I made it! I’m finally in Mungo National Park.
This is another one that’s been on my list for years. I’ve often thought about calling in here on my drives back and forth to Adelaide to see family. But I never made it.
It’s both beautiful, and heartbreaking.
Apart from all the other reasons I wanted to go to Mungo, I thought the dark sky and wide horizons would be a perfect place to see the planets aligned in the night sky.
It’s all of that. The skies are huge, and the horizon is very wide. Especially if you go out to the Red Top lookout which looks out over the lake and over some of the lunettes. Which is where I went to watch the sunset last night (disappointing because of the lack of cloud), and to watch the sky darken so I could see the stars and all the planets.
The skies are stunningly beautiful. Absolutely full of stars. And each and every one of the planets was very bright in the night sky. Easily visible to the naked eye.
Except for Neptune. That wasn’t actually in the night sky. It dipped below the horizon just before the sun did, so I couldn’t see it either night I’ve been here. The rest of the planets though – magnificent.
I tried to get a night sky photo, but unfortunately the stars just wouldn’t do what I wanted. They were in the wrong part of the sky to get the great shots. So I just had to sit and look at them, take in their brilliance. And they are brilliant.
It doesn’t get really dark until after 9.30pm here at the moment. So I sat up with a glass of wine just looking at the stars for over an hour. It’s like looking into a campfire – absolutely mesmerizing. Even when I got into my swag I lay there looking at the stars until I fell asleep with my glasses on. It truly is one of the best night skies I’ve seen.
Well worth a visit for the night skies alone.
Then of course there’s all the cultural, colonial, and environmental history. I won’t go into that here, you can find that out online elsewhere. Just google Mungo.
So what was heartbreaking?
It’s very hot, and very dry. So dry that the kangaroos, of which there are many, are very thirsty. They’re in all the campsites looking for water.
When I first arrived I thought it was very cute how many roos were around, and how friendly they were. Then I realised why they were getting so close. They want some of my water.
It’s heartbreaking. All I want to do is put containers under all the watertanks and turn the taps on slowly so all the roos have enough to drink. But I know I can’t do that. That’s not how to manage wild animals. And despite looking cute and cuddly kangaroos are wild animals. They can get very aggressive. And they can disembowel you with a kick.
This morning one small joey was literally trying to climb up onto my lap trying to get my cup of tea. That was heartbreaking. Her mother was just looking at me with those brown kangaroo eyes that seemed to be begging me to look after her baby. I really can’t take any more.
Besides, it’s going to be 45 degrees. Not a temperature to be hanging around outback, with no water to cool off. I need somewhere with more shade, a bit of a breeze, and water to swim in. The Willandra lake system was fed by the Galari-Lachlan River so that might be worth exploring. Or the Yindi/Milawa-Murray and the Barka-Darling rivers are both just down the road. I might flip a coin and see where it takes me.
I will return to Mungo. When the weather is a bit cooler and I can do some walking. When the night skies align for a better photo. And maybe when the kangaroos aren’t quite so thirsty.
