Day 21 – Mildura and Mungo National Park

Today was a brilliant day – two very different adventures, but equally joy-creating.

First up, we started the day slowly. There was no rush to get out of bed, and thankfully the kids didn’t really surface until about 7am this morning. They played their own games for a while, and so Debbie and I didn’t really get out of bed until closer to 8am – bit of a luxury on this trip!

We headed out to Orange World for a mid morning visit and tour. We didn’t initially have this in our plans, but when we noticed the other day that we really didn’t have a lot on this morning, Debbie found this place. It’s a 50 acre working citrus farm, and they offer tours and a heap of amazing information. And we absolutely loved our time here! They gave us a quick intro, and talked through some of the machinery used in citrus picking and sorting – they have a 93 year old machine, very simple, in the shed there where we were as a comparison to the much more technological machines used in bigger packing sheds. We all then jumped into one of the carriages attached to their tractor, and were taken on a great tour around the farm. Our tour guide was Rowena, who also works at the farm, and she talked us through so much information – from how they combat fruit fly (which they’re fighting to eradicate from Sunraysia again currently after so long without it), to how they employ and pay their pickers and the challenges with that, to telling us about the huge variety of citrus that they grow on the farm (but the overwhelming majority are oranges).

When we got back to the cafe and gift shop area after the tour, we decided to enjoy a bit of their orange gelato (the kids had jaffa), and we grabbed a couple of other things too. We were looking forward to grabbing a jar of orange blossom honey from their bees as well – but remembering we’re only about 4 days away from heading to Kangaroo Island (where you can’t take any honey at all), we opted for some marmalade instead.

After some time back at our cabin for lunch and to organise a few snacky-type things for a car dinner tonight, we jumped back in the car for a long drive out to Mungo National Park. The Mungo area is fairly isolated – it’s a good 90 minutes away from Mildura, and that’s essentially the only sign of life (aside from one farm we saw on our way out) until you get there. The road out to Mungo is… well, let’s call it rough. There were parts that were nice wide and reasonably smooth dirt, but there was also a lot of rough patches, and plenty of unfenced parts of the road too!

We arrived with a bit of time to spare before our 4:30pm tour, so we wandered around the Visitors Centre (which was full of more information that we could get through in the time we had!), and then over to the old shearing quarters that have been restored. It was incredible to realise that there was a settlement here nearly 100 years ago – plenty of families lived on the land, and even held dances and parties in the shearing shed! And here we were, a long way from any form of “town” or people living (aside from the park rangers, and people staying at the Lodge down the road).

As 4:30 rolled around, it was time for our guided tour of the Walls of China. We knew we were going to be taken out to the incredible dunes that surround Lake Mungo – but more than that, we didn’t know much more about what to expect. We followed our NPWS tour guide down the 5km or so from the Visitors Centre out the Walls carpark where we kicked off the tour. Tanya was our tour guide, and she introduced herself as a Mutthi Mutthi woman, and welcomed us to country. What followed was an incredible journey of learning and understanding from Tanya about the significance of the dunes that stretched out in front of us – it was so much information, and felt so surreal at times that it bordered on overwhelming.

It was wonderful to hear that nothing happens in the Mungo National Park without consultation and agreement from all three tribes for whom Lake Mungo is sacred – the NPWS, along with the World Heritage Area, all consult with elders from the tribes.

We walked down the boardwalk to the Walls viewing platform – the same path and viewing area that anyone can come and look at any day. But we were then taken beyond that, and down onto the base of the dunes. And this is where it started to feel surreal – having been told (and having partially known myself) how incredibly sacred and important this land is to the people who own it, it was a humbling moment to be able to walk on it.

We would walk on a little way, and Tanya would then share some information with us. We were showed some of the sites where significant discoveries have been found, including fireplaces and tools – some of them even still sitting on the ground right there in front of us! A lot of the discoveries that have been found have been covered back up and left where they are – it was amazing to see Tanya just know where they all were. And she wasn’t just being “tour guide” and pointing out cool things to us; she was sharing so much about how her people have used this land, and what these discoveries mean about how her ancestors lived on this land.

We kept walking further and further – each time, I thought we’d be turning back soon. But we didn’t. We were invited to walk up the dunes all the way to the top. The weather had been amazing today, so the sunset we were able to stand and watch was just spectacular. We stayed up the top of the dunes for a while, had a bit of a look over the back out into the wetlands (as Tanya called it, her people’s supermarket!), and the kids were even invited to just run around and have fun on the big open space at the top. Tanya was really trusting of us being respectful of the area, and it was an honour to be standing there and taking it all in. Please excuse the photo dump that follows – but there were so many great photos that I wanted to share, in the hope that it conveys even a portion of the beauty.

Eventually, with the sun below the horizon, it was time to head back down off the dunes. There wasn’t really much more that Tanya shared – which was probably fine if I’m honest, because there’d been so much to take in over the hour or so before then that I don’t know my brain had room to try and understand anything more.

I said it earlier – but surreal really is the best way to describe the time we were able to spend out there tonight. Not only from the sheer beauty of the dunes and watching the sun set over them, but from all that Tanya shared with us about the people who lived on and used this land 30,000+ years ago. And more than that, it was her people, and all the personal journeying that came with that.

By the time we drove from the carpark back to the Visitors Centre, it was essentially dark – thankfully the toilets were still open. We got the kids set up with the few snack things we’d bought out earlier in the day: some hommus and biscuits, a few veggies, and some cheese and cabanossi. An easy dinner of things they like for them to have in the car. And then we set off.

It was a tense and tough drive home – so dark that you think your high beams are just your normal headlights. It was nerve-wracking the whole way, knowing that it was unfenced roads, plus the expectation of a kangaroo jumping across the road. Thankfully we made it along the 90km without any hassle. We did have to jump on the brakes a couple of time for some sheep – one in particular was three sheep with their lambs right beside them, and they weren’t moving until their lambs moved first, which was a bit cute. A few kangaroos alongside the road, but none that wanted to play chicken tonight. It was definitely one of those difficult drives that leaves you feeling mentally exhausted.

Need to sleep well tonight though – tomorrow, we say farewell to Victoria!