Day 125: Lake Cullulleraine to Yanga National Park

 

On our way by just after 9 am, we stopped in Mildura to do a brief shop at Dan Murphy's. The large carpark was virtually empty, so we just parked across a few spaces as we wouldn't be long. In fact we weren't long at all, the store, and most of the shopping centre was closed and a sign on the door said they were unable to trade today due to a shortage of power ! Apparently a single car accident colliding with a power pole is going to result in substantial power cuts until Friday.

A Celebrations store nearby fortunately, and seemingly not affected, whist only small was open.

Our next priority was where to stop for our morning coffee. A town called Monash was about the right distance away, but sadly, there is not much going on in Monash for passing traffic. So we held on till we arrived at Euston, where there was a cafe not far from the highway. To our great surprise, parked out the front opposite the cafe was another Torus van. It is only the 4 th one we have seen in our travels. We pulled up behind them and had a good chat with them. They had only picked up their van in May and had just completed the Darling River Run. They told us there was a 3rd Torus van in town, that had passed the same spot just before we turned up. They were also heading home, in their case to Newcastle.

Arriving at The Willows Campground and Picnic Area, in the Yanga Conservation Area was little underwhelming. The standard procedure is you select your own site, and we were most fortunate, because we could pick any site in the campground. There was no-one else here, but it is early and late afternoon arrivals are common.

We found a nice flat site, not too far from the toilets and set up there. It is a bush camp, so the only facilities are a long drop toilet, which have improved markedly.

Toilets are relatively new, clean, and have wash basins, handwashing's and toilet paper !

If you read the description of this campground on the National Parks website, we felt we may have come to the wrong place. A number of mysteries need to be solved. Why is it called "The Willows", when there are no willows.

The explanation was found on this information board below. It is called the Willows because of the presence of a wattle, that if it is dark and you have had a lot to drink, has some resemblance to a willow.

There is also mention of a picnic area and The Wilga Woolshed, which it is recommended to visit. I set out for a walk after lunch to see if I could find something, whilst Carole wisely stayed with the van. About a km or so further down the road past the campground, I found both.

The picnic area

Information provided at the picnic area talked about the highlight of this area is a haven for bird watchers, providing a comprehensive list of birds that may be seen here and how to identify them.

A brief history of this area was also provided. From the 1850's till 1879 is was used for seasonal grazing, becoming part of a large travelling stock route from 1879-1922.

In 1924 105,000 acres of Yanga was surveyed into 14 smaller farms for The Soldiers Settlement Scheme.

By 1964 the Willows precinct was repurchased as part of a freehold Yanga Estate. The Wilga  Woolshed was built in the 1960's as part of a thriving sheep station. It is now a conservation area run by National Parks

The remains of the Wilga Woolshed are next to the picnic area.

The Wilga Woolshed

The yards and races are overgrown with vegetation and any equipment that was in the shed is no longer there.

The only obvious new infrastructure near the shed are these water tanks which look like they may be set up for fire fighting.

The late rush to join us at the campsite was limited to one 4WD with a roof top tent. We can just see them in the distance. We were looking for a quiet campsite and it has exceeded our expectations in that regard.