Mallee deserts, Victoria and NSW

Murray-Sunset and Hattah-Kulkyne National Parks

This winter was unusually rainy in Victoria. Many desert areas are currently covered with wildflowers and lots of dry lakes actually have water in them, some for the first time in more than ten years. With spring in the air, we decided it was a perfect time for a trip to the outback, to the Mallee area of Victoria and New South Wales.

The first stop was Murray-Sunset, Victoria's second largest national park. The park is mostly semi-arid area of rolling hills covered by sparsely spaced trees and shrub, and salt lakes of constantly changing pink hues. The somewhat predictably named Pink Lakes owe their colour to the tiny algae living in them (the algae produces the same protein that is contained in carrots to protect itself from the sun, so the lakes look is if they were filled with carrot juice).

The lakes are filled with very salty underground water during winter. Over summer the water evaporates revealing a new layer of salt. The salt was commercially mined between 1916 - 1979. An interesting evidence of the harshness of Australian nature was an attempt to built a railroad to transport salt from the lakes to the main road, the distance of 15 kilometers. Within a year of completion the railroad was abandoned as operating the trains in the temperatures consistently above 40 degrees and keeping the tracks clear of shifting sand was too difficult. The trains were replaced with camels, and the new low-tech arrangement worked much better.

Our next stop was Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, which contains a series of intermittent freshwater lakes. These lakes are filled seasonally by floodwaters coming from the Murray river through a system of interconnected creeks and lakes. This is not the most scenic park I've ever seen, but it is really lovely and is teaming with birds, especially when all lakes are flooded as this year.

Lake Mungo

Just an hour drive north of Hattah-Kulkyne NP is Midura, a sleepy regional center on the border between Victoria and NSW. One of the locals we spoke to was complaining that the character of the city is changing and it is becoming yet another fast-paced city. However, Mildura's definition of fast-paced is still in a rather slow lane - driving through the major intersection of the city centre at 5:30pm I counted a grand total of seven cars.

After re-stocking and refueling we headed towards lake Mungo, which was the primary destination of this trip. Lake Mungo must have a very unfriendly god - this was our third attempt to get there, and we were there for less than 24 hours. The first attempt (two years ago) simply did not happen, as we could not get holidays at the same time. Last year we aborted a trip a day before it was due to start, as the area was hit by an unseasonable heat wave and the temperatures in the desert soared above 40 C. As we were leaving Mildura for lake Mungo, we read the weather forecast promising rain (which plays havoc with clay roads of this area), but decided to press on regardless. We arrived at lake Mungo in the afternoon and went to the ridge of dunes marking the former shore of the lake for a quick look, expecting to return the next day for a more thorough exploration. However, that was not meant to be. The Mungo god brought 20mm of rain overnight, and when we woke up, the roads within the park were closed. The "major" road leading to the park, which was a fairly decent 2wd road the night before, turned to liquid mud that was a challenge even for a 4wd, and it was clear that it was going to be closed within a couple of hours. The weather forecast promised more rain, and so we decided to retreat (as it turned out, have we had not done so, we would have camped at Mungo for the next five days waiting for the roads to dry out). I hope there will be a "fourth time lucky" for lake Mungo ;-)

Lake Mungo is a fascinating place. It is an ancient lake that last held water some 10,000 years ago. What remains now is the dry lake bed, home to lots of kangaroos and emus, and the long ridge of dunes covered by strange eroded rock formations. While the lake is covered in shrub and is fairly green, to me it encompassed the feel of Australian desert more than the places usually associated with desert (such as red center of Northern Territories) - the vastness, the remoteness, the otherworldly feel of space and age.

Wyperfeld National Park

After the abbreviated visit to lake Mungo we ended up with a few extra days, which we decided to spend in Wyperfeld national park. Wyperfeld is another area that contains lots of dry creeks and lakes that only come to life during major floods. The last flood that fully filled Wyperfeld lakes happened 35 years ago. The rains of this year were not sufficient to feed any water into the lakes, but they provided perfect environment for wildflowers - the whole area was literally covered with them. The park was also teaming with wildlife, including emus which are normally difficult to spot in the wild - this was a very nice surprise. A couple of emus liked feeding in the meadow next to the campsite at dusk, so we came to regard them as our dinner companions.