Buronga/Mourquong

• Population 929
• Distance from Mildura 2km
• Horticulture and viticulture

Cross the Murray River to Mourquong, home of the Australian Inland Botanic Gardens - the first semi-arid botanic gardens in the Southern Hemisphere, and home to the magical Sunraysia Farmers' Market, held on the first and third Saturday of the month from 8am-12:30pm.  Visitors to the popular Orange World can learn about growing citrus and also tour the orchards.  In Buronga, visitors can explore the Buronga Wetlands area and should also look out for the Varapodio Estate farm gate where you can purchase locally made and award winning olive oil varieties along with other boutique food and cosmetic products.

History

Explorer Captain Charles Sturt and his party were the first Europeans to pass through the area that would later be settled as Buronga, during their exploration of the Murray River in the 1830s.

European settlers continued to arrive - overlanders (drovers) taking stock to the Adelaide markets and pioneering graziers taking up the ‘vacant' Crown Land between the Murray and the Lower Darling rivers.

The Buronga area was part of the huge Tapio run, formed when the Federal Government decided to formalise lease rights to the land in the 1840s. Opposite the bustling river port of Mildura, the vacant Buronga area became home to those unable to afford to live on the Victorian side. Originally known as ‘Hendy Town' and later ‘Mildura Bridge, NSW', Buronga started to take shape in the 1930s when the Western Lands Commission officially named it.

Buronga had a reputation as a rough and ready place in the early days, but it has grown and prospered as the arable land around has been developed. Today it is a modern close-knit country community based on light industry, horticulture and viticulture.

Facilities in Buronga

• Fuel
• Accommodation 
• Police
• Post Office