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Mildura
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MILDURA
has the mirage-like aura of an oasis, its vineyards and orange orchards standing out from a hot, dry landscape. To the southwest is the evocatively named
Sunset Country
, with nothing but gnarled mallee scrub, red sand and pink salt lakes (reached via Linga on the Mallee Highway). Mildura makes a good winter getaway, but summer can be stiflingly hot - the green grape vines in the surrounding countryside and the flowers and towering red gums that line Deakin Avenue, the main thoroughfare, offer some relief, but you'd do best to avoid the area at this time if you can.
Deakin Avenue runs northwest through town to the river, with 7th Street and the train station facing the parklands that run along the river. Like any self-respecting small city, Mildura has a couple of malls, one running parallel to Deakin Avenue between 8th and 9th streets, and another, smaller one out of town at Deakin Avenue and 15th street. The Mildura Visitor Information and Booking Centre is situated in the state-of-the-art Alfred Deakin Centre at Deakin Avenue and 12th Street (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm, Sat & Sun 9am-5pm; tel 03/5021 4424 or free call 1800 039 043, www.milduratourism.com ), which also houses a pool and gym, a decent cafe and a modern library, where you can check your email for free (booking advised). The visitor centre will book accommodation and supply free town maps, and also have particularly good information on the Murray-Sunset (Yanga-Nyawi) and Hattah-Kulkyne national parks.
Down on the river the seventy-year-old
Mildura Weir
system, designed to provide stable pools for irrigation and to enable navigation throughout the year, makes a pleasant place to while away an hour or so. There's a pretty picnic spot by lock 11 (the trickiest), just beyond the art gallery at the arts centre. Alternatively, wander down to the
Mildura Arts Centre
, 199 Cureton Ave (daily 10am-5pm; gallery $3), which consists of a historic home, Rio Vista, the Mildura Regional Art Gallery, a theatre and a sculpture park.
Rio Vista
was built in 1890 for William Chaffey, who lived here with his first and second wives (both called Hattie Schell, the second the niece of the first) until he died in 1926. It's a lovely house, though rather ill-suited to the climate, and inside are various displays about the Chaffeys and the development of Mildura. The art gallery's most important piece is
Woman Combing Her Hair at the Bath
, a pastel work by Edgar Degas; it also has some excellent sculpture by Australian artists. Artwork of a less colonial nature can be found at the
Tulkana Kumbi Aboriginal Gallery
, 22 Langtree Ave (Mon-Fri 10.30am-5pm, Sat 11am-5pm; free). Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Australia,
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