Stella Barnes

If, ninety years ago, you were wandering along the banks of the Darling River, half-way between Wentworth and Pooncarie, on a Sunday, you might have heard the ‘whack’ of tennis balls. If you stopped to look, you may have seen a ten year old Stella Wilkinson, playing tennis on her family’s dirt court. Neighbouring families might be sharing a picnic lunch with the Wilkinsons, there at Camborn Station, as they took turns on the tennis court throughout the day. The following Sunday, another family would host the weekly tennis matches which had quickly become a favourite sporting outing. Never, might Stella have imagined, that in just ten years, she would meet her future husband, Frank, at one such tennis day when they would begin their courtship.