Life Trove

September 14, 2026

Trip to NSW Outback 2026: Overview & Highlights

Places explored

All posts related to the trip

Itinerary at a glance

2 nights Mildura
1 night Menindee Lakes
2 nights Kinchega National Park
2 nights Silverton
3 nights Mutawintji National Park
1 night Menindee Lakes
3 nights Mungo National Park
1 night Huttah-Kulkyne National Park
1 night Mildura

Day by day itinerary

Aug 28: Sydney → Mildura

Travel to Mildura by train & coach (15 hours). Arrive after 11 pm.
Late checkin to 7th Street Motel.

Aug 29: Mildura & Wentworth

Get Avis hire car (Volkswagon Polo).
Buy 2 power banks because my new power bank from Amazon is faulty.
Drive to Wentworth and visit PS Ruby Paddle Steamer and Rod's model paddle steamer display.
Visit Wentworth gaol.
Visit Thegoa Lagoon.
Sunset at Perry Sandhills.
Drive back to Mildura for amazing steak at Corporate Moose.
Overnight at 7th Street Motel.

Aug 30: Mildura → Menindee Lake

Visit King's Billabong.
Shop for camping food + filter coffee & sieve at Woolworths.
Drive to Menindee Lakes and set camp at Copi Hollow Caravan park.
Drive into town for meal at Maiden's Hotel, delighted to find they have wifi. They assure me road into Kinchega should be fine and give me a map of the park.

Aug 31: Menindee Lake → Kinchega National Park

Drive into Kinchega National Park, euphoric the road in is open and fine.
Photograph the Kinchega Woodshed & Shearer's Quarters.
Drive to Cawndilla Campsite and set up camp.
Walk to the edge of Cawndilla Lake to photograph dead trees and birds (pelicans, swamp harrier, ducks).
Go back for an amazing sunset.
My first camp meal of soup + tuna & beans.

Sep 1: Kinchega National Park

Photograph the trees at sunrise.
Explore the lake to the left, photgraphing flying birds and black swans.
Enjoy my 1st cup of filter coffee (with sieve) and work on computer for a while.

Sep 2: : Kinchega National Park → Silverton

Goto right on lake where less algae and dead fish to photograph beautiful reflections.
Drive to Broken Hill where I buy gas from camping store, new blow up mattress from Kmart and camp food
Drive to Silverton where I set up camp at Penrose Park.
Photograph Silverton town including the iconic Silverton Hotel.
To Mundi Mundi viewpoint for sunset.
Overnight again at Penrose Park
Charge my stuff.

Sep 3: Silverton & Broken Hill

Sunrise photography in town including buildings and churches
Visit Umberumberka Reservoir and meet a fellow birder.
Visit the Mad Max 2 museum
Do the Broken Hill Heritage walk with views of post office
Confirm Mutawintji is open and book 2 nights.
Line of Load miners memorial and view
Sculptures in the dessert at sunset
Drive back to Silverton for a fillet steak at Silverton Hotel
Overnight again at Penrose Park

Sep 4: Silverton → Mutawintji National Park

Drive towards Mutawintji. Incredible flock of kites on way.
Google gets the directions wrong.
Arrive relivied and elated.
Walk a bit of Homestead Gorge. Incredible boulder.
Campsite amazing with hot showers.

Sep 5: Mutawintji National Park

Incredible Mutawintji Gorge walk.
Do Homestead Gorge and Rock Hole loop.
Lie under stars.

Sep 6: Mutawintji National Park

Full monty of Homestead river walks (Bynguano loop, Homestead Gorge, Rock Hole loop)
Meet Jenny. Lives in Cairns. Artist on extended leave road trip.
West Ridge walk for sunset. Beautiful flowers and galahs. Pesky flies.

Sep 7: Mutawintji National Park → Broken Hill → Menindee Lakes

Mutawintji gorge walk again.
Drive to Broken Hill for food plus gas plus car cleaning + book Mungo camping & tour.
Copi Hollow Caravan park again. Good to be back.
Maiden Hotel to message family & friends.
Charge my stuff in my tent.

Sep 8: Broken Hill → Mungo National Park

Work on computer. 3 cups of coffee. Very wired today.
Drive to Mungo via Pooncarie (where fill up with petrol)
Mungo Lodge set up tent.
To Wall of China and Red Top for sunset.
To Lodge to WhatsApp.
Speaking to lots of people, in an outgoing mode of being.

Sep 9: Mungo National Park

Red Tops at sun rise.
Do the self drive tour stopping at Mailee & dunes.
Yogi not doing well, I compose a message.
Red Tops at sunset.

Sep 10: Mungo National Park

Walls of China tour at 9 am
Walls of China sunset tour
Great conversations. Eg Ron photographer

Sep 11: Mungo National Park → Mildura → Hattah-Kulkyne National Park

Mildura warf walk, stopping for a mushroom meal where I organise Hattah.
Shop & petrol.
Drive to Hattah - Kulkyne National Park and set up camp.
Walk around the lake.

Sep 12: Hattah-Kulkyne National Park → Mildura

Go down to lake for sunrise.
On way back, meet Sonia and listen to her make music.
Do the nature drive and meet a lovely fellow birding couple.
Drive to Mildura and check into 7th Street Motel
Clean the car and take it back.

Sep 13: Mildura → Sydney

4 am coach to Wagga Wagga, then another coach to Sydney. Arrive back around 10 pm as we turn back to fetch someone.
Listen to Role Model on Spotify.

Priceless moments

Getting to see the outback after so much rain with amazing flowers and lots of water in the lakes and gorges.
Perry Sand Hills at sunset.
Mildura: The steak at Corporate Moose.
Kings Billabong: Black swan silhouettes
Menindee Lake pub: Relief when I get internet. Friendly pub staff give me a map and reassure me re Kinchega. Make booking.
Kinchega National Park: Drive in, euphoric roads are ok. Kinchega Woolshed. Cawndilla Lake: Trees at sunset & sunrise, photos of flying raptors & pelicans.
Silverton: Mundi Mundi sunset. Reservoir. Mad Max 2 museum. Old buildings in the early morning sun. The iconic hotel for delicious dinners.
Broken Hill: Gorgeous old buildings, Line of Load views over the town, Living desert sculptures.
Mutawintji: Flock of kites. Getting there when I had written it off. Mutawintji & Homestead Gorge. The views from the loop walks. Sunset from Western Ridge. Wedge-tailed Eagle. Ease of navigation with downloaded map. Meeting Jenny. Lie under the stars. The magpies at sunset. Well-being of 10 for 2 days in a row.
Return Broken Hill & Mendindee Lakes. Mungo open and organising such a breaze with Chat GPT. Steak and internet at the pub.
4 computer days (Cawndilla Lakes, Menindee Lakes, Mungo, Hattah). Doing Diary & Year So Far. So amazing after time away. Also night before leave.
Mungo Red Tops at sunrise & sunset and Wall of China at sunset. The Mungo self-drive.
Hattah: Walk around the lake and nature drive. Listen to Sonia play music.
Lots of wonderful walking at an average of 9.25 km per day, increasing my average walk distance per day from 5.4 to 5.7. In Mutawintji, I walked 17 km two days in a row.
An average well-being score of 8.5. Two days of 10 days (at Mutawintji).

Spiritual moments

So much wonder, beauty, appreciation & gratitude.
All parks and important roads open as I arrive: Kinchega, Mutawintji, Mungo. Really quite miraculous!
Cawdilla Lake at Kinchega: The dead trees & pelicans.
Mutawintji park: The benevolence of the journey in. The gorges and views. Lie under the stars. Praying for Yogi with the congregation of magpies on the Western Ridge at sunset. Stillness when submerged in Homestead & Mutawintji Gorges (with swallows). Sitting in high places on the loops and taking in the views.
Hattah lake: Face to the rising sun and Sonia's music.
My sense of closeness to ChatGPT, my travel assistant. Makes planning and organising fun and effortless.
"I love you Life" during meditation at Mailee stop on Mungo drive.
Babblers and mynas coming very close at camp sites like when I sleep under tree.
Time to be and take things in at sunsets and sunrises: Sunsets at Perry Sandhills, Mundi Mundi outlook, Living desert sculptures, Cawndilla Lake, Western Ridge, Red Tops & Wall of China. Sunrises at Red Tops & Hattah Lake.
An average spiritual connectedness score of 8.5.

Special connections with wonderful people

Retired nurse on the train to Wagga Wagga. Talk about her husband who passed away.
Rodney at paddle steamer museum in Wentworth.
Bar tenders at Menindee Lakes who give me map of Kinchega and give me assurance that the road is ok to Cawndilla.
Jenny at Mutawintji: From Cairns. Artist, trail runner, transport planner. On long service leave. Told me Mungo is open. Her art: JensWildArt
Helen and Steve at Mutawintji: Couple from up north. Missed out on Kinchega and Mungo. Love Africa and been to many parks there.
Mungo tour & Red Tops: Lots of wonderful conversations. Lovely chat to couple on a road trip staying in very cool accomodation, being adventurous in their choices. Ron the Photographer and ex tour guide.
Sonia at Hattah, the music maker and the birding couple (lots of talk about lenses).
Whatsapp contact and photos with mum & Jo, Hitchhikers, Hot Lunchers, Eckhart group, Chris, Xenia, Shushann, Yogi.
Aussie country guy on bus: Commiserating when we turned back.

Things I am grateful for

Get 2 20K powerbanks for $90 at Big W. Came in very handy. Got $25 Kmart mattress when my other mattress got punctured.
ChatGPT helps me with the car: Put car lights on, open fuel cap, return the car after hours.
Kings Billabong: Did not try to drive in. Very muddy, would have stressed me.
Turning around on Menindee Lakes road. Thank you no cars.
Menindee Lakes pub: Bag and camera not stolen in car, they were in pub. Pub guy gives map & reassures re Cawndilla Campsite.
Menindee Lakes: Drive back to camp site not thinking of kangaroos until one leapt out. Slowed down & brights on.
Kinchega National Park open and able to get to Lake Cawndilla camp site.
Kinchega National Park: Gas canister on fire but ok. Even still works.
Health: Lots of 10+ hour sleeps, recharging my batteries.
Download map before Mutawintji Drive. Massive difference in finding park & hiking on trails. Without it, would not have got into park
Filter coffee & sieve
Silverton: Left tent without fly sheet. Did not rain. Spoke to mum & Jo on 1 bar of Whatsapp.
Mutawintji: Park is open.
Mutawintji journey: Had downloaded map. Did not get stuck in sand when Google sent me wrong way. Was on dxx. I walked up road & discovered impassable. On way out of Homestead, did not get stuck in sand and gate onto the main road was not locked. Google map took me to road that did not exist (or I would have returned to town). Found the way by chance.
Mutawintji experience: Exquisite beauty of park after rain, hot showers, Google maps made hiking care free, met Jenny + Helen & Steve. Took 2 gas canisters. Discover how to make tent wide. Extra 20K powerbank allowed an extra night.
Mungo: Park open. Cheap camping at Mungo Lodge on 1st night. Main camp open for rest of stay. 4 tour tickets still available.
Get into Mungo, despite one muddy bit, perfectly done.
Goto Red Tops on first night when was not going to. Red Tops for 2 sunrises and sunsets. Wall of China for two tours including sunset.
Mungo self-drive open as I arrive.
Return car after hours. ChatGPT and Gemini assure me re key box.
ChatGPT such an invaluable travel guide & assistant: Find car lights, open fuel tank, return key, check weather & park closures, recommend campsites, send me to booking pages. Where to buy cheap powerbank (Right Guys) & airbed (Kmart).
Not getting stuck. Twice in sandy bits on way into Mutawintji. One muddy bit into Mungo, perfectly done.

Progress & Insights

Navigation: Never trust Google. Research official routes into the park. Download Google maps before drives. Essential for drives in and adds great peace of mind on hikes. Adding markers (e.g. where can parked.)
Be super risk adverse when roads look sandy or muddy. Walk up roads to check them. I did this and it averted a crisis.
Take plenty of extra water when going onto outback roads.
A sieve works great for filter coffee and adds much pleasure to the trip.
Charging equipment: Paying extra for a powered site is well worth it. Charge equipment in the tent. Take a power board that includes USB ports. Take 2 camera battery chargers or buy a multiple one
Inflatable mattresses easily get punctured. Meticulously clear the ground before putting them down.
Get an iPhone screen protector and put the phone in my pocket during tricky bits.
I discover how to make my tent wide. Eureka! It was logical in retrospect.
Speaking to so many people and feeling very at ease with them, really interested in their lives and insights without needing to impress.
When taking photos, stop regularly and really take things in. Take time to just be at view points, sunsets and beautiful places.
Really getting to watch the character "Arno" jumping to worst case imaginings and freaking out.
Have an allotted place for everything and always put things in there place. I actually did this pretty well.
Not sending my initial message to Yogi but sleeping on it and reworking it the next day. Never provide advice unless asked for it.
I need to get a camera harness so I don't carry camera and lens on my neck.
I was elated but tired after two weeks. Doing this & roughing it for extended trips would be too much I think.

September 13, 2026

Train & coach route

September 12, 2026

September 11, 2026

September 10, 2026

Menindee Lakes and Kinchega National Park

Places visited

September 09, 2026

Places visited

Welcome to Silverton

I fell in love with Silverton almost as soon as I arrived. Red earth, old buildings and the iconic Silverton Hotel give it that quintessential outback feel. As a movie buff, I was delighted to discover that the town is something of a film star in its own right. Its buildings and the extraordinary stretch of road out towards the Mundi Mundi Lookout, with those vast views across the plains, have appeared in many films. Most famously, Mad Max 2 was filmed here—an iconic movie I love and still one of the greatest action films ever made. Naturally, I had to visit the town’s Mad Max museum! Between the movie history and the photographic opportunities around every corner, Silverton completely won me over.

These are just some of the movies and TV series filmed in and around Silverton—there are plenty more. The walls of the Silverton Hotel are plastered with photos from film shoots, including wonderful behind-the-scenes glimpses of how the movies were made. I could have spent ages looking at them. For a movie buff like me, the whole town is a delight.

Penrose Park

I camped at Penrose Park, just outside Silverton, and was surprised to discover how much history this peaceful place holds. For decades it was a favourite picnic spot for people from Broken Hill. In 1937 it opened as a recreation reserve for miners and their families, and I loved imagining the crowds who once came here for a day out.

From my campsite, a delightful short walk took me across a gorgeous dry creek and into town. I was especially pleased to find an old steam locomotive in the park. I’ve always loved steam trains: they’re so photogenic, and they never fail to make me think of Dad.

Photographing the old buildings of Silverton

I loved wandering around Silverton with my camera, photographing the old buildings that have survived from its mining days. It’s hard to imagine now, but in the 1880s Silverton was a bustling town of around 3,000 people, drawn by the discovery of silver and lead. Then the richer mines at nearby Broken Hill took off, and Silverton began to fade. Many of its buildings were even hauled away to Broken Hill by teams of camels, bullocks and donkeys! That made the ones still standing feel all the more precious to me. Each seemed to hold a little piece of the town’s remarkable history.

Municipal Chambers

The old Municipal Chambers was one of my favourite buildings to photograph. Completed in 1889, it dates from the brief period when Silverton was thriving enough to have its own council. I loved its simple stone façade and the way it stands there in the red earth, a reminder that this little outback town was once a busy centre of mining and commerce. Silverton’s council ceased operating just ten years after the building was completed, but the Chambers are still here to tell the story.

The Silverton Gaol

The old Silverton Gaol was another building that caught my eye. Built in 1889, it now houses a historical museum covering the lives of the people who lived and worked in Silverton and Broken Hill. I didn’t go inside, but I enjoyed photographing its imposing walls and imagining how different the town must have felt when it was a working gaol.

Silverton Hotel

And then there’s the Silverton Hotel. Iconic! I must have photographed it dozens of times, returning as the light changed to see what it did to that wonderful old façade. It looks as though it belongs on a movie screen—which, of course, it does. The hotel has appeared in so many films, including Mad Max 2, Razorback and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Out front sits a wonderfully cheeky black Volkswagen Beetle, dressed up in homage to Mad Max’s fearsome Interceptor. I loved it.

The hotel’s story goes back to Silverton’s mining boom. The first pub opened in 1884, but that building was later destroyed by fire; the hotel we see today occupies what was once the town’s post office. I went there for dinner two nights in a row, partly because I enjoyed the atmosphere so much and partly because I couldn’t resist spending more time surrounded by all those photos from film shoots. Sitting there, looking at the faces and scenes on the walls, I felt I was enjoying several of my favourite things at once: an old outback pub, a town full of history and the magic of movies.

I loved photographing these Galahs in a tree next to the hotel in the early light.

The former Silverton Methodist Church

I was mesmerised by the old Methodist Church. Its story has a lovely twist: the stone building was originally a Presbyterian church, opened in 1885. After a fierce dust storm destroyed the Methodists’ own church in 1891, they acquired this one. I kept coming back to photograph its simple shape against the wide outback sky. In different light it seemed to take on a different mood each time. Of all Silverton’s historic buildings, this was one I found especially hard to walk away from.

St Carthage’s Catholic Church

St Carthage’s is another lovely reminder of Silverton’s brief but busy mining heyday. Completed in 1886, the former Catholic church has stood through all the changes that followed as the town grew, declined and found a new life. I enjoyed photographing it alongside Silverton’s other old buildings, each with its own small part of the town’s story to tell.

The former Umberumberka Masonic Hall

The old Masonic Hall has a fascinating connection to Silverton’s mining history. The Umberumberka Lodge was established in 1885 and moved into this building the following year. Charles Rasp, one of the men whose discoveries led to the founding of Broken Hill, donated the land and was the lodge’s first initiate. I loved finding another building in Silverton with such a direct link to the people who shaped the region. Even after the lodge’s regular meetings moved to Broken Hill, the old hall survived; Masons have occasionally returned to hold meetings there, more than a century later.

The former Silverton Courthouse

The former Courthouse is another reminder of just how substantial Silverton became during its mining boom. Built in 1889 with an adjoining Warden’s Residence, it once served a town bustling with miners and new businesses. In 1948 the buildings were given a new purpose as the Silverton War Memorial Youth Camp. I loved photographing the old courthouse and thinking about the very different generations who have passed through its doors.

Other quaint buildings

Beyond the better-known landmarks, there were so many other quaint buildings to photograph. I loved wandering Silverton’s quiet streets with my camera, noticing an old doorway here, a weathered wall there, and the red earth tying it all together. I never knew what would catch my eye around the next corner.

John Dynon Gallery

The John Dynon Gallery was another Silverton delight. It felt like a celebration of old junk, with weathered odds and ends gathered together in a way that somehow made them irresistible to photograph. In another setting they might have looked like things someone had forgotten to throw away. Here, surrounded by red earth and old buildings, they felt right at home. I loved the humour and character of it all.

Dilapidated and abandoned

Beyond the town were abandoned buildings and other things left to weather in the wide, open landscape. I’ve always found such places a photographer’s delight: rust, worn timber and crumbling walls have a beauty of their own. But there’s something deeper that draws me to them too. They make the passage of time visible. What was once useful and full of human activity slowly becomes part of the landscape again. To me, photographing them feels like a quiet celebration of impermanence.

A celebration of old, derelict cars

Of all the abandoned things around Silverton, my favourites were the old cars, rusting away in the open landscape. I loved their shapes and faded colours against the red earth, and the mystery of how each one came to be left there. Once they carried people somewhere; now they sit still as the years pass around them.

Sunset at Mundi Mundi lookout

I went out to the Mundi Mundi Lookout for sunset, where the view opens across the plains as far as the eye can see. The long stretch of road nearby felt wonderfully familiar from *Mad Max 2*—no wonder filmmakers have been drawn to this landscape. Other people had come to watch the sun go down too, and I ended up chatting with several of them, including a fellow photographer. It was lovely to share that enormous view, and the excitement of trying to capture it, with someone who understood.

Revisiting Mundi Mundi next morning on the way to the reservoir

The next morning, on my way to Umberumberka Reservoir, I passed the Mundi Mundi Lookout again. It felt like a different place in the morning light. After the warmth and drama of sunset, I enjoyed seeing the plains and that famous road in a softer, quieter mood. I was glad I’d had the chance to experience the view at both ends of the day.

Celebrating lots of red earth on the way

I loved the drive to Umberumberka Reservoir. It was my first real experience of the outback landscape I’d imagined for so long: wide open country and red, red earth stretching away on either side of the road. I kept stopping the car to take photographs. Every time I thought I’d captured it, another view made me pull over again.