Escorted small group tour of Western New South Wales

We meet in the late afternoon as a group for an introduction to the tour program. Followed by a group evening meal.

(D)

Today, we depart Dubbo after breakfast we head west along the Mitchell Highway via Narromine and Nyngan. We’ll make our first major stop in Nyngan where we’ll be able to explore the town, find some lunch and visit the shearing shed museum.

In the afternoon we’ll continue west to Bourke where we’ll spend the next two nights.

Dinner tonight will be in a local restaurant.

(B)

This morning we take a drive towards the township of Brewarrina in order to visit the extraordinary Aboriginal fish traps. Here we will meet with our Aboriginal guide who will explain the working of the traps, still used by local children to catch fish in the traditional way.

The Brewarrina fish traps are estimated to be over 40,000 years old and one of the oldest man-made structures on earth. This elaborate network of rock weirs and pools stretches for around half a kilometre along the riverbed and was built by ancient tribes, to catch the fish as they swam upstream.

On our way back to Bourke we stop to visit Mt Oxley, that was once climbed by explorers Stuart and Hume in 1829 in search of the “inland sea”.

(B, L)

After breakfast we make a couple of stops around Bourke to visit some historic sites like the Old Bridge and the Old Cemetery.

We then continue our drive to Cobar. At its peak the town of Cobar had a population of 10,000 and, although this has declined greatly in modern times, mining still provides the town’s main industry. One of the local attractions is the extraordinary view over the open cut mine at Fort Bourke Hill Lookout.

From here, we make our way to visit to Mount Grenfell, and take a walk along the marked path and view some wonderful examples of Aboriginal rock art by the local Wongaibon people (this visit is weather dependent due to unsealed access road).

Mount Grenfell Historic Site protects the rock art of the Ngiyampaa people. For thousands of years before Europeans settled in this part of NSW, Ngiyampaa people regularly gathered around the semi-permanent waterhole and took shelter in the overhangs of what is now a national park. In the surrounding rocky ridge, you can see richly coloured paintings of human and animal figures, representations of the natural environment, and hand stencils which are of ceremonial significance to traditional owners. This extensive Aboriginal rock art is now protected within the park and can be reached following the short, relatively easy (3 kilometre return) Mount Grenfell art site walk.

This morning we drive from Cobar to White Cliffs via Wilcannia, to view this historic town that was once the 3^rd largest inland port (mid-19^th century).

Opals were discovered at White Cliffs in the 1890s and miners flocked to the area hoping to make their fortunes. As in a number of opal towns, many of the inhabitants live underground.

Dinner tonight will be at our White Cliffs hotel.

(B, D)

We have time this morning to explore White Cliffs, with a visit to the underground mine and a visit to the dugout residence known as The White House. After lunch, we continue our journey to Broken Hill where we spend the next three nights.

On arrival at Broken Hill we’ll have our fist visit at Pro Hart Art Gallery, where we can learn more about the artists and view his work.

Dinner tonight will be in a local restaurant.

(B,D)

Today we spend in Broken Hill, starting with a guided tour of the historic centre. Broken Hill, Australia’s first Heritage Listed city, has always been associated with silver, lead and zinc mining. Many of the streets are named after metals, minerals and compounds and, during our tour, we will learn more about its links with the mining industry.

The group’s day tour of Broken hill, which was named by Charles Sturt, begins with a walking tour in the morning of Argent Street, Broken Hill’s Main Street with a local guide. Here Government influenced Architectural design from the Victorian period reigns, from the courthouse to the post office. The group gains an appreciation of the transformation from wild west mining to organised unionists managing the town.

We spend some time visiting the mining museum but what is also important gain an appreciation of the collective work of the “Brushmen of the Bush” so that as we travel into the landscape of the desert, the eye has an appreciation and understanding of this group of Artists.

Broken Hill has more art galleries than any other inland town or city in Australia as well as a strong Regional Art Gallery with works by Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd, Clifton Pugh, and Lloyd Rees to view.

The Albert Kersten Mining and Minerals Museum, which we will visit at the end of our tour, will provide us with more detailed information about the history of mining in the region.

In the afternoon we will visit the the historic town of Silverton, established in 1883. It was once a thriving mining community, with a population of some 3000, but it now has just a few permanent residents. Some of the significant historic buildings, which are part of Silverton’s unique heritage, are well preserved and still in use today which we’ll visit: the School Museum and the Silverton Gaol. Australian poet, Dame Mary Gilmore, taught at Silverton between 1887-1889.

A third museum in the town is dedicated to Mad Max 2. At the end of our visits day we’ll have some time for dinner at the local hotel (own arrangements).

On our way back to Broken Hill we’ll stop at the Mundi Mundi Plains lookout for an incredible view of the surrounding area. The next stop is at the Living Desert and Sculptures Park, located just outside Broken Hill. Here we view the sculptures and enjoy the sunset before returning to our hotel.

The Living Desert is Broken Hill City Council’s contribution to the environment, for the protection of native flora and fauna and for the better management of our ecosystem and sustainability. It is located in the Barrier Ranges and is just 12km from the Broken Hill. It is a unique 2400ha reserve which was established in 1992. The sculptures were added to the park in 1983 and can be easily accessed via a walking trail that begins at the park’s picnic area.

(B)

The morning we’ll visit the Royal Flying Doctors Visitor Centre, located at their working base, next to the Broken Hill Airport. Following our tour, we return to the city and have some be free time until we meet-up again for our next visits. In the early afternoon we’ll visit the Synagogue Museum followed by the Afghan Mosque. The remainder of the day is at leisure.

(B)

The township of Menindee is situated between the Menindee lakes and the Darling River. Established in 1852 by Thomas Pain, Menindee is the oldest European settlement in western NSW, and the first town to appear on the Darling. Back in the 1880s, the Darling saw cargo-laden paddle steamers churning their way to and from South Australia. In Menindee, we visit the places where Burke and Wills stayed before heading into the uncharted outback as well as visiting one of the major sheep stations now a national park that also has an association with the expedition.

Menindee is famous as the last stop of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition before it headed out into uncharted territory. It is also noted, except in times of extreme drought, as an inland wonderland for water birds and a vital source of water for neighbouring citrus orchards and vegetable farms.

From Menindee we will visit (weather and conditions permitting) the magnificent Kinchega National Park on our way to Bindara Station, where we hope to spend the night.

(B, D)

This morning, after some time exploring Bindara Station, we drive to Mungo National Park.

Don’t expect there to be any water in Lake Mungo. That all dried up many thousands of years ago. Until 15,000, years ago, however, the region was often a vast lake, its waters rising and ebbing according to climatic change, making Mungo a preferred habitat for a dazzling diversity of wildlife. Giant kangaroos, wombats and other mega fauna roamed the land. A treasure trove of fossils is a legacy of this extraordinary heritage.

The abundance of the lake also made Mungo an ideal location for Aboriginal settlement. Tribes camped and fished along the shores, hunted for food and quarried stone from rock outcrops on the lake floor. Mungo is thus the site of one of earth’s longest continuous human habitations. The cremated remains of “Mungo Lady” and the skeleton of “Mungo Man”, found in the park, date back some 30,000 to 40,000 years.

Mungo National Park is the site of the famous “Great Walls Of China” and this evening we will take a guided sunset tour of the region before dinner at Mungo Lodge, our accommodation for the next two nights

(B, D)

Today is a full day learning about the wildlife, and the all important archaeological discovery of Mungo man and lady. This is a major UNESCO world heritage site for archaeologists studying aboriginal culture and lifestyle. We have have knowledgeable local guides with us to explain what we are seeking and the intrepretation of the findings to date.

Mungo National Park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site for some 40 years.

For travellers on this guided tour the fascinating part when looking at the landscape of Mungo and the Willandra Lakes is that it is a geological window where this small group tour can look into the deep past of old Australia. Buried here in thick layers of sand and clay are the tell-tale signs of how the climate, waters and landforms have changed over the last 100,000 years. And for at least 45,000 years humans have shared that journey. The ancient Willandra people thrived with the abundance of the lakes, then adapted to drier, hungrier times of the last ice age and survived to the present day. Their story can be discovered in the folds of the land, along with their fireplaces, burials, middens and tools. The people of Lake Mungo and the Willandra Lakes have a long past that is important to the whole world in archaeological studies and human evolution.

The history of these fossil lakes is deeply entwined with what has happened in the dunefields, rivers and mountainshundreds of kilometres away. A geological stable region sediment from the Queensland mountains has washed through the Australian outback and accumulated, piling up like the pages in a history book, waiting to be read in this national park. But here it is not just the recent geologically record that is important.

Lake Mungo is one of the most important archaelogical sites in Australia. A unique set of circumstances have created a landscape where it is possible to get an insight into Aboriginal life some 40,000 years ago. At that time Lake Mungo was one of series of large, deep, interlocking lakes teeming with large fish. It was 20 km long, 10 km wide and 15 m deep. On the lake’s eastern shore sand dunes provided sheltered campsites. Not surprisingly Aboriginal hunters and gatherers settled on the shores, established campsites and enjoyed a healthy diet of fish, crustaceans and animals which came to drink at the water’s edge.

About 16,000 years ago the lakes dried up leaving a 25 km-long sand dune, called a lunette, which stretched along the eastern edge of the lake and was, in places, up to 40 metres high. When shepherds, many of whom were Chinese, arrived in the area in the 1860s they called the lunette the Walls of China.

Lake Mungo’s importance are threefold.

• It has “one of the longest continual records of Aboriginal life in Australia ” having been occupied for over 50,000 years.
• The skeletons found in the sands of the lunette are the “oldest known fully modern humans outside Africa” and,
• the skeleton of Mungo Woman (or Mungo I as she is officially known), which has been radiocarbon dated to around 40,000 years ago, “has provided the oldest evidence of ritual cremation in the world.”

As a small group touring the lake and the National park, take time whilst at Lake Mungo to gaze across the dry lake bed to contemplate the idea that once, tens of thousands of years ago, here in the Australian outback was a important meeting place for the indigenous Aborigines. Aborigines painted themselves with ochre, ate fish and mussels from the lake, buried and cremated their dead, cooked meat in simple hearths and ovens, sewed skins to make cloaks and shaped bones and stones into tools and weapons. If you want to glimpse what life was like for Aborigines when our European ancestors were still living in caves then Lake Mungo is a genuinely unforgettable experience.

About 40,000 years ago, Mungo Lady lived around the shores of Lake Mungo. A time of plenty was coming to an end at Willandra Lakes, when the basins were full of water and teeming with life. The human population was at its peak, and Mungo Lady was the daughter of many mothers – the generations before her that had lived at Lake Mungo since the Dreamtime. She collected bush tucker such as fish, shellfish, yabbies, wattle seeds and emu eggs, nourished her culture and taught her daughters the women’s lore.

When Mungo Lady died, we know her family mourned for her. Her body was cremated, the remaining bones were crushed, burned again and then buried.

About 42,000 -40,000 years ago out here in what is now the Australian outback, Mungo Man lived around the shores of Lake Mungo with his family. A time of abundance in the Willandra Lakes system was drawing to a close, but he could still hunt many species of game, including some of the soon-to-be-extinct megafauna. Mungo Man cared for his Countryand kept safe the special men’s knowledge. By his lore and ritual activity, he kept the land strong and his culture alive.

When he was young Mungo Man lost his two lower canine teeth, possibly knocked out in a ritual. He grew into a man nearly 1.7m in height. Over the years his molar teeth became worn and scratched, possibly from eating a gritty diet or stripping the long leaves of water reeds with his teeth to make twine. As Mungo Man grew older his bones ached with arthritis, especially his right elbow, which was so damaged that bits of bone were completely worn out or broken away. The condition of arthritis was so advanced that he would not have been able to fully extend his arm or turn his hand properly. Such wear and tear is typical of people who have used a woomera to throw spears over many years.

Mungo Man reached a good age for the hard life of a hunter-gatherer, and died when he was about 50. His family mourned for him, and carefully buried him in the lunette, on his back with his hands crossed in his lap, and sprinkled with red ochre. Mungo Man is the oldest known example in the world of such a ritual.

When Mungo Lady and Mungo Man turned up some 40 years ago they rocked the scientific community. They have been dated to 42,000 years old – the oldest human remains in Australia and some of the oldest modern humans in the world outside Africa.

And when 20,000 year old footprints of the Willandra people were found in 2003, they also rocked archaeological records. They are the only Pleistocene footprints in Australia and the most numerous yet found anywhere in the world.

Ancient footprints

A key feature of the Meeting Place interpreatation centre in the UNESCO World heritage site National park is the re-creation of part of the ancient human tracks that were re-discovered in 2003. The footprints record some frozen moments in the lives of Aboriginal people who travelled across a damp claypan around 20,000 years ago. This is the largest known collection in the world of such ancient human footprints.

Today these fragile relics are specially protected. The footprints are extremely precious to the people who are directly descended from those who made them so long ago, and they are important to all humanity. To let everyone experience something of the wonder of the tracks, a section has been reproduced as an accurate replica at the Meeting Place.

These finds are remarkable enough in the Australian archeological record, but perhaps the most important thing about the Willandra Lakes is how such discoveries can be connected with the landscape and climate. Places like Mungo are rare, where changes in an environment can be matched with how people have lived there in a continuous record across vast ages.

The scientific evidence shows that Aboriginal people have lived at Mungo for at least 45,000 years. This is the dated age of the oldest stone artefacts that have been found so far, and represents a lineage that extends back over some 2000 generations. But many Aboriginal people say they have been here even longer, reaching back into the Dreamtime, perhaps forever. The long history of occupation at Mungo has combined with ideal conditions for the preservation of some types of relics to create an archaeological treasure house complete with Aboriginal rock art.

Today, the Paakantji, the Mutthi Mutthi, the Ngiyampaa and all Aboriginal people hold their Willandra ancestors and their story as precious gifts to be shared with all people.

The ability to go so far back in human settlement over such a large area makes for a truly fascinating and touching visit in the Mungo National park as part of this unique Australia tour. This escorted small group tour spends 2 days with the tourleader and local guides exploring and learning about the park, its unique wildlife and sees an amazing sunset, we hope.. in Australia‘s outback.

(B, L)

This morning we leave the park and drive through Balranald and Hay then on to Griffith, where we spend just one night. We’ll stop for morning tea in Balranald, a small town located on the Murrumbidgee River with a fascinating history.

From Balranald we head out across the Hay Plains, one of the flattest places on earth. There’s very little to see, in fact, in some places, you can turn in a complete circle and still see nothing…just flat country stretching out to the horizon with perhaps a little bit of low salt bush, a few sheep and the mirage of a water hole in the distance. It’s an extraordinary experience.

Hay, also on the Murrumbidgee, is an oasis in the semi-arid desert. Hay has a number of museums and we’ll pause to visit one of them (pending opening schedules). We’ll continue on to Griffith for our overnight.

(B)

We depart Griffith int he morning and stop along the way several times until we arrive back at Dubbo.

Our first stop will be to view the silo art at Wheethalle, followed by a lunch break at West Wyalong (own arrangements), and an afternoon stroll at Forbes.

We continue our journey at pause to visit the CSIRO Radio Telescope “The Dish” just outside Parkes and then proceed to Dubbo for our farewell dinner at a local restaurant..

This evening we have our farewell dinner in a local restaurant.

(B, D)

The tour concludes after breakfast.

(B)