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From: "Jeanette Hope" <>
Subject: Re: [NSW-W] Arumpa Homestead
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 11:51:03 +1000
References: <C091290F.BC2E%rusheen@optusnet.com.au>


Dear Leanne and Rusheen

Rusheen, you're right that groundwater generally runs in permeable beds
between non-permeable ones (clay). In the Murray Basin the major aquifer is
the Loxton-Parilla sands which underlie the Blanchetown Clays; the sands are
the beaches & retreating shorelines of the old sea (20millyr) and the clay
formed when a big freshwater lake covered the sands ca 5myr; then the red
desert sand blew over the top during the last half million years. The L-P
aquifer is mainly salty; the salt mines near Mildura actually pump water out
of it and evaporate it. Salt has always been in the Murray-Darling Basin;
long before Europeans arrived.

But the situation at Arumpo was slightly different. They would have been
sinking the well into the bed of the ancient lake Arumpo, ' the large plains
with low sandy rises'. The lake is part of the whole Willandra Lakes
complex, and a lot larger than shown on the Arumpo 1:100,000 map. 'Lake
Arumpo' on that map is just the last gasp as the system finally dried up;
earlier there was a big lake encompassing all the smaller ones shown on that
map. The 'white sand' was probably part of an old lake beach, or dune; the
fact that it is white rather than red mean that it was part of the lake
system (ie the sand grains had been washed).

I have a copy of the Arumpo Property map ca 1890. This shows a lot of
improvments, huts, tanks, bores etc. but no well. The first bores in WNSW
were ca1878; before that you had to dig wells. There is at least one
slabbed well still existing in the area, Vigars Well, behind the Mungo Walls
of China; you can visit it on the Mungo NP self-drive tour.

A few weeks ago I visited the old Arumpo Homestead site; abandoned since
ca1970s when a new homestead complex was built about 10k south. The old HS
was demolished, but the old woolshed still stands (just) as well as a lot of
old pine timber sheds, chimneys, garden layouts etc. I took photos of the
ruins; but I'd love to find some historic ones.

At the Mungo Festival in September (celebrating the 25th anniversary of the
Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area) there will be a Pastoralists' Day (Sat
9 Sept), with shearing in the Mungo WS etc. We're also planning a pastoral
history photo exhibition. I'd be delighted to hear from anyone with photos
or historic information about the Willandra Stations: Old Gol Gol and old
Arumpo, later Gol Gol, Arumpo, Top Hut, Leaghur, Garnpung, Mungo, Zanci,
Belmore, Prungle, Mulurulu etc.

The website www.mungofestival.com.au should be up in the next few days.

PS. Arumpo is southwest of Mungo NP, not north.
PS2. I have a research interest in wells, bores, ground tanks, stone tanks,
in WNSW etc., but that's for another email.

Jeannette Hope

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