Drought can be common around Lake Cargelligo

 

Lake Cargelligo
Small service centre in the heart of the Riverina
Located 590 km west of Sydney via the Great Western and Mid Western Highways and 168 m above sea-level Lake Cargelligo, with a population of 1300, appears like an unexpected oasis on the flat western plains. Certainly John Oxley was 'agreeably surprised' when he came across it in 1817 while tracing the Lachlan River: 'the noble lake before me gave a character to the scenery highly picturesque and pleasing'.

The township of around 1300 persons adjacent the lake serves the surrounding agricultural and pastoral district where wheat, wool, fat lambs, fruit and vegetables are produced.

The area was occupied by the Wiradjuri and Ngiyambaa Aborigines before Oxley's arrival. He named it Regent's Lake after the Prince Regent, who became George IV in 1820. However, in his survey of the district in the mid-1830s surveyor-general Thomas Mitchell renamed it 'Cudjallagong' after the local name, said to mean 'large lake' or 'water container'.

The first European settler was Francis Oakes who took up the 'Gagellaga' run in 1841, renamed 'Cargelligo' in 1848. A townsite was reserved in 1850 but settlement did not really proceed until a woman who was a cook at a burr cutter's camp found gold near the south-west side of the lake in 1873. The town became a mining centre surrounded by stock runs in the 1870s. A government survey was carried out in 1878 and the village was gazetted the following year. However, mining returns were not as expected and the endeavour was largely abandoned by 1881.

John Bow, a short-lived bushranger and member of Frank Gardiner's gang, settled nearby when released from prison after receiving a pardon in 1873. Bow was arrested after the robbery of a gold escort in 1862 and received the death penalty, commuted to life after a public petition due to his youth (20 years). He loaned money to the local Catholic Church so that they could purchase land. He was buried in the local Catholic cemetery in 1895.

When the goldrush died land was subdivided and released for sale. The village was proclaimed in 1885. Another bushranger Jack King robbed the royal mail coach en route between Cargelligo and Whitton in 1887. He was, however, arrested the next day and received ten years.

In 1902 the flow of the Lachlan was regulated in order to redistribute water down river by transforming Lake Cargelligo into a water storage area. The railway arrived in 1917 and two years later the township of Cargelligo was renamed Lake Cargelligo.

 

Things to see:  

Activities on the Lake
The lake is 8 km by 3.5 km in surface area and is 3 m deep on average. It is an ideal spot for power boats, yachting, fishing, water skiing and swimming and is also a haven for birds - mallee fowl, pelicans, swans, ducks, geese, and the rare bower bird and black cockatoo. Access is facilitated by two sealed roads and there is a boating club and club house on the western shore of the lake. There are several foreshore parks with electric barbecues and a caravan park nearby. Fishing can also be profitably pursued in the Lachlan and its streams.

 

Lake Cargelligo and District Museum
Lake Cargelligo and District Museum, at the top end of Holt St, is open by appointment only (02) 68981397. There is also a private museum about 1 km along the Wyalong Road. It lies to your right and is signposted (02) 6898 1177.

 

Visitors Information Centre
The Visitor's Information Centre in Foster St possesses a large gem collection and can provide detailed information on fishing, camping and picnicking spots. Bookings can be made here for horse riding, aeroplane joy rides, farm visits - if you wish to take a first-hand look at the agricultural process - and for Harley Davidson Motorcycle Tours which offer trips around town and the surrounding area. Lake Cargelligo boasts a golf course and club house, a bowling club, boating and water skiing competitions, a hovercraft meeting in January and a rural show in August.

 

The Town Weirs
There are two weirs nearby, one about 10 km out of town and another 35 km north via Eubalong. They are both pleasant picnic spots. Farm visits can be arranged through

Lake Brewster, a considerably larger lagoon which is also ideal for water activities, lies about 40 km south-west.

 

 

 

 

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Lake Cargelligo