Passing It On Here's a few things I picked up, I'll certainly be pursuing these spots on the bike in the future. Hattah-Kulkyne Entry from the south of the park accesses great camping on the Murray River. There's some interesting but easy Adventure riding, two-wheel tracks. There's even a little up and down playground, a few metres from the Murray that's worth heading back for.
Lake Mungo It would be like riding on ice if the roads were wet here.
The Shearer's Quarters are great value and well set up. Book in advance. Avoid busy times, think Bourke St, post-Christmas sales. The one-way loop ride is an easy ride for most Adventure bikes and tourers. Nick up Vigars Well Rd and climb the sand hills for magnificent other-worldly views.
Mutawintji Wow, the real outback experience. It's an unassuming blob on the horizon, halfway between Broken Hill and White Cliffs. From the distance it's just a few low hills in the middle of nowhere. Set up camp, slip on your walking shoes and the place opens up into gorges, Aboriginal rock art, stone tool chipping, Bourke and Wills references and geology that takes us back to the dawn of time. It makes Kings Canyon look a bit ho-hum.
Fifty metres above a river bed, river worn rocks embedded in a lava flow, get yer head around that!
Aboriginal Art with overlayed graffiti (blue triangle) by William Wright, the back up guy for Bourke Camping is basic but there are toilets and rudimentary showers. Be ready to do some walking to get the best out of this place.
Danggali Conservation Area You are unlikely to see too many other punters in this area adjacent to the SA border, south of Broken Hill. It's as remote as many a place you'll head for due to this: The roads are clay based with a sprinkling (sometimes liberally) of sand but the hard surface is always not far away. Give it a miss in the wet. Punch up from Renmark if approaching from the south. A few old station properties have been bought up by the government, left to return to the earth and make for an interesting couple of day ride loops.
Bush camping only, no dunnies within cooee! Murray Sunset NP Back in Victoria, this is a big park intersected by tough riding tracks and dirt roads. Lot's of camping, we stayed at the Pink Lakes which is well appointed.
Big and Little Desert NP We took on the north-south border track and thought it was very doable for my level of skill and daring. Turn East off that and... Hooey! Deep, deep sand tracks that would have my goollies in my throat and drenched in a cold sweat in a couple of K's. In general Most of the camps don't allow the gathering of firewood, taking it in was relatively easy in the 4bee, not so on the bike. Cooking then becomes a dilemma. We saw lots of Roos and Emus although they seemed reasonably well educated and generally scarpered back into the bush... I'd be very cautious out there. Our trip just prior to Spring School holidays missed the best of the wildflowers but we had great weather and no crowds. | 