In the next few blogs I will share different parts of a forever-changing landscape in and around Lake Mungo.
Above are the lovely traditional custodians of Lake Mungo National Park: Ricky, Marie, (me in the middle), Lottie and Warren who shared their time and knowledge.
The vegetation of Mungo National Park consists of blue bush and wild grasses, which grow on the slightly saline soils of the dry lake beds, and mallee, rosewood, she oak and wattle trees, which scatter the sand hills and dried up water course valleys as they wait to be quenched again with another good rainfall for their survival. Little patches of wildflowers and paddy melon (introduced from Africa) scatter the grounds.
This flower captured my attention, growing in small clumps not far from the road. It looked to be related to a Hibiscus family, but I’m not a horticulturalist.
Well, later back at the Discovery Centre at Lake Mungo, I got Ricky the ranger to tell me if it was a native plant or an introduced one. He mentioned that this particular flower or something like it had a dreaming story and Lottie remembers her mum telling her never to pick this flower or you’ll upset the spirits of the land and the winds and dust storms will follow you.
A simple but also complex moral story to respect country; fear factor of a spiritual belief; with lots of layers. Conservation way back then as well as now.
Welcome to the blogosphere! Thanks for this evocative post Deb, your words paint an awesome picture of not only the landscape but the people and culture too. You’ve just added another destination to my ‘places I must visit soon’ list.