Outback NSW

After nearly a week in Australia and not even a glimpse a kangaroo I was beginning to think they might just be one big Aussie hoax. To try and resolve this once and all we decided to head to the outback to find some. After loading the car up with 15 litres of emergency water we headed out west on the Stuart Highway. The plan was to just keep going until we got too tired. 800km and 8 hours later we decided it was time to stop. Luckily this also coincided with a reasonably large town with plenty of motels.














Our home for the night was Mildura, which sitting on the banks the River Murray, is an incredibly fertile area. After hours of driving through a semi-desert environment with, well, pretty much nothing to see for miles, it is a bit of a surprise to see endless hectares of citrus orchards and vineyards. As a result of the importance of fruit in this area a Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone has been established. As you approach you are bombarded with signs asking you to eat or throw away all your fruit and that not doing so risks a maximum $10,000 fine. Richard refused to ditch the tomatoes, and was busily practising the “tomatoes are fruit? Really?” line.

Our intended destination was Mungo National Park, so the next day we made the 110km journey out into the wilderness. Finally, this was the Australia I had imagined – flat, red arid landscape complete with the odd rusty broken down car and not much else. The road to Mungo is unsurfaced but is pretty good quality so is not too much of a problem unless you get stuck in a rut or brake to quickly. Although, if it rains it is apparently impassable.















As accommodation is limited within the park, and as a treat for my birthday, we checked in to the relatively luxurious Mungo Lodge. We were very privileged to be the only guests, and it would have been pretty perfect sitting on the verandah drinking G&T and watching the wallabies jump past if it was for the darn flies. OK, they weren't kangaroos but close enough.










The big draw of Mungo is an area of white sand dunes, known as The Walls of China. These were once the banks of a now long dried up lake. The area is viewed by completing a 70km driving loop. After only passing one car the entire day you realise that carrying that spare water wasn't a stupid idea after all. The Mungo area has World Heritage status given it has been inhabited continuously for over 400 centuries and has the oldest archaeological finds in Australia including human skeletons dating back 46,000 years or possibly even more. I, however, was much more excited by the animal inhabitants and was able to get up close and personal with the wallabies and catching a fleeting sight of an emu. The Walls of China are best photographed at dawn and sunset so we headed back in the evening to catch the event. Unfortunately the flies also decided to join us.














Having not yet had our fill of the outback we decided to drive to Broken Hill. This is mere 300km north of Mildura on a road with practically no bends and nothing to see. Our first though on arrival was why on earth we were there. Being a mining town (sliver, lead and zinc) it certainly isn't pretty. It really does feel like you have come to the back of beyond – which is of course it's attraction. We paid a quick visit to Silverton, now a virtual ghost town, which is home to a pub which was featured in many films and adverts, most notably Mad Max II and the XXXX adds. Again, this allows for many photo opportunities of the Australian outback that you imagine.














It being my birthday we ventured out in the evening to one of the most popular clubs in town. With rows upon rows of slot machines and a country music band made up of local teachers this was a pretty classy affair. I was actually greeted by someone with: “you're not from 'round here are you”. However, after a few too many G&Ts, we got into the spirit, chatted with the locals and boogied on the dance floor – hopefully making it worth having to do the return 300km journey the next day.