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Mildura, Vic



Mildura


Red cliffs on the Murray River


Olive groves, Mildura


Mildura wharf


Mungo National Park


Red Cliffs Historical Steam Railway


Perry Sandhills


Pink Lakes, Murray Sunset National Park

Mildura is known as the centre of Victoria's Food Bowl and is a major producer of citrus fruits (especially oranges), wine grapes, Many Australian wineries source grapes from Mildura, due to the red soil being optimal for growing the fruit. It is also Victoria's perennial Murray River resort.

Where is it?: Where Is It?: Western Australia: South West. Mildura is located in the Sunraysia region, on the southern bank of the Murray River, 573 km north west of Melbourne via the Calder Highway. The Sturt Highway, which links Adelaide to Wagga wagga via the Hay Plains, passes through Mildura.

Things to see and do:

Outdoor activities: the warm climate lends itself to outdoor actrivities and sports. These inclde hot air ballooning, tennis, horse racing, bowls and motorsports.

Australian Inland Botanical Gardens was the first semi-arid botanic gardens in the Southern Hemisphere. Farmgate Gardens offer a unique experience of the senses in their numerous garden rooms.

There are many ways to experience the Murray River at Mildura. Captain your own houseboat and drift at your own pace, take a cruise through the locks, hire a boat for a day's fishing or paddle through wetlands and creeks in a canoe. For a faster pace, waterski along wider sections of the river. More >>

The Mildura wine region is the second largest wine region in Australia, producing approximately 20 percent of the national crush. It boasts over 40 wineries ranging from boutique to large-scale facilities. The region is known for its Chardonnay, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. New and emerging varieties include Petit Verdot, Sangiovese, Viognier and Pinot Gris.

Lookouts: The Red Cliffs lookout with scenic reserve (4km from Red Cliffs) features high red cliffs facing the Murray River. As well as a place of scenic beauty, the site has an interesting history including ancient aboriginal relics.

Events:

Surrounding area:

The Red Cliffs Historical Steam Railway operates a steam train which has significant historical and cultural importance to Red Cliffs. Unique to Sunraysia, it is the only tourist steam train in the area and one of the few small gauge railways throughout Australia.

The Perry Sandhills (5km from wentworth) is 10 hectares of striking red sandhills that were once part of the huge Willandra Lakes System and date back to an ice age 40,000 years ago.

Bordered by a wide stretch of the Murray River, Kings Billabong (8km south east) home to majestic river red gums and a variety of bird life, Kings Billabong Reserve is an ideal place to discover nature and history. Home to the historic Psyche Pumping Station, built in 1891 by the Chaffey Brothers to meet the needs of the irrigation settlement.

Walls of China, Mungo National Park: Mungo (110km north east) is the focal point of the Willandra Lakes World Heritage area. The Walls of China on the shore of Lake Mungo is a fascinating formation of layers of sand, salt and clay that have eroded into surprising shapes over thousands of years.

Murray Sunset National Park (40km south) is Victoria's second largest national park and contains four designated wilderness zones. The park is one of the few remaining semi-arid regions in the world where the environment is relatively untouched. It has diverse habitats, including billabongs and floodplains near the Murray River, grasslands, native pine woodlands, Mallee covered dunes and saltbush flats.


About Mildura

Mildura is situated on the intersection of the Sturt Highway from Adelaide to Sydney, and the Calder Highway to Melbourne via Bendigo. Its rail connection to Melbourne is used mainly for freight transport. Sunraysia Bus Lines, Swan Hill Bus Lines and Dysons Bus Services operate V/Line bus/train services that connect Mildura to various parts of Victoria and southern NSW. Greyhound Australia run buses to Adelaide and Sydney via Canberra. Countrylink run buses to Sydney. The Henty Highway Bus Service runs buses to Horsham.
Mildura Airport is the third busiest airport in Victoria, serviced by five QantasLink flights daily to Melbourne, three Regional Express flights to Melbourne, and two O'Conner Airlines flights daily to Adelaide. Regional Express also operates flights to Sydney several days a week.
Because of the region's extensive fruit growing, Mildura is part of the 'Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone', in which fruits or vegetables may not be taken into the area (they can, however, be taken out). This is to stop the fruit fly from invading crops and plantations. Disposal bins into which fruit can be disposed of are located along highways entering the zone.
Mildura enjoys a mostly warm climate. It is only about 50 metres above sea level despite being several hundred kilometres from the coast, and is surrounded by dry grassland. Rainfall is about 290 mm a year and is spread evenly across the months and seasons. Winter and Spring enjoy the most rain, with a couple of thunderstorm events each year. Days are mostly clear with 100+ days of full sunshine each year. The temperature can range from below 0 °C some nights to over 40 °C in summer.

History: A major drought in Victoria from 1877 to 1884 prompted Alfred Deakin, then a minister in the State Government and chairman of a Royal Commission on water supply to visit the irrigation areas of California. There he met George and William Chaffey. In 1886 George Chaffey came to Australia and selected a derelict sheep station at Mildura as the site for his first irrigation settlement signing an agreement with the Victorian government to spend at least £300,000 on permanent improvements at Mildura in the next twenty years. After much political wrangling, the settlement of Mildura was established in 1887. It was named after the Mildura sheep station that provided most of the land. The name is of Aboriginal origin, and means either "red sand" or "sore eyes".
In the 1890s came the scourge of the rabbit. This devastated the sheep farmers, especially south of the Murray. There was also a financial recession at this time. Combined, these factors restricted growth of the new settlement. After this period, the new settlement grew and grew. It was soon the main town of the district. Suburbs and new satellite towns sprang up. In 1937 it officially became a city. Today, Mildura is a bright, thriving regional centre, and the surrounding Sunraysia district has a population of over 50,000.


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Where Is It?: Western Australia: South West