World Heritage listed Mungo National Park is situated 110km north-east of Mildura and hold a remarkable record of Aboriginal life dating back 40 000 years. The lakes are home to a wide variety of birds and animal life. Another highlight is the incredible Walls of China - a 30km crescent of orange and white dune earth formations.
The park is part of the dried-up Willandra Lakes System, a UNESCO World Heritage area in recognition of its Aboriginal legacy and record of past climates preserved in the landscape. The Willandra Lakes contain the longest continuous record of Aboriginal life in Australia, dating back more than forty thousand years. During the Ice Ages, between forty thousand and fifteen thousand years ago, the system formed a vast chain of freshwater lakes strung along Willandra Creek, then the main channel of the Lachlan River, flowing into the Murrumbidgee. The waters teemed with fish, attracting waterbirds and mammals, while Aborigines camped at the shores of the lake to fish and hunt, and buried their dead in the sand dunes. When the lakes started drying out fifteen thousand years ago, Aborigines continued to live near soaks along the old river channel.
The park covers most of one of these dry lake beds, and its dominant feature is a great, crescent-shaped dune (a lunette), at the eastern edge of the lake, commonly referred to as the Walls of China. Elsewhere, the vegetation consists of saltbush on the lake floors and mallee (a low-growing, scrubby type of eucalypt) on the dune fields. Casuarinas grow on the sand plains, and western grey and red kangaroos can sometimes be seen.
The visitors centre (tel 03/5023 1278), by the southwest entrance to the park, has a very informative display about the geological and Aboriginal history of the national park, and nearby the impressive old Mungo Woolshed is open for inspection. From there it’s a short drive to the lookout point on the rim of the lake, the former shore, from where you can look across the dry lakebed to the Walls of China. A signposted track takes you on a return trip across the lake floor to the Walls of China, then over the dune and to the northwest part of the park. At sunset, or on nights with a full moon, the scenery takes on an eerie, otherworldly quality.
If you want to stay nearby, beds in the former shearers’ quarters, or at NPWS campsites in the park, can be booked in advance through the visitors centre. Otherwise, try Mungo Lodge on Arumpo Road (tel 03/5029 7297; $61–74), which has motel units and self-contained cottages as well as a licensed restaurant.