Feeling the beauty in Mungo National Park

Well that escalated quickly.

Day two of our trip around Australia and we were headed for Mungo National Park.

It all started well enough, we stopped to photograph some kite birds and a field of wild flowers bursting with colour and found an intriguing water tank in the middle of nowhere. 

We bumped our way across the corrugated road, which stretched for miles through dense bushland and waved to the handful of cars we passed along the way.

And then, out of the corner of my eye I looked across at the fuel gauge. It was dropping rapidly. We were in the middle of nowhere, just hoping we would make it to Mungo National Park, and out again to the nearest petrol station, wherever that might be.  

Ade looked at me nervously, admitting he too was a little worried that we wouldn’t make it to another fuel stop. We hadn’t expected to become so isolated so quickly. And yet here we were, one day after leaving Melbourne, and on the border between Australia’s two most populous states, worrying that we would be left stranded with no fuel and no way to get any. We hadn’t anticipated the corrugations, or the impact they would have on our fuel consumption.

This is what it’s like to take off on a road-trip across Australia. Read about our first night on the road here.

We made it to Mungo and asked one of the men working in the information centre where the nearest petrol station was.

“That would be Pooncarie,” he said. “About 80 kilometres that way.” He pointed vaguely to his right.

Ade thought we would make it, just. And then we found out the people in the campsite next to us were heading in that same direction, on the same day as us. So, we settled in to our two-night stay in Mungo National Park, with a promise that they would leave with us and make sure we made it safely to Pooncarie. I could sleep easy!

Mungo National Park was once a giant lake – Google maps still has you driving through the endless blue of the lake as it guides you in to the camp ground – but is now a large, dusty caldera.

The park, in the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area is significant to the Ngyiampaa, Mutthi Mutthi and Southern Paakantyi people and is the site of Australia’s oldest human remains – Mungo Man and Mungo Lady, found in 1974 and 1968 respectively. They were buried on the banks of the lake more than 42,000 years ago. It is also the site of an intriguing set of footprints that date back 20,000 years, you can follow an outline of the footsteps outside the information centre.

The campground is about a kilometre away from the information centre, which has hot showers and a fantastic little museum that sets out the history and geography of Mungo National Park. There are old cattle yards to walk through and an old woolshed to explore.

From the camp ground we rode our bikes across corrugated roads and sand tracks out to the Walls of China and over to Red Top Lookout where the landscape looked somewhat like I imagine the face of the moon might look. We saw emus and kangaroos off in the distance and amazing scenery as we rocked our way across the corrugations, hands aching from the tight grip. 

Mungo National Park grew on me over the days we were there. I didn’t discover the immediate beauty in the place, but there is a spirituality to it that envelops you. It is a place to feel, to sense the history and the culture and to better understand the significance in the lands beneath our soles. 

We rode back across the corrugations to Mungo Lodge where the café was closed but where we were able to buy a cold drink and were told we could buy diesel at stupidly inflated prices if we needed to.

At night we sat in front of a campfire watching the flames dance as the sun descended and the stars came out slowly, creating an epic display.

Want more road trip adventures? Read about our road trip on the Great Ocean Road here.

When it came time to leave, our ‘neighbours’ followed us to Pooncarie across roads that were slightly better than those we had come into Mungo on, but which were still riddled with potholes and corrugations.

At the petrol station in Pooncarie I chatted to the lady behind the counter who told me they’d had severe rains and the road ahead was in a shocking condition – suitable only for experienced four-wheel-drive drivers.

“I wouldn’t travel it,” she said. “And I drive that road all the time.”

“I don’t think they’ve closed it yet, but I think they will.”

And so, we diverted and took the only other route we could from Pooncarie to our next stop, Broken Hill.

And once again we were shocked at how quickly situations can change, and how things can escalate so easily on the roads in Australia. One thing’s for sure, this certainly is an adventure.

Fast Facts

We travelled in 2021.

We stayed in the Mungo Park campground.

We were here for two nights.

Was it long enough? We saw everything we could without being able to drive the car around. The bikes made it difficult to see everything. 

Join @AllabroadAU on  Instagram,  FaceBook,  X and  YouTube  for more travel inspiration.