Day 9 Silverton to Mutawintji National Park

As we enjoyed the facilities at the campsite we had a slow and relaxed start this morning.

We drove the 2 minutes into Silverton town centre and were amazed. It was the tiniest and cutest little outback place ever! Apparently lots of movies have been filmed here like Mad Max 2. We parked the car next to the hotel and walked around this quirky town. The few people living here really know how to amuse and occupy the tourists with their art and humour.

We spend about an hour here before driving back to Broken Hill. Here we filled up fuel and drove on to the airport. No, not to take a scenic flight, but to visit the Royal Australian Flying Doctors. Here we were just in time to do a guided tour ($ 7 pp). It was great to get a bit of insight in their history and services.

After finishing the tour, movie and museum we decided to hit the road to our next campsite. The drive to Mutawintji National Park took around two hours. Part of the road was sealed but the last 75 km was unsealed. Again we saw heaps and heaps of emus and wild goats. We both can’t recall seeing that many when we were backpacking in Australia years ago.

When we arrived at Mutawintji National Park it seemed desolated, we had the massive campsite to ourselves. Fortunately a bit later some more campers arrived. I don’t like campsites crowded but if you are in the middle of nowhere I always find it comforting to have others around.

We had a relaxed evening, doing some reading, drawing and cooking. We aim to be at the campsite around 4 pm so we can actually enjoy some time for these things before it gets dark.

Cooking spaghetti was a bit of a challenge tonight as the ants were really determined. They were everywhere!!

Day 8 Wentworth to Silverton

It was freezing this morning… 10 degrees actually but it felt freezing anyway J

The sun was just breaking through whilst we had breakfast. There were heaps of fish jumping in the river and lots of pelicans trying to catch them.

After brekkie we had a quick stop at the Darling and Murray River junction. It’s the place where Australia’s two biggest rivers come together.

After fuelling up the car and water we drove to the Perry Sand Dunes (red sand dunes). We walked around for a bit and took some pictures. There were heaps of wild melons growing around the area. Unfortunately they are not edible.

Now it was time to start the long and boring drive to Broken Hill. It’s a about 200 km and there is hardly anything to see.

 The only few things we noticed were heaps of wild goats, a few emu’s and a tree covered in bra’s(?).

It was a welcome change to drive into Broken Hill. This New South Wales outback town in known for its silver, zinc and lead mining. The town centre is literally built around, on top of and between the mines.

After visiting the Visitor Information Centre we drove to the main street. Although there wasn’t much going on, there were actually some really nice old buildings.

We had some lunch at Subway and then went on to do some grocery shopping, with a stop at a lookout in between.

There weren’t much camping options around so we decided to drive 25 km to a little town called Silverton where we checked in at Penrose Park Campground. It’s a bit of a mixture between a proper camping and a basic campsite. The $20 camping fees provide for proper toilets, showers, a camp kitchen and much needed laundry facilities.

Day 7 Mungo NP to Wentworth

We set the alarm for 7am this morning and we were up 15 minutes later. We had a quick coffee and packed up our stuff. It was cloudy and cold this morning. Therefor we were extra keen to get to the Visitors Information Center because they had free hot showers available. Yay!

After having a shower we signed up for the Mungo guided tour, where the ancient heritage is shared by the people who have lived the landscape for over 45.000 years.

The tour started at 9 am and an aboriginal tour guide took us to the ‘Walls of China’ (large sand dunes which you are only allowed on with a guide). During the tour we learned a lot about the history of the environment which in the old days used to be a massive lake. There’s lots of erosion taking place revealing bones, relics and footprints preserved in clay from thousands and thousands of years ago. We also learned about ‘bush tucker’ which is the ‘wild’ food from the land that aboriginal people eat. The weather wasn't the best for taking pictures but the tour was great!

Back at the parking lot we decided to do the self-guided driving tour of 70 km that took us a bit further into the National Park. The drive was pleasant with a few nice views along the way. We saw heaps and heaps of emu’s (one of them ran along next to our car for a bit). Emu’s are large birds, more or less like ostriches.

We had a lunch stop at the end of the drive at the Zanci Homestead. From there we headed for Pooncarie, 80 km back to civilisation. Nothing much too see there, so we drove on to Wentworth (110km).

In Wentworth we bought some food for dinner and the visited the Old Wentworth goal ($8 pp). This prison dates back to 1880 and is still in a remarkable good state.

Back at the car we discovered we were only 5 minutes away from a basic camp site (Thegoa Lagoon) so we decided to check it out. Again a campsite next to the river J

 

Day 6 Mildura to Mungo NP

Getting up early has its advantages, there are less flies and the day seems longer. Big disadvantage this morning was the cold though. Nevertheless we enjoyed a coffee but decided to hit the road shortly after and have breakfast a bit later.

First we visited the old Pump house near our campsite. Then we did some quick shopping as we still needed jerry cans (to carry extra fuel in remote areas) and a new portable gas stove.

By then we were hungry and therefore we drove to the Mildura Port Warf where we prepared a delicious brekkie in the morning sun with a great view over The Murray River. Yes again the same river! It’s Australia’s largest river and it just doesn’t seem to end!!

We walked besides the river for a bit before driving to the Tourist Information Centre. Here we gathered some information about ‘Mungo National Park’ as this is was our next destination.

We filled up the fuel tank before we had a quick stop at the Mildura Botanical Gardens. The highlight here were the rose gardens, there were many varieties which were all flowering.

Then it was time to face our first long distance gravel road to Mungo National Park. The road is about 100 km long and most of it is unsealed (no asphalt). The conditions of the road were pretty good. The only things that left an impression were a big truck that passed us with quite a bit of speed from the opposite direction leaving us ‘blind’ in a mighty dust cloud for a few minutes and a massive farming machine that we had to pass a bit later. It was gigantic! But I guess the size of the farming land is massive too in these regions.

Once we arrived in Mungo NP we drove straight to the Information Center. Mungo NP is sacred aboriginal land and listed as World Heritage. The area is rich in archaeological artefacts dating all the way back to around 50.000 years ago. The information centre has a nice display on the history of the park and its inhabitants.

We paid the park and camping fees ($ 17 in total) and took a little walk. We saw heaps of kangaroos and an old woolshed.

Then it was time to set up camp. 2 km from the centre is the main campsite which is great with lots of spacious and well maintained sites. We had our own picnic table with a roof and a fire pit. There were some kangaroos hopping around. Idyllic!

Day 5 Nyah to Kings Billabong Wildlife Reserve

We had a late start this morning. After breakfast we drove to Robinvale. It took a while before we got there. The distances between civilisations are definitely becoming more significant.

With lots of sun hours this area of Victoria is well known for its fruit and vegetables produce. Also there are lots of wineries.

Robinvale is a tiny town but we found a public shower next to the tourist information building! A most welcome surprise as temperatures around here makes you sweaty without even doing anything.

After we felt human again we had a wander through the main street of town.

Back in the car we drove to the historic large windmill. With its 18.3 m stand it is apparently the largest wind mill of the Southern Hemisphere.  

We continued our trip to Mildura and arrived here half way during the afternoon. We did some grocery shopping and headed to Red Cliffs, about 13 km south east of Mildura. Our goal was to see the Red Cliffs that the town was named after. From the car park it was a 200 metre walk. The Red Cliffs were an absolute joke and if you could already speak of cliffs, the boardwalk didn’t allow you to get any closer than 20 metres away. Oh well, bummer!

It was time to find a camp spot. It took a bit of 4wd driving along the Murray River (yes again!) but we managed to find a nice spot next to Kings Billabong. A welcome change of scenery from camping next to the river for the last couple of days! 

Track our journey on a map

In case you haven't noticed a new link has appeared on the right side of this blog. Under 'About me' you find 'Track our Trip'. Click on  'click here to see a map'. This link will redirect you to a map with pins that show our journey so far.