Melbourne

Well we are finally all packed and ready to go tomorrow, hopefully first thing around 10.00am or so.
First stop Campbell's Creek to see the Gissings.

MELBOURNE TO MILDURA AND MUNGO NATIONAL PARK - 16/5/16 to 22/5/16
HW
After our final preparations we left home mid morning and drove to Campbells Creek (near Castlemaine) and had lunch with our friends the Gissings before continuing to Ararat where we stopped for the night at a caravan park. Next day off again to Ouyen via Horsham through the flat wheat and barley country which looked pretty dry and barren. There was a tinge of green in some of the paddocks as a result of some rain which came across a week or two ago. We drove through the very small town of Brim, north of Horsham, where an artist has painted portraits of four local identities on the huge grain silos beside the road. They looked very impressive.

After an overnight stay at Ouyen caravan park we continued north through the Mallee scrub country and arrived in Mildura at lunch time and checked into a caravan park on the N.S.W side of the Murray where we had views across to the old Mildura Wharf. We strolled along the river walk and watched the paddle steamer Melbourne going through lock 11, and then on to the pioneering Chaffey family’s historic homestead and cemetery before making our way back past more lovely old homes.

The next day we did a day trip to Wentworth to check out the confluence (new word for me!) of the Darling and Murray rivers. We also had a look around the old Wentworth Goal (1879) which interestingly was used as a school after it ceased being a prison. Now it’s just a very well preserved tourist attraction.

Our drive to Mungo national park next day was on mostly dirt roads but fortunately they had been recently graded and weren’t too rough. There were sections of gravel also and Frank will add his thoughts later…. We had pre-booked a guided tour to the famous Walls of China on the eastern side of this huge dry lake-bed and we met our Aboriginal guide at the visitor centre before boarding the small bus for the very rough ride over the 11km distance. We learned about the remains of Mungo Man and Mungo Woman (58,000 and 32,000 years old respectively) which were found here and basically re-wrote the history books about the Aboriginal history of Australia. Our guide provided lots of information and even sang a few songs and played guitar for our small group at the top of a big sand hill at the end of our tour. We camped for two nights at the campground where the only facilities are long-drop toilets and barbeques but we met some nice people and enjoyed our time around the campfire at night. The gravel caravan sites were excellent. The following day we walked to a lookout overlooking the lake which has been dry for thousands of years and is now covered in low-growing blackbush. We also went on a foreshore walk around the western side of the lake where there were plenty of roos feeding on the small grass shoots which have appeared since the rain which came through the area a week ago.

FW
After the experiences of the trip to Cape York I decided to make some alterations to the van in an effort to minimise the dust issue, namely the collection of dust on the back of the van and the intrusion of the dust into every opening along the side of the van.
Well I can say that overall my efforts were unsuccessful. The dust we encountered up here is more like talcum powder than dust and at some areas the front of the caravan was not visible through the rear vision mirrors as we drove along.
As Heather mentioned the Main Camp caravan park was laid out with designated parking bays for caravans all on gravel hard stands. The sites are on a first in best dressed basis and payment is on the Honesty system.
Heather also mentioned we booked a tour in Mildura with Parks NSW to The Walls of China but no one from Parks turned up. Luckily a ranger from Parks came to the Mungo NP visitor centre and I had a chat with him and he managed to contact a private business called The Lodge and they sent one of their guides who included our group on a tour of the Wall. Needless to say all concerned especially the private operators were scathing of Parks NSW.Read more