Mungo Outback & Conservation Journey, Victoria & New South Wales

Make your own way fly or self-drive to your Mildura Accommodation. Check in at the hotel is available from 2pm. Your Guide will meet you at the hotel in the evening and will provide a trip briefing. Accommodation: Quality Hotel Mildura Grand (or similar)

Breakfast at hotel. Hattah-Kulkyne NP contains some exceptionally diverse examples of Australia’s semi-arid zones. Situated on a floodplain of the Murray River and extending into the red sand dunes of the Mallee deserts this park has a little of everything. Ephemeral lakes are the key feature of this 48,000 hectare park; the water levels of these lakes ebb and flow with the years – attracting a wide and diverse range of wildlife. Hattah-Kulkyne is also famous for its birdlife and incredibly diverse dryland vegetation. Today we’ll head south from Mildura and spend all day in this magnificent park. We’ll document the condition of the lakes and search for some of its most elusive species including the Mallee emu-wren, the mallee fowl and numerous other species of parrots and cockatoos. We’ll also keep an eye out for reptiles including geckos, skinks, snakes and the shy and beautifully marked sand goanna. Depending on seasonal conditions we may visit other ephemeral wetlands en route back to Mildura to look for waterfowl and waders. Accommodation: Quality Hotel Mildura Grand (or similar) Breakfast and lunch provided.

After breakfast, we head Outback but before we do we explore the Murray River and associated billabongs (waterholes). Sometimes large numbers of parrots, cockatoos and other birds are seen here as they arrive out of the desert looking for food and water near the rivers. In the afternoon we depart the Murray and head out into arid lands towards Lake Mungo. En route we enter the vast – 2400sq.km – Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area (WHA) and walk along an ancient ‘fossilised’ watercourse that gave its name to this gigantic lake system. This is the Willandra Creek that, like the entire system, has been dry for 18,000 years. Later we enter Mungo National Park – within the WHA – and watch the sunset over the dry bed of Lake Mungo, a magical experience. Here you will learn how the Willandra Lakes System dried out over thousands of years as the climate warmed. Because the country is flat, any rise places you on top of a world that stretches from you direct to an endless 360 degree horizon. We often have our first sightings of desert parrots and cockatoos and the marvellous macropods: western-grey kangaroos and red kangaroos. Accommodation: Mungo Lodge (3 nights) Breakfast, lunch and dinner provided.

(Note: this is the itinerary for Days 4 & 5) Breakfast at the lodge. Why the Mungo Outback is special? Australian Aboriginal People have lived and hunted beside Lake Mungo for 50,000 years. Mungo National Park is the site of the oldest cremation of any human – dating back 50,000 years. The region has been continuously occupied by Aboriginal People since that time – the longest known occupation of any land by any people on earth. Ongoing research found the area to be so important it was listed as a World Heritage Area in 1981. Mungo National Park also offers a unique insight into climate change, its effect on human habitation and the environment over many thousands of years. Mungo National Park is also home to many arid land animals and birds including kangaroos, rare parrots and cockatoos, birds of prey, reptiles and many others. Skeletal remains of extinct marsupials, the forebears of Australia’s unique suite of wildlife, are still found around Lake Mungo. Today the land boasts two of Australia’s five species of great kangaroos, many rare and beautiful parrots, birds of prey, reptiles and a rich arid land flora. Discovering Mungo National Park Over the next two days we will explore Mungo National Park in detail on a journey that will help you appreciate the enormous significance of this region to human and wildlife history. The park itself covers over 1,110 km² surrounding the ancient bed of Lake Mungo. Now dry, Lake Mungo has been a living place for Aboriginal people for at least 50,000 years. The dunes beside the lake have eroded to expose the oldest human living site on earth which is the main reason for the creation of the World Heritage Area. Another reason for WHA status is a unique layer of exposed megafauna skeletal remains that tell of a cooler, wetter time in Australia when giant marsupials and Aboriginal people coexisted beside a magnificent freshwater lake system. Lake Mungo was a massive overflow from the Willandra Lakes system which, before the system dried, had an inlet but no outlet. On a series of walks and drives we’ll investigate the wildlife of this place including an amazing number of birds (including emus), two species of kangaroos, reptiles and a remarkable variety of desert vegetation. We travel through a diverse array of habitats varying from dense mallee woodlands, cypress pine/buloke woodlands, mulga scrub and vast expanses of saltbush. Huge white sand dunes rise high above the dry lake beds and have been eroded in some areas allowing burrowing birds like the white-backed swallow to build their nests. We often see pink cockatoos and occasional cockatiels in this region along with chats and arid land fairy wrens. The crested bellbird is often heard and sometimes seen. Raptors including the spotted harrier, black falcon, grey falcon and wedge-tailed eagle are known to nest in the area. There is a possibility of seeing malleefowl but they are extremely rare. Emus are abundant. During our journey we drive across the dry bed of Lake Mungo to lunettes (wind-curved sand dunes) to begin a “story line” through 50,000 years of Aboriginal History beginning at the lake bed and rising high into the eroded dunes. You will learn about the people who lived at this place, see evidence of their campsites, view the remains of their cooking fires and, depending on the movement of the sand and soil, you may even help with the discovery of new sites! Your guide will also point out evidence of extinct fauna. It will become obvious that this now dry arid area was once a thriving wetland where large numbers of waterbirds and animals co-existed beside a vibrant population of Aboriginal people for tens of thousands of years. Where people lived they also died and not far from where you will be walking is the oldest recorded human cremation in the world. Burial sites continue to be exposed throughout the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area and are monitored carefully by Traditional Owners to minimise disturbance and engender respect for their ancestors. Due to the sacred nature of these burial sites they are not accessible to the general public. As we travel we’ll stop often to search for birds and other animals and learn about the vegetation in this constantly changing landscape. You have the opportunity to climb high into the huge Mungo dunefield for stunning views across the desert. Accommodation Day 4 & Day 5: Mungo Lodge Breakfast, lunch and dinner provided (Day 4 & 5).

See Day 4 for full description of Days 4 & 5

After a final breakfast at Mungo Lodge we drive out of the desert to visit the confluence of Australia’s two longest rivers, the Murray and the Darling (Barka), at Wentworth. From here it’s back to Mildura airport or city hotel where you bid farewell around midday. Breakfast provided. Note: This itinerary represents the most current information for this itinerary, including but not limited to the itinerary and price. The itinerary should be seen as a guide only. This itinerary may change at any time due to inclement weather, forces of nature and other circumstances beyond our control. Please refer to our terms and conditions for more information.