From Broken Hill, we passed through Menindee once more to join the Darling River again, so we could continue downstream to our next stop….. Pooncarie. Fortunately the temperature had dropped for the trip giving us a temporary reprieve from the heat…
Pooncarie is a tiny village, comprising of just 40 inhabitants living in town with a further 40 living in the surrounding area. The community is also home to an awesome “multipurpose park”. Combining a sporting oval, toilets, showers and picnic and camping spots on the banks of the Darling River for use by visitors to town.
After getting the tent up, we had a shower ($1 for 5 minutes of hot water – pressure was on or cold shower!). Due to strong winds, we then decided it was easier to eat out instead of battling winds to keep our stove alight!! So off we headed across the local golf course toward the pub for dinner…
Arriving at the Pooncarie Hotel we had some cold beers, delicious pizza and the opportunity to meet and greet the locals! We also paid our $10 camping fee at the pub to cover our stay in the multi-purpose park.
Just couldn’t resist… creative advert on the hotel noticeboard to sell sheep!! Oh dear…
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- The Pooncarie multi-purpose park is our home tonight… once again sleeping under the red gums beside the Darling River…
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- A lot less water in the Darling River after Menindee as water is being held back in the lakes to avoid major flooding further downstream…
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- Downstream view of the Darling River from our campsite…
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- Interesting facts are sign posted about the ‘Darling River Run’ at various stops along the river.
Before completing ‘The Run’, we deviated again for another must see side trip – This time Mungo National Park
The park has great structure, allowing for some awesome hiking and also, a 70km self-driven route to enjoy and learn Mungo’s history…
On the 7km Pastoral Heritage hike… Anthony’s backpack with extra weight (a million flies can’t be wrong… if they love it, so do we!!) 😉
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- The remains of the Zanci sheep station homestead, pretty much only the fireplace remains.
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- This is the homestead dugout, used for keeping supplies and the family cool during hot Summer days…
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- Tractors and earth moving equipment from times gone by… left as they once were parked…
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- A little finch living in the dugout where it’s coolest!!
The historic Mungo Woolshed and sheep yards… stunning!!
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- The building was constructed in about 1869 of locally harvested cypress pine and was reduced in size in 1922 to reflect the reduction in shearers required as technology improved. As you walk around, you can smell a very distinctive smell; sheep smells remain attached to the wood this many years since it’s had sheep in it!!
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- Shearing as it once was… this historical woolshed walk through explains how shearing was done in the old days… separating sheep to each shearer, their workstations and where wool would be separated and kept…
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- The timbers display some incredible textures.
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- Wool station, where wool was sorted…before being pressed into bales for market.
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- Steam engine to run shearing machinery… latest technology 😉
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- The colours, textures and smells makes you travel back in time…
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- A family of finches living in woolshed…
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- Their babies are hungry, screaming for more food!!
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- Mum and dad alternate in feeding the youngster ones!! Too cute!!
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- UNESCO World Heritage, part of the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Area, is comprised of a chain of ancient dried-up lakebeds and sand dunes…
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- Scientists have discovered artifacts of this ancient aboriginal culture dating back over 40,000 years across the expanses of the last ice age.
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- This makes Mungo one of the oldest places outside of Africa to have been occupied by modern humans since ancient times.
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- I wish I was more skilled with the camera… my pics don’t do justice to this amazingly great landscape!!
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- The remains of Mungo Man, the oldest human remains discovered in Australia, and Mungo Lady, the oldest known human to have been ritually cremated, were both discovered within the park.
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- They were buried on the shore of Lake Mungo, beneath the ‘Walls of China’, a series of lunettes on the South eastern edge of the lake.
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- Lunch break whilst driving the 70km track around Mungo National Park… Sand dunes that goes forever… pics do not make you justice!! 🙁
Our final destination on the ‘Darling River Run’… Wentworth, where the Darling joins the Murray River!!
Behind us is the Darling river but the Murray was also in flood upon our arrival, so water from the Murray River was being pushed up the Darling…
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- Note the Murray River has a sandy bottom, giving this dark coffee like colour… as opposed to the Darling, that has clay bottom, giving it a more muddy colour.
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- Murray waters are still rising, and it hadn’t reached its peak at Wentworth yet!!
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- Waters have been rising while in Wentworth with the river level creeping up 10cm every 24 hours!!
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- Our campsite was next to the river and we were informed that if we wanted to stay another night, we would have to move our car to higher grounds!!
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- Visiting the weirs (controlling water flow) and locks (allowing boats to travel upstream through the weir)!!
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- Murray waters running fast and powerful!! Human beings controlling water levels… just amazing!!
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- The river water level was so high when we visited that boats could just go over it… without using the lock!! Birds seem to be loving it!!
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- I was also reading that fishways are also part of this immense structure… it is a clever system that permits the movement of fish upstream and downstream by either allowing them to pass through or around the structure.
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- Flooding marker… locals are expecting the flood water to peak around the same level as in 1992!!
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- The Murray River… we are in NSW with Victoria on the other side!
