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Published: June 10th 2009
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Distance traveled 3206km/4060km(79%).Stayed two nights.The distance to be covered between Wyndham and Kununurra was a mere 100km making it the shortest leg of the journey so far.Despite it’s relative brevity,it did present an opportunity for quiet reflection.On that day(5th June)it was our 34th day since leaving Perth on 4th May.That morning we had checked out of our 11th camping site so in no small way we have seen and experienced quite a bit of what WA has to offer.How do I adequately articulate what we have seen and done?I wouldn’t even start to try and craft a suitable summary and the best I can do is to simply say……..”See it to believe it”.In one of the travelblog reviews done at Wyndham,we read a message from Bobby Craig which is absolutely spot on.His view is that doing Oz in a campervan along the lines of our journey is a far better way to get a “feel” of a country and it’s people than by going to a big city and largely interacting with mates and a limited number of locals.Bearing in mind that most of the places where we have chosen to drop anchor have been smallish resorts and towns has meant
that we have rubbed shoulders with the people who largely live and work there.Obviously in the caravan parks we have met people from many different Australian states…..such is the wide spread presence of the grey nomads.Now listen up…..Sue and I have been fortunate to travel quite widely in our lives to date and we both concluded that the Ozzies are right up there as the friendliest,most helpful people you are likely to meet anywhere on the planet.Take that from us.Tourism is big and very well organized….every single place we have visited has an Information/Tourist Center with all the information you need for your visit.Telecenters provide all the communication technology you could ever need and as I have previously mentioned…everything works!Kununurra is located in the East Kimberley and whilst Wyndham is on the skids,Kununurra is booming.Key reason for this being water….and lots of it.The countryside is very scenic with beautiful gorges,large rivers and rocky mountains and outcrops which seem to change colour by the hour.The pivotal moment for this region was the construction of Lake Argyle on the Ord River in 1972.It is the largest man made lake in the World and when full holds 27 times the volume of water
in Sydney Harbour.That little statistic doesn’t quite do it justice…..it covers 1000 sq km’s when at 40% of capacity.That’s BIG!And so we pulled into the Hidden Valley Caravan Park and within minutes were hooked up to power and sitting under huge shady tree cover.A short walk from the park and we were in the town center.Being a Saturday morning the weekly market was in full cry and we were impressed by the wonderful array of fresh produce being sold which is grown in the Ord Irrigation Scheme area.This scheme hasn’t quite sprouted and blossomed as envisaged.Despite good soil and loads of water there have been more crop failures than successes.Sugar and cotton have come and gone…something to do with the insects not being in the right symbiotic groove with either crop.Apart from these setbacks, a huge amount of vegetables and fruits are grown and wheat is under experimentation.Early on the second morning,with Sue strapped in and mildly sedated,we took to the air with Alligator Airways on a two hour scenic flight into the adjacent Kimberley region.The mountain ranges,sandy water courses and vast,flat plains are incredibly beautiful at cruising altitude(2000 ft).Again,words will fail me in describing the scenery……the best advice I
can give anyone is to see the movie “Australia” starring Nicole Kidman and some bloke.It was all shot in the Kimberley’s and will provide a sketch of this magnificent scenery.Our pilot looked no older than twenty five and,apart from being handy at the controls,provided an excellent audio commentary.Australian fact file……ever wondered if the Aussies speak English?Well,they do…..sort of!Distance from King and Queen have encouraged them to be very inventive and creative when it comes to slang.A number of you have been to Australia so for you these slang terms are reminders.So you have “billy” which is a tin container used to boil water in the bush,”crack the shits” meaning lose one’s temper,”drongo” equals stupid person,”esky” means cooler box,”middy” is a 250ml glass of beer,”tucker” is food,”sparrow’s fart” means dawn.And so the list goes on.But the real gem was to learn that there are no fewer than 26 slang words for a speedo.These include “dick sock”,”dong bag”,”egg basket”,”budgie smuggler” and 22 others!Also when you mention “thong” it is not sexy female apparel but a pair of slip slops.Fishing update…..well, this is when the “9 to 5’ers” will definitely crack the shits!On the first afternoon in Kununurra we drove down to a
place called Ivanhoe Crossing which is a low level weir across the Ord River.Lots of locals hurling(and losing) all sorts of rapala’s into fast flowing water.Didn’t look like the right way to catch fish so I moved a little down stream with my “croc spotter” in close attendance.Lots of trees so I resorted to using my light drop shot outfit.Caught a couple of barra’s and lost a really good fish.The dilemma was that I had not yet caught a barra on fly so on the second afternoon we returned to the same spot and I worked an angle to get a fly into the water just off the main current.Starting with a black and white Lefty’s Deceiver about 65mm in length,I had no joy for the first half hour.I then tied on a smaller red and white Lefty’s(40mm)and soon hooked and landed a barra of about 1kg.Then it all happened….on a fairly slow retrieve just off the bank,a huge barra swallowed the fly and it was game on.A couple of spectacular leaps before it powered off down stream.My heart was in my mouth….I knew this was a good fish,the 20kg fluorocarbon would hold but would the number 6 hook stay
secure?After a tense 10 minute fight on my 9 wt I had managed to turn the fish to where I was standing as there was no where else to land it(wading being a life shortening past time according to my croc spotter aka Sue!).I think the combination of jumps out of the water and being pulled into the current tired this fish fairly quickly and then he was on the bank….all 65cm and estimated 6kg’s!Croc spotter turned camera woman was on hand and I’m sure the pictures in this blog will illustrate a really good fishing moment.Unfortunately it was “stuffed” as the Aussies would say and it will provide a couple of meals for us and our caravanning friends next door to whom we gave half.When we returned to Washongi the locals looked on in amazement….especially when I explained that I had caught it on fly.I also caught two smallish tarpon…..not sure what they are called but in the pic you will notice the very large eyes.Our next stop is Lake Argyle(only 70km’s from Kununurra)and Sue and I are starting to feel twinges of sadness that this wonderful adventure is now slowly drawing to a close.You know you are into
this campervanning lifestyle when conversation drifts to……”gee,I’m going to miss Washongi.”KEEP THOSE MESSAGES COMING AND HOPEFULLY THE BOKS WILL RISE TO THE OCCASION AGAINST THE POMS IN THE 1ST TEST.
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Julz
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WELL DONE DAD!
Awesome catch dad, you really are doing us proud and glad you arent starving yourself or mom!! you should have taken your sushi kit with!! thank you for the birthday call today, miss you guys very much. love Jubes.xxx