Monday 11 July 2011

Lake Mungo


We've been to Lake Mungo before but it's a magnet really. You cannot be anywhere near the place and not go there, so we called in on our way to Broken Hill and ended up staying the night. Pink Cockatoos and Apostlebirds entertained us while we ate breakfast, Mallee Ringnecks searched for seeds on the ground near our campsite and a Pied Butcherbird serenaded beautifully. We have plans to go back with friends in spring (one day) to explore the park properly. It deserves more than a fleeting visit.

On the way in we drove though Lake Arumpo (don't worry, it's been dry for thousands of years) and then drove over the highest lunette in world (if the tourist brochure is to be believed) that embraces the eastern side of the lake.



And wasn't the mallee a 'sight for sore eyes'! It's looking good. Some of the plants are flowering, including several of the mallee eucalypts, a ballart and a senna. I breathe in deeply and feel like a real Aussie.




Then today we met the Darling at Pooncarie and drove north on the floodplain to Menindee Lakes and then to Broken Hill. We saw quite a few emus north of Menindee so they've managed to survive the drought or breed up quickly since it started to rain again. The plains are covered in saltbush of various colours and we carefully crossed the grids that separated each large paddock and avoided several mobs of sheep along the way. North of Pooncarie we tuned our UHF to a light plane pilot guiding several motorbike riders as they mustered sheep for shearing - one guy kept leading his mob off in the wrong direction and had to be corrected several times. We agreed that the pilot's language was a lot less 'colourful' than that of the truckie we'd heard earlier in the day!*#^@

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

We have plans to go back with friends in spring (one day) to explore the park properly.

FRIENDS!! FRIENDS!! A relative by marriage and a sister in law and we are just classified as friends. Wait a minute. Perhaps we are being snubbed for some other snooty nosed ring in from field nats!

Disgusted of Warrandyte

Anonymous said...

lake Mungo is certainly a place to be visited again..which we hope to do at some future time.
Broken Hill has its own special "feeling" even though its glory days are well in the past. great pictures, thanks.W

Boobook said...

Dear Disgusted of Warrandyte (aka The Black Sheep)
Had you considered the possibilty that a) we might be going twice - with friends and relatives b) that you should consider it a privilege that we thought of you as friends - note the past tense - and c) that the qualifier 'one day' usually means that it will probably never happen?
Hugs anyway, Boobook

Boobook said...

And, I don't think someone who hails from Warrandyte can call field field nats 'snooty nosed'.

Gouldiae said...

G'day Boobook,
I'm green - the colour of envy!
Gouldiae.

Jules said...

Only last week I was trying to convince our camping party we need to go to Lake Mungo.