Day 3 – September 3 2012

This morning after a leisurely breakfast we were at the Mungo Lake Visitor Centre by 8.45am just as it opened to pay our camp & vehicle fees.  The display was small, yet interesting, explaining the history of the lake from 120,000 years ago until now, with the various stages of drying up & filling over the centuries.  The nearby Mungo Woolshed was impressive, made of local cypress pine & still standing after being built in 1869 & withstanding the ravages of time.  The original steam engine that drove the 30 stand shearing line is still sitting where it was left inside the shed after it was replaced by the newer, smaller engine to drive the new 5 stand shearing line after the new shearing technology was introduced.

We headed off on the self-guided drive tour across the 4km wide dry bed of Lake Mungo to the lunette side of the lake named the “Walls of China”.  They are certainly dominant rising around 30 metres & multi-coloured signifying the differing periods of the Lake’s history.  The erosion is very pronounced & there are thousands of fossils lying around exposed by the erosion.  The rough dirt road went over the lake dunes with stops at varying places of interest.  One of these was Vigar’s Wells, a natural water soak that was used by the Cobb & Co coaches in the late 1800s.  Amazing the hardships these people endured travelling outback, I would hate to think what it would be like here on a hot summer day.  It is in the middle of absolute nowhere.  The next stop of interest was the ruins of the old Zanci Homestead, complete with a dugout to escape the summer heat & store provisions.

Finally back to Mungo Visitor Centre & camp after 70km of rough dirt road.  A quite relax & read, then a walk of the Grasslands loop again.  We had an emu wander past as we were sitting having cheese & some more “Favourite Son” red wine, it was totally unconcerned about us.

As we arrived at Lake Mungo I was taken back a bit!  NO WATER just a big flat round area covered with saltbushes mainly, in the distance some sand dunes – so I asked IS THIS WHY WE TRAVELLED 2 days through mostly desolate country?  The drive & walks turned out quite pleasant, peaceful & interesting. When we reached the Lunette area it was like seeing through the “Curiosity” as it probes around Mars.  The erosions look out of this world.  We had a very pleasant time but I am very glad that we are not here in the middle of summer.  This is the problem with Australia – it is such a big country & most of the time you have to drive for a long way before you get to the most unreal places.