Mercure Hotel Mildura

Ye old lake

by ASTIEL

Mungo National Park

There is no place more magical, mysterious and beautiful then World Heritage listed Mungo. Remains of the earliest known humans to inhabit the Australian continent have been found here. These have recently been redated at more then 60,000 years old - a finding that will have a revolutionary impact on our concept of ancient Aboriginal history.

Then 15,000 years ago, the lake dried up. Over centuries winds swept storms of sand up from the lake floor, dumping it on the shoreline and creating the famous Mungo lunette. This is the site of the spectacular 'Great Walls of China' which have been carved from successive layers of the lunette by many years of erosion. As the lunette erodes it yields up it's stores of remains - a vast sandy museum peeling away layers of our past.

The Mungo lunette is eerie in its stark ancient beauty. The spirits of the long departed whisper amongst its sands, its strange stone outcrops are like sentinels to a mystic dreamtime past. To witness a blazing purple sunset from the lunette is to grasp our culture's infancy within the scheme of time's design. For the winds of dry Lake Mungo will blow for a long time yet.

However there is much more to the park then the lunette and the 'China Walls'. It's red sandy country is home to a diverse array of animals, birds and plantlife. In the sky swoops a graceful Wedge-tailed Eagle, across the barren ground bounds a Red Kangaroo. All are there to be seen when you explore the carefully plotted pathways within the park.

There is a camping ground within the Park and quality accommodation at the Mungo Lodge. A range of guided tours may also be taken to discover more about the history of this unique landscape.

The heart of the wine region

by ASTIEL

"Mildura"

Today Mildura is the heart of a huge wine and fruit growing region, and centre of a range of exciting holiday activities.
The city stands on the Victorian side of the Murray River, the enormous water highway that runs 2600 km from headwaters deep in the Snowy Mountains to South Australia.