was to film the significant places on the Trek, so people could use it as a resource they could access any time of the year,” Andrew explained.

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