Sunrise 8 - MUNGO NP
Over the past week the daily kilometres and mental commitment required in creating constant bangers was starting to take it’s toll, so we began day 8 with a slow start of fresh coffee, Eggs Benedict, and duck feeding while preparing for our next adventure.
Today earmarked a special day as we’d booked a private experience with Trevor of MurrayTrek Tours to take us out to Mungo National Park for some sunset photography. There are four roads leading into Mungo renowned for their fickle conditions, and given the recent rains, we were thankful to be travelling with Trevor for the next 100 kms.
Mungo is a region steeped in both environmental and anthropological significance. The UNESCO World Heritage area encompasses 2,400 square kilometres and 17 dried lakes, with Mungo lake bed itself being dry for over 15,000 years. It was here in 1968 and 1974 respectively, they discovered the remains of “Mungo Lady” and “Mungo Man” dating back 42,000 years. They are perhaps the most important human remains ever found in Australia. Their discovery rewrote the ancient story of this land and its people, and sent shockwaves around the world. Mungo Lady is recognised as the worlds oldest known ritual cremation, representing the early emergence of humanity's spiritual beliefs.
The area has been virtually unchanged over thousands of years and accessible only by authorised tour operators versed in the cultural sensitivities of the land. Yet another reason we were glad to be guided by Trevor.
Beyond the flatland of dried lake bed, stood the aptly named Walls of China which could be seen miles before we approached. This collection of lunette’s are the remnants of windswept sand drifting upward from the lake and remain statuesque to this day. Populated by mollusc shells, indigenous campfires, and even 30,000 year old wombat skeletons, we carefully picked our way through this awe inspiring ridge of structures to find sand dunes meeting scrub to the west. However when turning around, we sighted the luminous setting sun casting other worldly light onto the ancient towers. Quickly changing lenses, we forgot about wombat bones and set up the tripods in haste. The sun gods were finally in our favour and we captured, what we think, are some of our most memorable images.
The lunettes of Mungo National Park
We returned to our camp right on 11:00pm and couldn’t pour a dark and stormy or pop our SD cards into the iPad quick enough. Only 4 images in, we knew we’d made the right decision.
Mungo Sunset