2
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
Contents
1
Background4
2. Mungo and Zanci – the twin nodes of the Pastoral Heritage Loop 5
2.1 Significance of the twin nodes for interpretation planning
5
2.2 The two nodes and the role of Zanci
6
2.3 The Zanci Woolshed node7
2.4 The three key functions of the Zanci Woolshed node
8
2.5 The Zanci challenges9
2.6 The pivotal role of ‘place’10
2.7 Defining Mungo’s place in the landscape
11
2.8 Creating the Zanci Woolshed node
13
2.9 The Zanci Homestead site15
2.10 Mungo Woolshed / Pastoral Heritage Loop gateway node
16
2.11 The Mungo Woolshed Precinct17
2.12 The Mungo Woolshed interior18
3. Trackside interpretive nodes19
3.1 The role of trackside interpretive signage
19
4. Interpretive inventory / budget estimates 20
4.1 Zanci Woolshed Node20
4.2 Generic costing proviso20
4.3 Zanci Homestead Node21
4.4 Mungo Woolshed/ Pastoral Heritage Loop gateway Node
21
4.5 2 trackside interterpretive nodes on initial Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop section from Mungo Woolshed to Zanci Woolshed,
21
Appendix 1. Strategic planning considerations
22
App 1.1 Important planning documents – The CMP
22
App 1.2 Important planning documents
– Historical Study of Women and Outback Landscapes
23
App 1.3
Important planning documents Shared Landscapes
24
App 1.4 The Mungo challenge24
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
3
1. Background
Establishment of the Mungo Pastoral
Heritage Loop
In 2010 as part of the project to establish an expanded suite of interpretive
facilities for the Mungo Visitor Centre precinct, a new recreational package
was established for Mungo that explicitly linked together the Mungo and
Zanci homesteads.
The Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop is a way of presenting the connected
quality of these two precincts via either a scenic drive / cycle option or
else a half day walk option. To create the walk option a new track was
defined along existing access routes from the back of the Foreshore Track
across to Zanci Homestead.
The loop incorporates Mungo’s most
prominent European cultural asset – the
Mungo Woolshed. Significantly the issue
of the woolshed interpretation was not
specifically addressed as part of the 2010
interpretation project works around the
visitor centre. These works were however
mindful of the need to link the woolshed
in as part of the overall visitor experience
in this key precinct.
The works proposed here in relation to
the woolshed and also the overall heritage
loop which relies on the visitor centre
precinct as its trackhead hence need to
be seen as Stage 2 works of this precinct
interpretive refit.
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Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
2. 2.1 Mungo and Zanci – the twin nodes of the Pastoral Heritage Loop
Significance of the twin nodes for
A significant feature of the pastoral heritage loop is the way in which it has an
interpretation planning
inner core which is the walking loop and an outer core comprising the drive
/ cycle option. These two essentially disparate pathways have two nodes in
common – the start / finish at the Mungo Woolshed precinct and the outer
node at the Zanci Homestead.
To understand the significance of this it is worth addressing briefly the role
nodes need to play in the interpretation of landscapes in Mungo.
Mungo is already well advanced in its use of nodes to function as interpretive
focal points across the landscape. The boardwalks at Red Top Lookout and the
Walls Lookout are the two prominent examples of this.
When one considers just why such infrastructure is so inherently appealing as
a visitor experience it is apparent that they immediately offer a sense of arrival
in a special place, a place that has been valued, conserved and sensitively and
actively responded to in an interpretive context.
They commonly also offer visitors places of repose where they can congregate
as a group – be it an interpretive group, or a family – and share their
experiences as these unfold.
These places of repose then have a double importance as they function
as natural interpretive epicentres where people can take in information
in a place set amongst, yet disjunct from, its immediate surrounds. The
importance of this is readily appreciated from the difference between signage
contexts in the park where signage is placed amidst a setting that defines an
area as a visitor node (in the case
of Mungo Lookout and Vigars Well,
below left) in comparison to the
much less effective presence it has
when simply inserted amidst the
landscape it is interpreting (as in the
case of the Zanci sign right).
As a generic approach, we believe
interpretation benefits by defining
areas of intervention where it specifically sets itself apart from the element
it is interpreting so as to view it from a detached point of reference. This was
clearly evident in the creation of the meeting place where the interpretive
media in the form of signage were clearly separated from the footsteps and
located in their own viewing context from either the constructed lunette or
the entry area to the precinct (below).
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
5
2.2 The two nodes and the role of
There are two key nodes that need to be established for the Pastoral Heritage
Zanci
Loop – the Zanci Precinct and the Mungo Woolshed Precinct. Each node must
have its own unique character and role to play in the pastoral loop experience.
The Mungo Woolshed entry precinct must operate as both a dual trackhead
integrating people’s experience of both the woolshed and the start of the
Pastoral Heritage walk option that commences out along the same path as the
Foreshore Track.
This woolshed node is also a stand alone feature that will be explored by
virtually all visitors to the site, many of whom are not experiencing it as part of
the pastoral loop experience. Indeed by the time a visitor actually embarks on
the heritage loop it is very likely that they will have already visited the Mungo
Woolshed and so head straight out on the walk or cycle / drive to Zanci.
With this in mind, it is apparent that the Zanci Precinct node is really the
pivotal intervention upon which the success of the pastoral loop will rest. The
loop was established with the clear intention of providing a strong half day
walk option in the immediate proximity of the visitor centre precinct.
This walk is a significant undertaking and it is very important that when visitors
arrive at the turn back / outer end of the loop at Zanci they get a clear sense
of why they’ve made the effort. Here it is vital that a node experience be
created to reinforce that sense of “Yes - I’m here, this was worth the effort, this
is a special place that I want to spend some time exploring and getting to
understand.” Facilities created as part of the Zanci node’s establishment must
also ensure some covered areas are available for people to rest and picnic
should they wish to do so.
With this need in mind, the first approach to establish the Zanci node is not
so much to think about creating a new construction on the site but rather to
examine existing structures at Zanci that could undergo adaptive reuse to fulfil
this function.
Here two possible options exist. One is the stables building, the other is the
Zanci Woolshed. Of these the stables is not seen as suitable owing both to its
location to the north east of the precinct in such a place as it would be hard to
establish it as a natural part of the walkers visitor flow onto the site which will
approach from the south west. In addition it is too small to function as a major
node facility in its own right.
The Zanci Woolshed by comparison has none of these problems. It has the
size and location to allow it to be successfully adapted to a new functional
role in the life of the Pastoral Heritage Loop. Such an adaptive reuse is in fact
very much in keeping with the tradition of both Zanci as a whole and the
woolshed itself.
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Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
2.3 The Zanci Woolshed node
The Zanci Woolshed was built around 1947 to replace the make do
woolshed initially erected at Zanci in its establishment phase in the 1920s.
The construction of the new shed was timed to improve the property’s
productivity as wool prices began to surge in the wake of the Second World
War leading into the boom period for wool in the 1950s.
As the Mungo Conservation Management and Cultural Tourism Plan (CMP)
notes
Roy Vigar, Don Stirrat and Jack Hope built Zanci Woolshed c1947 as the second
woolshed at Zanci Station. They cut the posts themselves, but reused part of the
(now demolished) separate Mungo Woolshed section, including Oregon beams
that supported the overhead gear and slotted floor gratings.
The building was apparently added to some time afterwards, and later still, a
corrugated iron freestanding shed was added to the southern end of the building
for wool bale storage. The freestanding shed was relocated to Mungo Station as
the NPWS Maintenance Shed c1986.
A sheep dip shed and well (now demolished) was located in the eastern side of the
associated yards, northeast of the woolshed. The overhead gear was possibly taken
later to Mungo Woolshed.
Zanci Woolshed is of high significance as one of the only buildings remaining
within the Zanci Station Complex and as an intact woolshed of the second phase
of development at Zanci Station. The building reflects the economical and
efficient reuse of fabric throughout Mungo National Park.
It is important for its association with the historical development and working
practices of Zanci Station and the reuse of material from Mungo Woolshed
indicates the level of operational integration between the two stations and their
families.
From the above material it is apparent that adaptively reusing the Zanci
Woolshed to allow it to function as a visitor node offering rest, shelter and
support for a significant interpretive presence that changes the current
ambient character of the building is largely in keeping with the adaptive reuse
practices that gain recognition in the building’s statement of significance.
This represents a major opportunity for the creation of the Zanci node. The
woolshed has a strong visual presence and is sufficiently close to the main
homestead area to function as a detached vantage point from which to
view and assess the overall precinct. It is also in a strategic position so as to
allow minor track modifications to occur in order to ensure walkers use the
woolshed node as the gateway to the overall Zanci precinct.
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
7
2.4 The three key functions of the
There are three key outcomes required of the adaptive reuse of the Zanci
Zanci Woolshed node
Woolshed as an interpretive node.
The first is to provide a place of rest and repose where people can gain shelter
and have an extended break mid way along their half day walk.
The second is to provide a vantage point from which to take in the overall
Zanci Precinct and to understand its significance prior to entering the precinct.
The third is to provide a place along the overall pastoral heritage loop where
the overall context, or foundation of the cultural significance of Mungo’s
pastoral heritage can be conveyed to visitors. This last requirement is by far
the most challenging aspect of the three needs of this node. It requires a
controlled setting and overall interpretive canvas be laid out in a way that is
significantly different to that which can be provided by interpretation signs
located either at Zanci or elsewhere along the pastoral loop.
The reason for this is that interpretive signs are by their very nature episodic
whereby one can never assume people have read or experienced a previous
sign. Accordingly they must be self contained and this limits their ability to
cumulatively present and build a connected narrative.
In a controlled space such as de facto information centre environment
envisaged for the Zanci Woolshed, the potential however exists to build a
integrated platform whereby the component parts of the Mungo pastoral
heritage can be presented alongside each other in such a way as to assist
visitors to make their own connections between them.
8
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
2.5 The Zanci challenges
There are two key challenges which need to be addressed in establishing the
Zanci node. One is the aesthetic / functional modification of the woolshed.
The other is the strategic elements which must guide the provision of
information needed to build a foundation for the pastoral heritage interpretive
platform.
On an aesthetic / function level, the woolshed site must immediately operate
as a gateway to the precinct. It needs to stand out as a place that has been
modified specifically to cater for people’s needs. This requires a section of
decking be created to reach out from the southern entrance to the woolshed
so as to unequivocally define it as visitor node. This deck would extend to the
west of the shed also in such a way as to allow someone standing on it to
look over to the homestead area and read interpretive signage relating to the
Zanci precinct. Major gateway signage also needs to be installed in association
with this deck / seating / signage feature. The deck should also seek to elevate
people above landscape so as to give them a good vantage point to take in
the setting.
At a strategic level, it must noted that the challenges facing the Zanci
woolshed node have become significantly more complex since the time the
current pastoral heritage displays were installed in the Mungo Visitor Centre
in the 1990s. These displays were produced using the prevailing approach of
that time whereby the interpreters first set about determining appropriate
narratives and storylines as a basis upon which to then deliver these storylines
via their exhibition media.
In 2003 and 2004 however two major reports produced by the NPWS Cultural
Heritage Division took issue both directly and indirectly with the underlying
premises and ommissions that arise under this interpretive approach.
These reports were “An Historical Study of Women and Outback Landscapes”
by Dr Johanna Kijas and “Shared Landscapes: archaeologies of attachment and
the pastoral industry in New South Wales” by Dr Rodney Harrison.
Each report in its own way argued that the “settlement–colonial expansionist
model” that underpinned the interpretation of pastoral heritage created
problems as the narratives of women and indigenous people were lost. As
Johanna Kijas writes:
Histories that retain their central focus on economics, politics and other aspects of
the public domain inherently work to exclude large categories of people...
The outback is imagined in different and often competing ways across time,
gender, culture and location. While images of the outback as a white masculine
place endure in historical interpretation and tourist promotion, they do not go
unchallenged or therefore unchanged.
In order to remedy this she argues in favour of:
A place-centred approach allows a wider inclusion of women in their diversity and
other historical actors who have shaped and been shaped by those places.
This section does not attempt to explain the detail in terms of how these two
reports have influenced the overall approach being suggested here. Rather
these considerations have been dealt with as an appendix where they can
be read if required. What can be noted here in summary is that Johanna Kijas’
focus on the role of place in providing a foundation for pastoral interpretation
forms the centrepiece of the outcomes advocated here.
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
9
2.6 The pivotal role of ‘place’
To better understand what this focus on the role place means for
interpretation on the pastoral heritage loop an important reference is
Johanna Kijas’ comment that:
In making the place the central focus of historical endeavour, rather
than the public domain of certain men, an enlarged vision of the
richness and diversity of places can be accomplished.
What then exactly does setting ‘place’ up as the central underpinning of
the pastoral heritage interpretation at Mungo involve?
Significantly here part of the answer lies in the CMP and the way
it constructs its narrative history of the park. The CMP is of course
inherently grounded and focussed on a sense of place – it is after all,
all about the park. In its statement of cultural significance it recognises
Mungo’s:
three phases of occupation; as part of the large nineteenth-century backblock pastoral property Gol Gol; as the Mungo and Zanci pastoral station
soldier settlement properties; and for almost a quarter of a century as
Mungo National Park. These three phases sit within an overarching historic
theme of human interaction with the environment. .. Within this theme
are subthemes that underpin the significance of the place associated with
the changing nature of the land tenure framework, pastoral processes, and
awareness and appreciation of the natural and cultural environment.
Grounded on this approach, the CMP then presents an account of the
Mungo whereby the narratives of both indignenous people, pastoralists
and later national park managers are interwoven around the central
theme of the park across the three idenitifed phases of its recent history.
It clearly demonstrates and supports Johanna Kijas’ assertion that
establishing a sense of place as the focal point of the park interpretation
is the appropriate basis upon which to examine and understand the
narratives of the people with a cultural connection to Mungo at a given
point in time.
This approach clearly places Mungo as the centre stage across which
the ever changing winds of climate and human activity blow, a
reference point from which to stand and look out at the world that
unfolds around it. This emphasis on a sense of place standing strong
amidst the winds of change was emblematic of the main entry panel
installed as part of the visitor centre upgrade in 2010.
10
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
2.7 Defining Mungo’s place in the
If there is one essence above all others that defines Mungo’s place in the
landscape
landscape, it is its location at the bottom end of the lake network that
once comprised the main channel of Lachlan River.
There is something inherently visually strong in a drainage system that
ends in a natural full stop as Mungo does. All of the energy of this image
flows down to the end of the line – Lake Mungo. This motif is one that
can be used creatively to build the strong identity needed to ground a
place like Mungo inexorably in the minds of visitors to the park.
One way it can do this is by dropping this motif into
historical images such as maps to position Mungo as centre
stage of stage of historical evolution a given map must
inevitably portray - that frozen moment in time when the
map stood as representation of the world as people then
understood it to be.
These map / illustrative devices provide a very strong
resource that can be used to build the foundation referred
to above upon which a more diverse narrative of Mungo
across the three stages of it recent development can be
presented.
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
11
12
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
2.8 Creating the Zanci Woolshed node
Plan of the woolshed interpretation node. Note especially how all the free hanging large panels are aligned
parallel to the main walls so as to maintain clear visual lines of sight straight down to the back of the
woolshed such as to invite people into it and not partition it up.
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
13
2.8 Creating the Zanci Woolshed
The sketch on the previous page details the location of the components
node (cont’d)
required to create the Zanci Woolshed node.
These commence with a major site entry sign located to people’s right as
they move up onto the landing at the rear of the shed.
Here on the landing two interpretation signs 1600*5500mm would run
around the south east corner and tell the story of Zanci Hoestaed in the
context of the view across the lakebed.
Zanci Woolshed
Moving from the boardwalk into the woolshed people would encounter
an entry precinct with bench seating where they could sit in the shade.
Around them they would have the first three internal interpretive
precincts in the shed that focussed on the back block Gol Gol phase of
Mungo. Large panels in portrait format 2200mm high by 1300 wide mm
would be suspended to display the maps as detailed in the previous
section. Other panels in landscape format 2800*1300mm would be
attached to the walls as shown. Maps would fill the panels with only very
minor text by way of a caption. Some graphic background to the map
would also be provided to ground them in the Mungo “wave across the
landscape” motif.
Centrepiece of this area would be a 26 page double sided (ie. 13 separate
pages plus cover) large approx A2 sized “book” (600*420mm) permanently
mounted to a 1200mm high bench where people could stand and leaf
through it. The pages of the book would be 2mm aluminium di bond
with rounded corners. The book would rely strongly on historical imagery
to tell the story of Mungo across the black blocks period as expounded
in the CMP. This account is excellent as it weaves the indigenous narrative
clearly into the overall fabric and does not follow any pre-structured
settlement / colonial expansionist storyline. As previously mentioned, its
sole focus is on Mungo as a place.
As people move beyond this entry precinct, into the Soldier settlement
precinct their movement will activate a motion sensor that kicks in a
soundscape that presents individual narratives / accounts of life at Mungo
in the soldier settlement phase. This will be a long loop piece that like
the video in the visitor centre means that people will be unlikely to ever
encounter the same material twice during their time in the woolshed.
It will be broken into around 3 minute segments that will stop at the
conclusion of each. People will hence need to keep moving around this
space in order for the loop to keep going. Children are likely to work this
out and can interact with it appropriately. This also means that people
have the option to site quietly at the front of the building and have their
lunch in peace should they wish to do so. This precinct will also have a 25
page book telling the soldier settlement phase narrative.
Beyond this the final section will focus on the last three decades since
national parks entered the west with the declaration of Kinchega NP and
Mootwingee HS in 1967. This also will have its own book. A fourth panel
in this back section will also focus on the woolshed itself and convey
essential information about its operations.
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Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
The Zanci Homestead site
Zanci Homestead site is both an important part of the Zanci experience
for walkers who have explored the woolshed node, as well as being an
entry node for people entering the site from the west via the drive / cycle
option or else as the final stop on the Mungo Track.
Accordingly it needs a major gateway sign to reflect this prominence as
well as upgraded interpretation.
On the site of the existing interpretation panel an entry decking feature
in the order of 16 sq m should be installed to convey interpretation
Zanci Homestead
2.9 signage from a detached vantage point installation. Two lectern signs
1600mm*550mm are envisaged here.
The existing view from the anticipated location of this decking is shown
below.
Approximate location of
New Deck to be installed
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
15
2.10 Mungo Woolshed / Pastoral
Heritage Loop gateway node
The second major node needing to be created to establish the Pastoral Heritage
Loop is the Mungo Woolshed / Pastoral Heritage Loop gateway node. This must
function as the overall pastoral heritage gateway with the shared Foreshore Track
/ Pastoral Heritage track taking off from its northern edge and the woolshed path
Pastoral Heritage Walk / Nature Trail
from its south eastern corner providing an ‘out and back ‘ return experience.
Aesthetically it is important that this node is both an integrated part of the
meeting place outdoor ensemble while at the same time having its own identity.
To this end, some material elements like the concrete benches used around the
elders meeting area need to be included here. Wide interpretive signage as used
on the lunette could be spaced between the seats so as to create a strong border
to the precinct.
As has been already noted, many people using this precinct will be solely there
to access the Mungo Woolshed and it is important that landscaping reinforce the
validity of completeness of that experience. Similarly once people have already
visited the woolshed, they are unlikely to visit it again when they do the actual
pastoral loop. Hence all these options must be catered for in the area’s design.
We believe the current visitor flow to the woolshed is a major impediment to
people entering the precinct with a sense of expectation and awareness of the
value and regard with which the site is held. To this end we see the creation of a
single gateway node that effectively functions as the eastern counterweight to the
meeting place and links the sites as integrated elements of the one experience.
The crucial point about this approach is that following on from the preceding
section’s observations, it establishes a detached vantage point from which to
gain and appreciation and overview of the woolshed before actually entering the
precinct.
To create this a minor modification of the existing visitor flow pattern into the
site direct from the carpark is needed with this intervention being supported by
carpark perimeter fencing in key areas. The suggested landscape resolution to all
the issues discussed here is shown below.
Woolshed Entry Node / Pastoral
Heritage Loop Gateway
16
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
2.11 The Mungo Woolshed Precinct
Upon people entering the Mungo Woolshed precinct, it is valuable that they
stop for an additional orientation perspective.
Focussing a major initial effort on communicating with people prior to them
entering the woolshed helps place the overall landscape context of the
shed at the forefront of their experience of the site. To this end a small deck
/ landing could be established at the nexus between the top yard and the
ramp leading into the shed. The idea here is not only to provide an additional
detached reference venue where signage can be effectively installed, but also to
encourage people to walk down onto the deck and beyond into the yards as the
first part of their connection with the actual compound. The visitor experience
of the yards should be from within them looking out, not walking around them
looking in.
Returning to the compound entry intersection a wheelchair accessible (assisted)
boardwalk would rise to another landing with the opportunity for further
signage before switching back on the second rise up to the woolshed entry.
The creation of a landing at this point provides a wonderful point of detachment
from which to both appreciate the surrounding landscape as well as the interior
of the woolshed. This would probably (?) best be left free from signage.
This effort to maximise elevated vantage points as part interpretive experience
is a welcome extension of the same approach adopted at the meeting place
and of course envisaged for the park gateway facility. It is also an integral part
of the Zanci node where the deck rises to a slightly elevated position over
the surrounding landscape. By reaching out for and creating such elevated
experiences wherever possible the underlying integrity of the park’s overall
interpretive experience is enhanced.
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
17
2.12 The Mungo Woolshed interior
Developing an appropriate interpretive response to the interior of the Mungo
Woolshed needs to take account of several factors. The first of these is the
statement of significance for the site as defined in the CMP. This is as follows:
Mungo Woolshed is of exceptional significance as one of the earliest buildings
remaining on the site and as an intact, late nineteenth century, large-scale woolshed of
drop-log, cypress pine construction of considerable aesthetic value.
It is important for its association with the historical development and working practices
of Gol Gol Station and later, Mungo Station. The building was in continual use as a
woolshed until NPWS acquired the property in 1979. It is a landmark feature in the
landscape and is largely intact to its original form and construction.
Significantly the CMP also notes elsewhere in its report several other highly
significant factors about the woolshed that seem to have been inadvertently
left out of this statement of significance. These additional factors are also of
importance to consider in the site’s interpretation.
This is especially important in the case of the Mungo Woolshed as it is easy to
define it in a foreground context whereby it exploded into life for several weeks a
year during shearing time.
Aside from the brief times however when the shearing teams were in to either
shear the sheep (usually in spring) or else to crutch them, the Mungo Woolshed
was largely silent apart from such maintenance or upgrade work as may be
required, or special occasions such as when dances were held in the woolshed or
it was used as a local electoral polling station.
As Colleen Barnes notes in the Mungo CMP appendices:
For one day in 1937 and 1938 they held the Mungo Races on a flat at Joulni.. After the
races it was back to the Mungo Woolshed for a dance. The reasons for dances at the
Mungo Woolshed ranged from 21st birthdays to anniversaries and a charity fundraiser
for Marilyn Scadding as Country Queen. The centenary of the woolshed was held in
1972 and people came from everywhere ... it still gets talked about today.
Clearly while the workaday provenance of Mungo Woolshed was to harvest the
woolclip up to the time of the NPWS taking over the property in 1979, its offseason
role as a community centre and consequent significance in the lives of many
people both from Mungo and also the surrounding properties make it easy to
understand why the woolshed has acquired much of its iconic significance. Clearly
the Mungo Woolshed was a somewhat atypical of the average pastoral woolshed
in terms of its broader role as a shared community asset..
Nor was this the only atypical quality the woolshed represents. As the CMP
explains
Venda said that Albert was really keen on keeping the woolshed. People would say why
don’t you knock it down and built a nice modern steel shed, but he liked history and
that sort of thing.
Clearly the woolshed stands as it does today due to it being an early example of
active heritage conservation in a rural setting. Collectively the above issues posit a
cautionary approach to the Mungo Woolshed, especially in relation to its adaptive
reuse as an interpretive facility such as is proposed here for the Zanci Woolshed.
This report recommends that no investment / modifications to the interior of the
woolshed take place at this time as part of the overall establishment of the Pastoral
Heritage Loop and that guided tours be seen as the pre-emininet interpretive
device to connect visitors with the significance of the site.
18
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
3. Trackside interpretive nodes
3.1 The role of trackside interpretive
As discussed previously in Section 2.1, we do not think signage works to best
effect when simply inserted into the landscape. Rather it needs to define its own
signage
area of intervention that clearly establishes a context which encourages people to
“step aside” from their walk and take time out to engage with what is being said.
The only setting where we are comfortable with signage being”dropped in” along
the way is in settings like boardwalks such as at the Walls Lookout. Here however,
the overall boardwalk is in fact a contained interpretive setting and so conforms to
the preferred model. Another example may well come in the case of the proposed
Bush Tucker garden, where signage would appropriately be installed along the
various track edges.
When visitors are out in the expanses of the Mungo landscapes travelling along
either the Foreshore Track / Pastoral Heritage Loop shared track section, or beyond
to the Zanci Precinct, trackside interpretation must be used very judiciously and
very carefully.
As previously mentioned, we view the work done at Vigars Well as an important
example of how interpretive interventions should occur at Mungo. Basically you
identify an important site for interpretive intervention and back it with appropriate
infrastructure. This does not necessarily mean a boardwalk however. It could be as
relatively simple as a trackside hard surfaced area supported by seating. The idea
here is to break into the “corridor” of the track experience to create a small node
along the way that invites people to stop and take a break and view the landscape
from a new perspective.
The essence of this approach is to avoid sporadic trackside signage intervention
by concentrating on communicating with visitors at just one or two meaningful
signage nodes along the way. Accordingly under this approach, the existing
interpretive signage installed along the Foreshore Walk would need to be
removed.
In its place a trackside node would be created at the top of the Foreshore
Walk where the shade of the cypress pines is encountered. Two lectern signs
1600*550mm would be installed here with the dual aim of conveying many of the
messages currently portrayed in the Foreshore Track signage while also linking
it strongly to the Pastoral Heritage Loop experience. This site was for example a
popular area for picnics in the post war period when the widespread use of cars
meant people could travel easily between properties and socialise via both tennis
and / or picnic gatherings.
Further along the track past the junction where the Foreshore Walk loops back
to the Mungo Woolshed gateway, another major trackside node should be
Track node 2
established at the prominent vantage point looking out over the lake. This area
would also have seating, but use just the one wide format sign to present its
messages.
Track node 1
In this way two major trackside nodes would be established first one third and
then two thirds along the track to Zanci, thereby reinforcing people’s sense of
being on an valued experience that had been carefully established and presented.
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
19
Appendix 1. Strategic planning considerations
App 1.1 Important planning documents
– The CMP
There are three documents with particular importance to the planning of
interpretation in relation to the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop. One is the
Mungo Conservation Management and Cultural Tourism Plan (CMP)
produced by Godden Mackay Logan in 2003.
One of the major elements in the CMP with direct relevance to the
interpretation of the Pastoral Heritage Loop is the statement of heritage
significance. One of the core duties of interpretation is to effectively
communicate this significance to visitors and as such it provides a vital point of
reference.
The historic heritage resources and values of Mungo National Park, located
within the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Property, are of considerable
significance for the State of New South Wales. These resources, concentrated
around the former Mungo and Zanci pastoral station complexes, but also found
throughout Mungo National Park, are from three phases of occupation; as part of
the large nineteenth-century back-block pastoral property Gol Gol; as the Mungo
and Zanci pastoral station soldier settlement properties; and for almost a quarter of
a century as Mungo National Park.
These three phases sit within an overarching historic theme of human interaction
with the environment. In this, the historic heritage complements the wellknown deep history of Aboriginal interaction with the environment evidenced
at Mungo, and part of the citation for the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage
Area listing. Within this theme are subthemes that underpin the significance of
the place associated with the changing nature of the land tenure framework,
pastoral processes, and awareness and appreciation of the natural and cultural
environment.
Conservation Policy
The conservation, management and interpretation of the historic heritage
resources and values in Mungo National Park recognise the State significance of this
resource. Concentrated around former pastoral station complexes, but distributed
throughout the Park, these resources will be managed in a whole of landscape
approach where the pastoral and recent NPWS land uses are interpreted as
the most recent layers of human interaction with the environment; a key
theme of the Willandra Lakes Region.
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Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
App 1.2 Important planning
documents
– Historical Study of Women
and Outback Landscapes
The second document of importance is An Historical Study of
Women and Outback Landscapes produced for the Cultural
Heritage Division of NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service by
Johanna Kijas in 2003. This report is an historical study of women
and outback landscapes in western New South Wales. It focuses on
the south-western NSW region with two case studies of Western
Parks: Willandra and Mungo National Parks. As the sections below
extracted form the report explain,
the report identified the concept of place as one through which
to develop inclusive histories and interpretation.
It found that women in their diversity remain marginalised and often
excluded across the mainstream historical discourse that informs the
historical interpretation and popular conceptions of outback parks and
that this was particularly apparent in the pastoral history.
It argued that an alternative framework for researching and
interpreting histories of outback parks is needed in providing
more inclusive interpretations.
Histories that retain their central focus on economics, politics and other
aspects of the public domain inherently work to exclude large categories
of people. A place-centred approach allows a wider inclusion of women
in their diversity and other historical actors who have shaped and been
shaped by those places.
The outback is imagined in different and often competing ways across
time, gender, culture and location. While images of the outback as a
white masculine place endure in historical interpretation and tourist
promotion, they do not go unchallenged or therefore unchanged.
The report argues the case for identifying the concept of place as one
through which to develop inclusive histories and interpretation. Place
centred histories can allow for much greater inclusion of women and
other people than those dominant historical practices which focus their
research to public events, economics, politics and other aspects of the
overtly public sphere which has excluded large sections of society.
The concept of place is where the social, the material and the spatial are
inseparably intertwined, known only through our historical and culturally
specific understandings. Rather than being fixed or naturally occurring
entities - the location of bounded and homogenous communities,
or merely the stage on which historical events unfolded - places
are historically contingent, constantly contested, interrogated and
reinterpreted in our material and imagined worlds.
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
21
App 1.3
Important planning
documents
Shared Landscapes
The third document of importance is the book published by the NSW
Dept of Environment and Conservation in 2004 “Shared landscapes:
archaeologies of attachment and the pastoral industry in New South Wales”
by Rodney Harrison. As the preface written for the then Minister for the
Environment Bob Debus explains:
There have been demonstrable shifts in our understandings and
representations of what it means to be ‘Australian’ and to feel a sense of
‘belonging’ to the Australian landscape.
Such shifts may also be distinguished in nationalist and pastoral histories.
Contested by Aboriginal people’s historical experience and settler
Australians’ voiced experiences of everyday life, understandings of our history
and heritage have altered. Shared Landscapes is timely and connects with
these vital debates. With a focus on local social relationships, rather than the
‘great’ themes of settler-colonial expansion, this book goes to the core of our
contemporary historical psyche and the significance of the pastoral heritage
managed as part of the New South Wales reserve system.
While some pastoral heritage places, like the great woolsheds of Kinchega
and Mungo national parks, have iconic value for all Australians, much pastoral
heritage is more modest: the tumble-down remains of windmills and
shearers’ huts, the rusted trough beside a former travelling stock route, or the
tin cans and broken glass associated with a drovers’ campsite.
Shared Landscapes reveals the felt significance to local communities of
such humble remains, and their integral role in reconciling the histories of
Aboriginal and settler Australians. In so doing it unravels the exclusively
‘black’ or ‘white’ interpretation of historic heritage, and persuasively argues
for a shared, cross-cultural history and heritage of the pastoral industry in
New South Wales.
Developing new approaches to understanding and analysing the landscape
is critical to the Department of Environment and Conservation’s aim to
integrate the management of natural and cultural landscapes for long-term
ecological, social and economic sustainability. By mapping the landscape
biographies of ordinary Australians, and examining the heritage of the
pastoral industry at various spatial scales, Shared Landscapes takes significant
steps towards showing us how this is to be done.
Clearly given these policy priorities accorded to this book at its time of
publication in 2004, allied to the department’s 2003 Women and outback
landscapes report and the CMP, the intent and outcomes predicated
in these documents are ones that need to inform the provision of
interpretation along the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop.
App 1.4 The Mungo challenge
The issues thrown up by the challenge of understanding pastoral heritage
in the context of a shared landscape that fully embraces the significance of
both the feminine and indigenous perspectives are ones that need some
discussion at the outset of this report.
In particular the Women in the Outback report highlighted the omissions
that can occur when one allows interpretation to be dictated strongly
by both the “settlement–colonial expansionist model” and the available
material readily at hand for interpretation.
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Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
App 1.4 The Mungo challenge (cont’d)
The peril of going immediately with strongest and most inherently engaging
interpretive narrative can often mean perpetrating the very channelled and
limited perspectives these two reports in particular are determined to redress.
This does not mean we shy away from using engaging media, simply that we
take great care in choosing the overall context within which they are presented.
Derivative from Jahanna Kijas’ work is the observation for example that early
photographic records invariably capture white masculine figures engaged in the
physical routines of station life. Excessive reliance on this inherently engaging
media can therefore immediately limit the scope to present a balanced cross
cultural, cross gender approach. This is because indigenous station hands are
almost entirely lacking from the images available and more balanced pictures of
the full gamut of European family life on a station only start to emerge from the
1930s onwards as domestic snapshot cameras became more widely used.
Similarly the power of using direct narratives and extracts from historical records
such as letters and books must be very cautious in terms of the underlying
stereotypes that may be perpetrated in the selection process.
The question must be asked for example that should stories be used at all in
settings where it is not possible to present a true cross sectional, representative
sample, either due to the constraints of the interpretive opportunities and / or
the fact that a broad cross section of resources may not exist to draw from. As
Johanna Kijas noted:
Therefore there are no single, coherent stories to tell of local places such as National
Parks properties and their encompassing landscapes. In a progressive sense of
place making, history is an inevitably fluid project which has no one truth in its
telling, but is deeply implicated in the production and politics of that place-making.
While this opens up National Parks histories to complex, competing and hence
often uncomfortable renderings of past and present attachments to those places,
it provides a framework for broad inclusion of stories that are otherwise hidden or
buried.
Dominant nationalist and historical narratives are one significant strand of influence in
the ways people understand and construct their stories of place.
Outback places hold particular resonance in these discourses in claiming authentic
Australian identity and culture. Women often disappear in these stories both as
individual subjects, and also under supposed universal histories.
In our reading of the above comments, there is one line that we see as
particularly relevant to the challenge of interpreting Mungo’s pastoral heritage.
That is for national park histories to
“provide a framework for the inclusion of stories that are otherwise hidden
or buried”.
Our extrapolation of this in relation to the Mungo context is to identify that the
first duty of interpretation here is not to define and impose a storyline on the
interpretive setting, but rather to prepare a canvas – an overall understanding or
context – upon which all stories can potentially be heard with equal relevance.
In so far as interpretation does then venture further to build upon this base so
as to begin to engage with actual storylines it must then do so mindful of the
stereotypes that may be unwittingly perpetrated in the process.
Interpretation of the Mungo Pastoral Heritage Loop
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