The Lost Road - Anabranch Mail Road

We couldn't have asked for a better day to travel the southern section of the Anabranch Mail Road which is about 70km of unsealed road with some stunning wildlife and some pretty good views of the Great Darling Anabranch.

All up, its about a 4 hour round trip from Mildura (allowing time to stop and take in the sights). The 444km Anabranch makes its way from the Darling River down stream of Menindee and connects with the Murray River Down Stream of Wentworth. Of course we are just looking at a very small section, a river trip by boat during a high river would be a great adventure and I've known a few people that have got to experience this, so that's definitely on the bucket list.

The Anabranch of the Darling River is the ancient bed of the Darling River until it changed its course around 11,000 years ago. It is commonly referred to as the Great Darling Anabranch or simply the Darling Anabranch.

There are only a couple of spots to stop at along this part of the Mail Road where you can take in the views as much of this land is private property and entering without permission is a big no no!

Our first stop is the begging of the Mail Road at the10 mile bridge (pictured), we're only a couple of K's from where the Anabranch meets the
Murray River, so if you're a keen Kayaker this is a great spot to launch.

I've included a google map at the bottom of the blog to identify the starting point.

The original 10 mile bridge (seen right) was built in 1867 making it 157 years old, even though its now closed its actually looks in pretty good shape for its age. It was upgraded in 1895 and again in the mid 1900’s, the new bridge was built in 2003

Next stop the Anabranch Hall as we take in the wildlife along this section of the trek. It worth mentioning that as good as this road is at the moment, its best to be prepared. Equipment to change a tyre if need be and something to inflate with would be a good idea, mobile reception is sketchy and apart from land owners there isn't much traffic on this road.

The old mail road passes through private farmlands, so be extremely respectful to the landowners. Hunting and camping without permission or taking dogs would be frowned upon. The Anabranch Hall (pictured) provided a vital venue for social interaction for people living in the isolated Anabranch district back in the day, Dances and sport days were held here and its still the venue for the annual Anabranch Picnic.

The Anabranch hall is available to the public for functions and gatherings and can be booked via the Wentworth council, its quite affordable, it has well maintained toilet blocks and shower facilities. and up to date pricing can be found on the Wentworth shire council web page. (https://www.wentworth.nsw.gov.au/community/public-venues/)

Flows into the Anabranch are inconsistent so a quick "google before you travel is a good idea. Generally speaking the anabranch receives flows when the Darling River reaches 6m or 10,000ml a day it also receives regulated flows from the Menindee lakes.

Our last stop before we back to Mildura is the Bunnerungee Bridge. This is where we meet up with the Silver City Highway and get back onto bitumen. From this point it will be 70 Kilometres back to Wentworth. Bunnerungee bridge is a free campground, with limited facilities, it is dog friendly as well as being accessible to RVs, camper trailers, caravans and big rigs and camping in tents is allowed.

Its definitely not glamorous and the highway can get pretty noisy, so really just a last resort stop if the wildlife at night is getting a little bit hairy on the road or you’re stopping for a bite to eat like we did.

starting point for our journey