Destinations > The Menindee Lakes

The roads are all very well maintained and easily done in a 2WD, except after rain. There are a number of picnic and camping spots on the loop but, as in most national parks, collecting wood for open fires is frowned upon, so bring your own wood or fuel stove. To get the wool to market, and transport supplies, shearers and farmhands, the Cobb and Co coaches had to cross the lunettes. There are still hard packed tracks through the sand at Vigars Well. Vigar ran the Zanci Station, and dug two wells where the teams rested before crossing the dunes. The remaining well still has water in it, and is rarely dry. Little comfort, I would have thought, to the teams about to drag a fully laden coach up and over a sand dune. It's hard enough in the 4WD.

There's little left of Zanci now, except the woolshed and the cellar in the remains of the homestead. It is a full height room built underground for food storage and surprisingly it's still cool , as if someone had left it running. As a last look, to the south of the loop, on the way out of the park is the spectacular Mungo Lake lookout.

Guarded by a lone cyprus pine, the view stretches over the whole lake, with the dunes of the Walls of China in the background. As we left, I wondered what it must have been like to muster in this harsh and unforgiving terrain. For the legacy of the explorers and early shearers has left a lasting impression on me.
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