What – 6km of riverside tracks
Where – 60km West of Mildura on the Murray River. On Latji Latji, Ngintait and Nyeri Nyeri country
10 words – Lush, surprising, diverse, tiny taste of big river, plains, history.
We’re on a northern road trip this week to the Mighty Murray River.
And not just the foodbowl oasis that is Mildura – although here I was spellbound by two pelicans almost tying themselves in knots as they cleaned their features and slept.
Pelicans at rest
No, this week’s walk is 60km west of Mildura where we get out teeth into a tiny stretch of river on the ancient Ned’s Corner flood plain.
Many would consider it a long, boring flat drive from Mildura, but I am struck by the diversity.
One minute you are in the suburbs; then passing mop-haired grape vines jammed between houses, sheds and shops; then yellow signs warn to prepare to stop and turn your lights on in dust storms’and its all desert – big skies, pumpkin paddocks and straight roads.
One highlight is a trio of willy willy’s – nature’s whirling dervishes dressed today in apricot.
Then the landscape comes to life again. Tens of 1000s of big green trees on the left followed by well-irrigated Culluleraine sports grounds on the right. We turn left onto Lock 9 Road and head north through salt bush and dust to the Murray.
Our starting point is Ned’s Corner – a bend in the river where 170 years ago shepherd Ned found a sanctuary for his sheep.
From the ground the place seems like a standard mix of river, salt bush the odd red gum. But satellite images show marvellous marbling in white, grey and black that is long-lost riverbeds, anabranches and billabongs from an ancient river bed many kilometres wide.
Ned’s Corner and the Murray River satellite view
This is Latji Latji, Ngintait and Nyeri Nyeri country and their history is alive through scar trees, oven mounds, fireplaces, stone tool artefacts and shell middens.
From mid 1800s, white fellas named this Ned’s Corner and used the land to run sheep. In 1991 part of district became Murray Sunset National Park and nine years later Trust for Nature bought the 30,000 ha Ned’s Corner property to conserve this unique landscape.
Two things are immediately obvious when I step out of the care. Ned re-discovered a great place and it was definitely worth conserving.
I immediately struck by the sheer size of the trees and lushness of this riverside bush. Salt bush is within shouting distance – but this is another world. There are huge red gums that would go back 100s of years but also a forest of more recent skinny saplings.
You get the feeling this was likely an oasis of food, shelter and culture for the Latji Latji, Ngintait and Nyeri Nyeri people.
And then there is the river – several football fields wide, visibly flowing and possibly even making a sound as it does? We’re not in the Wimmera anymore.
The dirt underfoot looks more like clay and you could hurt yourself falling off some of these high banks which is probably why the trees have been able to grow so tall.
One tree looks like it’s pants have fallen down as a fat burl bursts from the trunk about a metre above the ground. Others bear scars which could well have been made long before Ned and the sheep arrived. What stories they could tell of the past few 100 years!
In places there are also suggestions of shell scatters on the ground – how exciting to see possible evidence of this area’s food bowl status dating back hundreds if not 1000s of years!
Ground plants are also growing well. Ruby salt bush – which features often in the northwest – is thriving here with red and yellow berries. There is also pink pigface, a bright red flowered shrub and at one point a long spiders web that stretches for several metres.
Another curious sight are the flutters of various sized butterflies. There are heaps of tiny white ones but also some beautiful black ones with white tips.
Apart from the odd cockatoo, it is incredibly quiet and peaceful. A bit of wind on the river and sometimes a distant roar – but it is so remote it’s hard to tell if it is plane, boat or car.
The trees start to thin, change and shrink and suddenly the peace is shattered by a gang of noisy white winged choughs.
They are yelling and screaming and I assume they object to human intruders until something long moves on a branch and I realise it’s not me it’s – a giant goanna.
I can’t get too close, but I can make out it is VERY long.
I wander through more saltbush until I reach Swifts Creek Road which follows another bend in the river. Like Ned’s corner, this is a lush patch and we are again catapulted from desert to forest – Mallee style.
There are quite a few camps sites grand tall trees, as well as big stumps of others that went before.
At times the trees are so thick that the trees create an arch over the track and it is pleasant walking.
It is getting pretty hot when I reach the end of the bend and I have covered a total of 6km of river’s edge.
A nice walk but only 0.2 per cent of the Murray River’s massive 2508km length!
I tasted a mere crumb but this natural ancient food bowl was well worth getting my teeth into and has whetted my appetite for more.
Post script – One more morsel – that night we got to eat deep fried old man saltbush – amazing, delicious and a perfect end to the day.
52 weeks 52 walks 