Mildura

Mildura Vic 3500 (Pop 30 500)

Mildura is a major regional centre in N-W Victoria’s Sunraysia region on the Murray River & NSW border 545 n-w of Melbourne. Original inhabitants were the Keramin Aborigines, white settlement began in 1840s and the first irrigation schemes started in 1880s. The railway (1903) greatly alleviated produce transport problems. Today the district produces 15% of Australia’s citrus fruit, 80% of its dried fruit & 85% of Victoria’s grapes. Mildura streets are named Orange, Lemon, Lime etc. It has the world’s 2^nd & 3^rd largest packing companies and is also a tourism riverside resort. Mildura Arts Festival (Mar), International Balloon Fiesta (July), Country Music Festival (Sept), Mildura Show (Oct), Sunraysia Jazz & Wine Festival (Nov).

Tourist Attractions & Info:
Mildura Arts Centre Complex, Cureton Ave combines an art gallery, a theatre & historical museum at 'Rio Vista', former home of town’s founder, W.B. Chaffey (1889) with excellent colonial and Aboriginal displays, furniture & memorabilia. Open (9am-5pm) weekdays & (1pm-5pm) weekends. Old Mildura Homestead, Cureton Ave historic homestead replica with woolshed, stables & interesting irrigation displays. Open (9am-dusk) daily. Chaffey family graves are found 150 m further along. River Cycleway begins at the Old Mildura Homestad and follows the Murray river 3km north.  Kings Billabong and Psyche Bend Pumphouse, 11^th St first irrigation water supply and 19^th century original pumphouse with oldest pump of its kind in the world. Murray River for paddlesteamer cruisers, houseboat hire & fishing.

Nearby:
Australian Inland Botanic Gardens (6 km north) Open Sun-Fri. Hattah-Kulkyne NP (89 km south) 48 000 mallee and woodlands park with the Huttah lakes when seasonally filled and flooded from significant wetlands. Bushwalking, fishing, canoeing & bird watching all popular Murray-Sunset NP (100 km west) Victoria’s 2^nd largest national park made up of billabongs, floodplains, grasslands, mallee dunes & abundant wildlife. Excellent bushwalking, bird watching, camping & fishing. Lake Cullulleraine (58 km west) ideal for swimming, boating, fishing & camping. A 10 km walking/cycling track rings the lake with the nearby small township of Cullulleraine nearby.  Mungo NP (110 km n-w in NSW) centre of the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area comprising a region of 240 000 ha of 17 dry lakes over 2 million years old.  In 1969 Mungo Woman was discovered on Lake Mungo and estimated to be 40 000 years old. 5 years later, Mungo Man was discovered 300 m away at over 2 m in height and thought to be the world’s oldest example of ceremonial burial.

Accommodation:
Mildura has about 30 motels, 4 hotels/resorts, 15 caravan parks & many holiday apartments/cottages. Visitor Information Centre: Alfred Deakin Centre, Deakin Ave. Tel (03) 5018 8380 or 1300 550 858.