Pooncarie to Mungo National Park
Gather around again for another exciting episode .....
23 September - Pooncarie camp was a good one just a short walk into the very small country town. It's $10 a car per night with or without power - the unpowered sites overlook the river.
We chose power. We met a number of lovely people here and the views over the Darling River were beautiful once again.
Nearby we found a number of people camped in another paddock who had obviously been there for a long time and had their favourite plot. Catholics were in one area, Methodists in another etc. The Pooncarie Cemetery was an interesting insight into the history of the town and local area. In one plot there was obviously a couple who had met since moving in - see photo below.
The usual packing up and getting underway went normally except for just one hitch and that was putting the caravan onto the car - but that is supposed to happen. Off we drove at around 9am after a very cold couple of mornings at 2 degrees.
The road south of Pooncarie was 20klm of bitumen followed by 100 klm of dirt, dust and something else that starts with 'd' but I can't think of at the moment. Our favourite mid morning event, morning tea, was held on the side of the dirty, dusty and something else beginning with 'd' road beside what must have been a water soak.
All around the black soil floodplain was dry and dusty but just beside the road where we stopped was this little oasis that numerous budgerigars and other birds found useful for quenching their thirst.
Heading south towards Mildura we turned left and headed along a dirt road to Mungo NP, part of the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Area.
Why Mungo you ask? Well the area was once an inland oasis of several interconnecting permanent lakes that attract wildlife like a, um, like a... wildlife magnet. Just like the lake was a magnet for wildlife, the wildlife and the animals were a magnet for humans. The lakes filled and emptied for 10's of thousands of years until finally they forgot to fill again, hence they are now empty. Being empty was not good for any of the magnets so all the animals and humans left the region but not the evidence of them being there. Well there were some tribes of aborigines that lived in the area before white settlement. There is evidence of human habitation dating back 50000 years.
Recent discoveries of Mungo Man and Mungo Lady have rewritten the ancient history of Australia. The remains of Mungo Man and Lady date back 42000 years. Mungo Lady was 18 years old and her remains are the oldest known cremation on earth. Mungo Man was about 50 years old and he is also the oldest known human remains in the world outside of Africa. So I hope that answers your question of "Why Mungo NP?"
We were able to jag a great site in the National Park campground, facing north for the solar panels, with the van providing a windbreak for the bitingly cold southerly winds that were freezing southern Australia at the time.
The site also had its own shelter and water tank - just perfect. After setting up we did the local walks around camp to Mungo Lake lookout and Grasslands Nature Walk.
We then settled back for the afternoon to enjoy the sunset and the view to the back of our campsite, firm in the knowledge that mankind's footprints have been made in the red sands in front of us for the last 50000 years. Eventually the stars came out but the temperature started to plummet so we were chased inside to enjoy the benefits of the gas heater we had installed in the van.
Next morning we woke to clear skies, light winds and 3 degrees. We set off early before everyone else had started stirring, including the flies, to do the 70klm self-guided Loop Track through and around Lake Mungo.
Lake Mungo used to be up to metres deep, but today is a flat depression covered in low drought hardy shrubs like saltbush. It's been dry for some 15000 years. Prevailing westerly winds over thousands of years have blown the sands to the eastern side of the lake slowly building up to form white sand dunes - called lunettes and named "Walls of China". It is the erosion of these dunes that are yielding the ancient secrets of the long history of the area. Mungo Lady was discovered in 1968 and Mungo Man a few years later just a few hundred metres apart. In 2003, 20000 year old human footprints were found preserved in an ancient clay pan. The people who made them were chasing a fleeing animal and later a child walked through the clay pan too. The footprints then dried and were later covered by sand to be preserved. They are the largest collection of ice age footprints in the world.
Mungo Man and Lady are not on display and are now in the care of their traditional owners. The footprints started to deteriorate so after plaster casts had been taken they were again carefully reburied to be preserved. The plaster casts have been accurately assembled at the back of the Visitors Centres for all to see.
After driving across the lake bed we arrived at the base of the Walls of China only to discover a group of indigenous artists had been there since 5am. We chatted for a while to an aboriginal fellow from Arnhem Land, north of Kakadu, NT who makes films. He was nearly frozen solid after being in the cold for so long. He was very interesting to talk to.
The drive has numerous stops that showcase the lake, old homesteads and shearing sheds, the dunes (lunettes) and different flora landscapes. Access to the fragile, eroding, history-bearing landscape is now rightly restricted. Viewing platforms are provided but to leave them requires special permission.
We did however get a real sense of the ancient history that surrounded us and how our two day visit to this region was totally irrelevant in the big scheme of things. What will the place be like in another 50000 years and will there be a human around to put another footprint in the sands of history in this region?
Another beautiful evening presented itself on our second night here but just as the carpet of stars was about to be laid across the heavens above us the cold again set in. Mungo NP is a place to visit, if not so much to see a lot of artifacts, but to bathe in the deep, rich history of a land where humans have lived for over 50000 years.
25 September - Moving day. Being somewhat over dust and dirt roads and other things that start with 'd' that I still can't recall, we had planned to go to Mildura for a wash down and a cleanup. Unfortunately 3500 other people beat us to it as the annual Mildura Country and Western Music Festival started on the day we emerged from the dusty centre of Australia. OMG - Country Music and 3500 people who like it, all in one spot at the same time - OMG.
So we drove another 90 klm east to Robinvale on the Victorian banks of the Murray River in the hope that the sound wouldn't carry that far. Having never heard of Robinvale it has a lovely van park with grassy sites. We haven't seen grassy sites for 3 weeks, and they could fit us in amongst other normal people who don't appreciate country music. It is school holidays so the park is busy but not manic. We booked for a total of three nights mostly to roll around on the lovely grass.
On arrival the main focus was de-dustifying everything we we had brought with us on the trip. This included the car, caravan, clothes, anything ... The van park, using recycled water, has no problems with washing cars or caravans down so I spent the afternoon top dressing the town. Later we did the supermarket shuffle then settled into a relaxing afternoon.
The Murray River is full of water at the moment and many of the campers in Robinvale CVP have fishing dinghies or ski boats with them. Families staying here for the school holidays have the best sites right on the river. They have power and water, campfire barrels and their boats moored right out front. Fishing lines sit all day with baited breath as do the yabbie traps. Their owners regularly check them, even more regularly as happy hour arrives and passes. What an idyllic location for a family holiday. Generations of families line the shores. Each afternoon we listen to the young pre-teenage girls singing over and over out-of-tune versions of the latest songs to their all suffering parents and the rest of the park. Their brothers meanwhile play AFL in the van park mimicking their favourite players while the grandparents, glad to be hard of hearing, look forward to the hand-them-back time that is fast approaching at the end of school holidays.
We meanwhile focus on a day in the nearby Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. Off the next day early we drive through miles and miles of vineyards and orchards to arrive at the entrance of the Park. We did a couple of local nature walks then drove around the two campgrounds located in the park. Morning tea was held overlooking a lake in an idyllic location.
However, at the risk of sounding like a complainer, but really wanting to complain, Victoria National Parks/Government, who proclaim their National Parks are for the community to get out, get in and to enjoy, are charging $38.50 a night to camp in a basic campground with no water, drop loos and nothing else. We drove through a beautiful campground with lake views, firewood etc and there were just two campsites in the very middle of September school holidays - just crazy. It seems the majority of the Australian population agrees and are voting with their (lack of) feet. We have no plans to stay in a Victorian National Park with fees that are so ridiculously high. However, even more strangely, they also have free camps (no cost) in different locations in the same National Park also usually with drop toilets, and we've noticed these parks are often quite busy.
Our exploration of Hattah-Kulkyne NP was just great. We wanted to explore the Murray River and the free camps outside the NP. For around 4 hours we followed a 4WD track that travelled right beside the Murray. Numerous great camps were discovered. This is a bush campers paradise.
Arriving home late afternoon we had lunch and relaxed around our camp.
27 September - planning day. With Kinchega and Mungo NP's now behind us we found ourselves at a crossroads as to what we might do next - go west into South Australia or south through Victoria. After three rounds of scissors-paper-rock it was decided to head south through Victoria, do the Great Ocean Road and see if we can get over to Kangaroo Island for a week or two before heading back to Mildura which should be a country and western free zone by then.
With the planning session behind us we spent the day wandering the streets of Robinvale and preparing for the next week. Timing is everything and the most important timing is a combination of being in a low school holiday location, being away from attractive locations for the upcoming Victorian long weekend this weekend and, most importantly, to be in a TV reception location for the Rugby League (go Broncos! and North Queensland!) and AFL (who cares) finals. Oh the pressure.
28 September - Lake Crosbie in Murray-Sunset NP
Fortunately Julie was a bit bored with TV and the NRL qualifying finals over the last couple of nights and she jumped onto the computer and researched what there was was to do within the area. The answer was the Murray-Sunset National Park. The detailed answer was Lake Crosbie Campground which became the target for tomorrow's journey south-west of us. The road was sealed except for the last 14 klm. The dusty corrugated road led us to the campground and, fortuitously for us, a vacant site overlooking the huge salt pans of lake Lake Crosbie, one of the region's famed Pink Lakes.
The campground was fairly busy with school holiday campers as well as us Grey Gonads and it was free, not the $38.50 per night campsite a short distance away within the same NP and on the same salt lake. The site we jagged would have been the site we would chosen if the place was empty, so we were pretty chuffed. We looked out over the red-tipped Samphire bushes to the salt lake. The skies were blue, the southerly biting wind came from the other side of the van so the sunshine warmed us on the 'living' side to the van.
After lunch we headed off to walk along and over this intriguing harsh landscape. What looked like water (actually more like ice) was pure salt - the lake was pure salt. The foreshore was a little sludgy from the winter rains that top up the lake with around 1 cm of additional salt layer each year. From around 1916 the lake was mined and provided around 500 tonnes of salt a day for 4 months a year - enough for 3 million people and very much in demand during the world wars. Mining of the lake ceased in the 1979 after which it became the National Park it is today.
Our walk took us to the now abandoned salt mine. Enormous piles of mined salt, now rock, still exist today but are slowly leaching their way back into the lake as each year passes.
Returning home we settled in to watch the sun set over the lake and the near full moon rise from the desert horizon behind us.
It was at this time I started talking to the bloke in the camp beside us. We meet many people on the road and, for me, this couple were one in a million. Bob, a retired high school manual arts teacher, travelled Australia extensively in a tent with his wife. They became "Friends of the Flinders Ranges" in South Australia. He and his wife spent 30 years travelling there to work with the Rangers maintaining and improving the Park. They became lifelong friends with the Rangers, who have now retired. Ten years ago Bob's wife started to show signs of dementia. She deteriorated badly but Bob cared for her. After a while she could no longer safely travel in a tent so he bought a caravan for her so she could still travel. As an artist, she lost her sight but not her passion for the Flinders Ranges. For the last ten months of her life Bob's wife needed full time care and her travelling days to the Flinders ended.
A carer, by the name of Lyn, looked after Bob's wife near the end and, after she died, aged 64, Bob and Lyn got together and fell in love. They now travel in the van Bob bought for his late wife and were returning from the Flinders where Bob and Lyn and a number of his good friends placed the ashes of Bob's late wife high on the hill where they bush camped for so many years. That campground is where Julie and I camped when we travelled around Australia in 2013. Bob and Lyn called in to see the retired Ranger and where on their way home to be married in five weeks time. There is so much more to this story but it is fair to say the few hours we spent with Bob and Lyn listening to their story while having a couple of drinks as the sun set, will stay with us forever.
Up and away early next morning we said farewell to Bob and Lyn as we pointed the car north to see the sights of Murray-Sunset NP. We stopped at numerous other salt lakes, each of which had its own mining industry from the 1920's until the late 1970's. Heading north deeper into the Park our goal was the 80+ metre high sand hill of Mt Crosier.
The track slowly became more and more sandy as I became more and more excited while Julie became more and more anxious. 4WD was engaged and away we went along the sandy track through the mulga scrub to Mt Crosier. We climbed it, had morning tea on it and finally left it. We also saw the $38.50 per night camp ground with only one site occupied - our free campground has much better views and is bustling. The $38.50 camps require permits with on-line booking and pre-payment. You can just rock up to the free camps which is what most people want when on the road given they may not have internet access and they prefer to go with the flow re timings. We can't help but think that National Parks Victoria has got it very wrong.
Back at the bottom we looked at the map: 25 klm back the way we came or 50 klm the long way home. 50 klm won because it was longer and totally unknown. The track was sandier and rougher at the start but slowly it became easier as it crossed numerous dried salt lakes before returning us home. Lunch was held and a great event it was. However there was more to explore: more salt lakes, more abandoned salt mines and fields of wildflowers.
Having experienced the wonderful landscapes of Murray-Sunset NP we returned home to an even busier campground than the night before. We were fine in our little spot but many hopeful campers came and went as the place was full. We saw a couple we had met in Robinvale and chatted to them again for a while. We invited them up for drinks and spent an enjoyable early evening chatting about all our travels and swapping campgrounds to go to.
The mornings out here were cold - 1 degree followed by 2 degrees. Our gas heater installed last year for Tasmania worked a treat by warming the van up to 18 degrees in the half hour before were ready to get out of bed. Under clear cold skies we reluctantly packed up and said goodbye to Lake Crosbie - it was great mate.
1 October - next National Park on the agenda was Wyperfield located just below Murray-Sunset in northwest Victoria. We wanted to camp there but the Victorian Government didn't want us to as they were still charging $38.50 per night for a bush camp with a drop toilet. On the other hand a little town just south of Wyperfield, called Hopetoun, was interested in us staying there. They have a caravan park with all the usual services for $20 a night, including power and water.
We set up for two nights and on the first night were the only ones there. All the others were camped at the nearby, also very cheap, Mallee Bush Retreat overlooking the man made lake which we ended up walking around. Being school holidays, it was a bit busy for us however we've noted it for next time.
Next day we explored Wyperfield NP. We did the Mallee Fowl walk and visited one of the bird's enormous nests. Next a climb up to a viewing tower provided us with panoramic views of the Park. We started to drive one of the difficult 4WD sand tracks towards the centre of the park but soon became tired of the never changing landscape so we did a u-turn and headed home.
The number of vans in the caravan park had doubled from last night as a couple had arrived and parked their caravan at the opposite end of the park. We did end up talking to them for a little while late in the afternoon.
Next destination was Maryborough in central Victoria. This stop was a grocery shop stop and an AFL grand final watch stop. We shopped and watched and both were satisfying.
It is probably a good place to end our story for now. I can see your eyes are getting sleepy so it would be a good time to turn off your computer and leave work to go home for a rest.
Hope you are all well. We are.
JeffnJulie
Gather around again for another exciting episode .....
23 September - Pooncarie camp was a good one just a short walk into the very small country town. It's $10 a car per night with or without power - the unpowered sites overlook the river.
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| Our camp in Pooncarie |
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| Pooncarie Campground |
Nearby we found a number of people camped in another paddock who had obviously been there for a long time and had their favourite plot. Catholics were in one area, Methodists in another etc. The Pooncarie Cemetery was an interesting insight into the history of the town and local area. In one plot there was obviously a couple who had met since moving in - see photo below.
The usual packing up and getting underway went normally except for just one hitch and that was putting the caravan onto the car - but that is supposed to happen. Off we drove at around 9am after a very cold couple of mornings at 2 degrees.
The road south of Pooncarie was 20klm of bitumen followed by 100 klm of dirt, dust and something else that starts with 'd' but I can't think of at the moment. Our favourite mid morning event, morning tea, was held on the side of the dirty, dusty and something else beginning with 'd' road beside what must have been a water soak.
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| Morning tea beside a water soak |
Heading south towards Mildura we turned left and headed along a dirt road to Mungo NP, part of the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Area.
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| Turnoff to Mungo NP |
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| The road into Mungo NP |
Recent discoveries of Mungo Man and Mungo Lady have rewritten the ancient history of Australia. The remains of Mungo Man and Lady date back 42000 years. Mungo Lady was 18 years old and her remains are the oldest known cremation on earth. Mungo Man was about 50 years old and he is also the oldest known human remains in the world outside of Africa. So I hope that answers your question of "Why Mungo NP?"
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| Our Mungo NP campsite |
We were able to jag a great site in the National Park campground, facing north for the solar panels, with the van providing a windbreak for the bitingly cold southerly winds that were freezing southern Australia at the time.
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| Our Camp |
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| Orderly ants |
The site also had its own shelter and water tank - just perfect. After setting up we did the local walks around camp to Mungo Lake lookout and Grasslands Nature Walk.
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| Lake Mungo |
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| Sunset in Mungo NP |
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| Lake Mungo Walls of China |
Lake Mungo used to be up to metres deep, but today is a flat depression covered in low drought hardy shrubs like saltbush. It's been dry for some 15000 years. Prevailing westerly winds over thousands of years have blown the sands to the eastern side of the lake slowly building up to form white sand dunes - called lunettes and named "Walls of China". It is the erosion of these dunes that are yielding the ancient secrets of the long history of the area. Mungo Lady was discovered in 1968 and Mungo Man a few years later just a few hundred metres apart. In 2003, 20000 year old human footprints were found preserved in an ancient clay pan. The people who made them were chasing a fleeing animal and later a child walked through the clay pan too. The footprints then dried and were later covered by sand to be preserved. They are the largest collection of ice age footprints in the world.
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| The Walls of China - Lake Mungo |
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| 20000 year old footprints |
Mungo Man and Lady are not on display and are now in the care of their traditional owners. The footprints started to deteriorate so after plaster casts had been taken they were again carefully reburied to be preserved. The plaster casts have been accurately assembled at the back of the Visitors Centres for all to see.
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| 20000 year old plaster casts of now reburied footprints |
After driving across the lake bed we arrived at the base of the Walls of China only to discover a group of indigenous artists had been there since 5am. We chatted for a while to an aboriginal fellow from Arnhem Land, north of Kakadu, NT who makes films. He was nearly frozen solid after being in the cold for so long. He was very interesting to talk to.
The drive has numerous stops that showcase the lake, old homesteads and shearing sheds, the dunes (lunettes) and different flora landscapes. Access to the fragile, eroding, history-bearing landscape is now rightly restricted. Viewing platforms are provided but to leave them requires special permission.
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| Goat trap - I nearly fell in for some reason |
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| Sand dunes of Lake Mungo |
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| Driving across Lake Mungo |
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| Abandoned Zanci Homestead underground cool room |
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| Morning tea in mallee country - Lake Mungo |
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| Wild bees gathering precious water from water soak |
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| Lake Mungo sand dunes |
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| Water soak - Lake Mungo |
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| Abandoned Zanci Homestead shearing shed - Lake Mungo |
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| Mungo woman? |
Another beautiful evening presented itself on our second night here but just as the carpet of stars was about to be laid across the heavens above us the cold again set in. Mungo NP is a place to visit, if not so much to see a lot of artifacts, but to bathe in the deep, rich history of a land where humans have lived for over 50000 years.
25 September - Moving day. Being somewhat over dust and dirt roads and other things that start with 'd' that I still can't recall, we had planned to go to Mildura for a wash down and a cleanup. Unfortunately 3500 other people beat us to it as the annual Mildura Country and Western Music Festival started on the day we emerged from the dusty centre of Australia. OMG - Country Music and 3500 people who like it, all in one spot at the same time - OMG.
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| Grassy site in Robinvale |
So we drove another 90 klm east to Robinvale on the Victorian banks of the Murray River in the hope that the sound wouldn't carry that far. Having never heard of Robinvale it has a lovely van park with grassy sites. We haven't seen grassy sites for 3 weeks, and they could fit us in amongst other normal people who don't appreciate country music. It is school holidays so the park is busy but not manic. We booked for a total of three nights mostly to roll around on the lovely grass.
On arrival the main focus was de-dustifying everything we we had brought with us on the trip. This included the car, caravan, clothes, anything ... The van park, using recycled water, has no problems with washing cars or caravans down so I spent the afternoon top dressing the town. Later we did the supermarket shuffle then settled into a relaxing afternoon.
The Murray River is full of water at the moment and many of the campers in Robinvale CVP have fishing dinghies or ski boats with them. Families staying here for the school holidays have the best sites right on the river. They have power and water, campfire barrels and their boats moored right out front. Fishing lines sit all day with baited breath as do the yabbie traps. Their owners regularly check them, even more regularly as happy hour arrives and passes. What an idyllic location for a family holiday. Generations of families line the shores. Each afternoon we listen to the young pre-teenage girls singing over and over out-of-tune versions of the latest songs to their all suffering parents and the rest of the park. Their brothers meanwhile play AFL in the van park mimicking their favourite players while the grandparents, glad to be hard of hearing, look forward to the hand-them-back time that is fast approaching at the end of school holidays.
We meanwhile focus on a day in the nearby Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. Off the next day early we drive through miles and miles of vineyards and orchards to arrive at the entrance of the Park. We did a couple of local nature walks then drove around the two campgrounds located in the park. Morning tea was held overlooking a lake in an idyllic location.
Our exploration of Hattah-Kulkyne NP was just great. We wanted to explore the Murray River and the free camps outside the NP. For around 4 hours we followed a 4WD track that travelled right beside the Murray. Numerous great camps were discovered. This is a bush campers paradise.  |
| Hattah-Kulkyne NP Murray River track |
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| Campsites along the Murray |
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| Murray River campsite - maybe next time |
Arriving home late afternoon we had lunch and relaxed around our camp.
27 September - planning day. With Kinchega and Mungo NP's now behind us we found ourselves at a crossroads as to what we might do next - go west into South Australia or south through Victoria. After three rounds of scissors-paper-rock it was decided to head south through Victoria, do the Great Ocean Road and see if we can get over to Kangaroo Island for a week or two before heading back to Mildura which should be a country and western free zone by then.
With the planning session behind us we spent the day wandering the streets of Robinvale and preparing for the next week. Timing is everything and the most important timing is a combination of being in a low school holiday location, being away from attractive locations for the upcoming Victorian long weekend this weekend and, most importantly, to be in a TV reception location for the Rugby League (go Broncos! and North Queensland!) and AFL (who cares) finals. Oh the pressure.
28 September - Lake Crosbie in Murray-Sunset NP
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| Lake Crosbie campsite |
Fortunately Julie was a bit bored with TV and the NRL qualifying finals over the last couple of nights and she jumped onto the computer and researched what there was was to do within the area. The answer was the Murray-Sunset National Park. The detailed answer was Lake Crosbie Campground which became the target for tomorrow's journey south-west of us. The road was sealed except for the last 14 klm. The dusty corrugated road led us to the campground and, fortuitously for us, a vacant site overlooking the huge salt pans of lake Lake Crosbie, one of the region's famed Pink Lakes.
The campground was fairly busy with school holiday campers as well as us Grey Gonads and it was free, not the $38.50 per night campsite a short distance away within the same NP and on the same salt lake. The site we jagged would have been the site we would chosen if the place was empty, so we were pretty chuffed. We looked out over the red-tipped Samphire bushes to the salt lake. The skies were blue, the southerly biting wind came from the other side of the van so the sunshine warmed us on the 'living' side to the van.
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| Lake Crosbie |
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| Salt crytals |
After lunch we headed off to walk along and over this intriguing harsh landscape. What looked like water (actually more like ice) was pure salt - the lake was pure salt. The foreshore was a little sludgy from the winter rains that top up the lake with around 1 cm of additional salt layer each year. From around 1916 the lake was mined and provided around 500 tonnes of salt a day for 4 months a year - enough for 3 million people and very much in demand during the world wars. Mining of the lake ceased in the 1979 after which it became the National Park it is today.
Our walk took us to the now abandoned salt mine. Enormous piles of mined salt, now rock, still exist today but are slowly leaching their way back into the lake as each year passes.
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| Now that's a salt crystal |
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| Old salt mining track into lake |
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| Pure salt |
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| Salt wall |
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| Afternoon drinkies - Lake Crosbie |
Returning home we settled in to watch the sun set over the lake and the near full moon rise from the desert horizon behind us.
It was at this time I started talking to the bloke in the camp beside us. We meet many people on the road and, for me, this couple were one in a million. Bob, a retired high school manual arts teacher, travelled Australia extensively in a tent with his wife. They became "Friends of the Flinders Ranges" in South Australia. He and his wife spent 30 years travelling there to work with the Rangers maintaining and improving the Park. They became lifelong friends with the Rangers, who have now retired. Ten years ago Bob's wife started to show signs of dementia. She deteriorated badly but Bob cared for her. After a while she could no longer safely travel in a tent so he bought a caravan for her so she could still travel. As an artist, she lost her sight but not her passion for the Flinders Ranges. For the last ten months of her life Bob's wife needed full time care and her travelling days to the Flinders ended.
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| Sunset Lake Crosbie |
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| Sand tracks to Mt Crosier |
Up and away early next morning we said farewell to Bob and Lyn as we pointed the car north to see the sights of Murray-Sunset NP. We stopped at numerous other salt lakes, each of which had its own mining industry from the 1920's until the late 1970's. Heading north deeper into the Park our goal was the 80+ metre high sand hill of Mt Crosier.
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| Top of Mt Crosier |
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| Wild ride on old salt mine cart |
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| Kiddies ride on old salt mine cart |
The track slowly became more and more sandy as I became more and more excited while Julie became more and more anxious. 4WD was engaged and away we went along the sandy track through the mulga scrub to Mt Crosier. We climbed it, had morning tea on it and finally left it. We also saw the $38.50 per night camp ground with only one site occupied - our free campground has much better views and is bustling. The $38.50 camps require permits with on-line booking and pre-payment. You can just rock up to the free camps which is what most people want when on the road given they may not have internet access and they prefer to go with the flow re timings. We can't help but think that National Parks Victoria has got it very wrong.
Back at the bottom we looked at the map: 25 klm back the way we came or 50 klm the long way home. 50 klm won because it was longer and totally unknown. The track was sandier and rougher at the start but slowly it became easier as it crossed numerous dried salt lakes before returning us home. Lunch was held and a great event it was. However there was more to explore: more salt lakes, more abandoned salt mines and fields of wildflowers.
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| Salt lake |
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| Wild flowers |
Having experienced the wonderful landscapes of Murray-Sunset NP we returned home to an even busier campground than the night before. We were fine in our little spot but many hopeful campers came and went as the place was full. We saw a couple we had met in Robinvale and chatted to them again for a while. We invited them up for drinks and spent an enjoyable early evening chatting about all our travels and swapping campgrounds to go to.
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| Lake Crosbie campsite views |
The mornings out here were cold - 1 degree followed by 2 degrees. Our gas heater installed last year for Tasmania worked a treat by warming the van up to 18 degrees in the half hour before were ready to get out of bed. Under clear cold skies we reluctantly packed up and said goodbye to Lake Crosbie - it was great mate.
1 October - next National Park on the agenda was Wyperfield located just below Murray-Sunset in northwest Victoria. We wanted to camp there but the Victorian Government didn't want us to as they were still charging $38.50 per night for a bush camp with a drop toilet. On the other hand a little town just south of Wyperfield, called Hopetoun, was interested in us staying there. They have a caravan park with all the usual services for $20 a night, including power and water.
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| Hopetoun CVP |
Next day we explored Wyperfield NP. We did the Mallee Fowl walk and visited one of the bird's enormous nests. Next a climb up to a viewing tower provided us with panoramic views of the Park. We started to drive one of the difficult 4WD sand tracks towards the centre of the park but soon became tired of the never changing landscape so we did a u-turn and headed home.
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| Mallee fowl nest - no birds to be seen |
The number of vans in the caravan park had doubled from last night as a couple had arrived and parked their caravan at the opposite end of the park. We did end up talking to them for a little while late in the afternoon.
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| Lake Victoria, Maryborough walk |
Next destination was Maryborough in central Victoria. This stop was a grocery shop stop and an AFL grand final watch stop. We shopped and watched and both were satisfying.
It is probably a good place to end our story for now. I can see your eyes are getting sleepy so it would be a good time to turn off your computer and leave work to go home for a rest.
Hope you are all well. We are.
JeffnJulie
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