Hattah-Kulkyne National Park
Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, Victoria
Sydney Trip June 2010
On the last day of our trip home from visiting family in Sydney earlier this year we planned to spend a few hours in one of our favourite places – Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. This park is south of Mildura in far north west Victoria. The park has two predominant habitats: eucalypt mallee scrubland and large eucalypt riverine vegetation around the creeks, river and lakes. The park contains over a dozen ephemeral lakes which fill when the nearby River Murray is full, or in flood. In recent decades the lakes have been artificially allowed to fill.
On this visit we came in from the Mildura, or northern, end. We left the Calder Highway and followed the route of the old highway through the mallee section of the park (see photo above). When a section looked promising for birding, we stopped for morning tea and a spot of birding. (Go to Trevor’s Birding for details.)
Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, Victoria
Mallee country near Mildura
Typical mallee country between Balranald and Mildura
Sydney Trip June 2011
On the second day of our trip home from Sydney earlier this year we stopped at the Malleefowl Rest Area. This is part way between Balranald in far western New South Wales and Mildura in north western Victoria. We were heading to Mildura where we had a cabin booked in one of the caravan parks for the night.
The rest area is set just off the highway in the midst of typical mallee country complete with saltbush, bluebush and spinifex. This open eucalypt scrubland is widespread in these parts of Australia, as well as large tracts of South Australia and Western Australia. I have a strong affinity with this type of bushland because the farm house I grew up on was set in the midst of some mallee scrub. And for the last twenty eight years I’ve had my own piece of mallee bush to live in.
Typical mallee country between Balranald and Mildura
Typical mallee country between Balranald and Mildura