The Kyalite Hotel on the Wakool/Edward - the Murray's longest anabranch
Excerpted and adapted from my book Drinking in the Rivers Vol 1: the Pubs and People of the Murray and Edward Rivers. Available from: Nothing but the Pub One of Australia’s first high-profile divorces was very messy. It involved the usual allegations of mental cruelty but, sensationally, it also centred on charges by one party of several instances of inappropriate behaviour by the other with a camel. In fact, more than one camel. And the first alleged occurrence of this shameful behaviour with said camels, was at the river at Wakool across the road from where the Kyalite Pub now stands. The Royal Society which was backing the 1860 expedition decided that camels were needed and that they required expert care. They appointed George Landells to the expedition on higher pay than the leader. Which was probably a wrong move. These two had just met and apparently things went fine until Burke tried to load-up the camels to a degree that mahout Landells objected and as the group headed slo