As followers of this blog and my Flickr stream will know, about six weeks ago I set off on my yearly road trip to explore this big brown land. In planning the trip, I wanted to see Mungo National Park. Getting there was never going to be a problem, but a place to stay, well that might be a different story, it isn’t exactly a short drive from the nearest large town, Mildura. I did a bit of searching before I left and found out there are only three real options. Mungo National Park has it their own shearers quarters, a very up market lodge, and Turlee Station Stay. Having stayed at Trilby station last year in their shearers quarters, I was keen to have a look at Turlee Station Stay. I rang the number provided (03 5029 7208 for those interested) and spoke to Sophie Wakefield. She was a fantastic help, and I told her I would like to book at night in early October.
A couple of days before I was due to arrive, I spoke to Sophie again to confirm the dates, and committed to a two night stay. I left Mildura well before sunrise and headed out to Mungo National Park. It is about a 110kms north east of Mildura, and most of that drive is on dirt roads. I got to Mungo just after sunrise and spent a good five hours doing the self drive tour. At lunch time I set of for Turlee Station. It is about a half hour drive from Mungo NP to Turlee Station. The roads are good, but you do need to take care at some points. I had no problems in a Commodore wagon (2 wheel drive large station wagoin for the over seas people) and arrived just after lunch.
On arrival I had a quick chat with Sophie on the UHF radio and met some of the people who were already there. Three families from Cootamundra were there already, and they turned out to be fantastic company. I was staying in the shearers quarters, which is great value at $20 a night. There is a large area between the kitchen/dining area and the shearers quarters where there is plenty of seating and tables all in the shade of large native trees. There is also a bush bungalow for the people who want a little more privacy and a little more luxury than the shearers quarters.
Dotted around the accommodation are all sorts of buildings and farm equipment, which for the curious city slicker, is a terrific place to wander around. You are pretty much free to wander where ever you want, and I did just that, spending a good couple of hours, camera in hand, wandering around having a great time exploring. It must be a terrific place to go if you are a kid.
Later that afternoon I went back out to Mungo NP to take photos of the sunset at the Walls of China. I got back as it was getting dark and there was a camp fire going and I was handed a can of beer. This is living! I sat around listening to stories and watching the fire until the beer had the eyelids obeying gravity and it was off to bed.
The next day I jumped in Scotty’s ute with what felt like 20 other people (it was really only 16) and he headed out to the charcoal pits. I for one didn’t realise this was how charcoal was made, and I had a great time wandering around and chatting to the guys that worked there. We looked at the wheat crop (two of the Cootmundra blokes where farmers) and saw a cockatoos nest in a tree. On the trip back we saw a little bearded dragon on the road, so we stopped for a look.
That afternoon, I jumped into Nathen Wakefield’s ute for a front row seat in the tag along tour. Nathen and his dad Des run the station, so I was getting the unedited commentary of the tour. We saw only a small part of the 145,000 acres, despite that, we drove for a couple of hours, stopping to see different things and get the inside story from Nathen.
That night we had a BBQ next to the shearing shed, where Nathen and Sophie have set up a bar and seating, so you can have dinner, then a few cleansing ales. And we did just that.
The next morning I had to head off. Actually, I would have liked to stay for a few more days. It felt like I had only seen a tiny part of this terrific place. I would like to thank Sophie and Nathan for their hospitality, generosity with their time and offering such a unique place to stay. Turlee Station Stay comes highly recommended as a place to see and stay if you are out that way. I think most people that go there will be smiling just like this little cowgirl!
Turlee Station Stay, it is well worth the drive.