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Published: July 23rd 2009
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We had to be outside the caravan park at 8.30am today to be picked up and taken to the airport. There was a crowd and once more five were chosen to board each small aircraft. It was a bit of a worry when the engine wouldn’t kick over first time, but after a little wait, it finally did.
We flew over Kununurra - great views of all the agricultural growth below - mangoes, sandlewood, etc. Where there is sunshine and plenty of water, you can grow anything! Then we were over Lake Argyll and the Argyll Dam. It is huge, 23 times larger in volume than Sydney Harbour and up to 63 times larger in floodtime! (they measure water capacity in SydHarbs here).
We were flying over very remote country (there were food rations on board in case of a crash landing). The two huge cattle properties below were pointed out - Lissadell (284,000 hectares) and Texas Downs (163,500) - Texas Downs being so remote that cattle can only be moved from there by droving them along creek beds to Lissadell Station in the dry and then put on cattle trucks for the market.
We flew over ‘ragged
mountain ranges’ and then we came to the Bungle Bungles. These were amazing - striped in reds, browns and creams, they are beehive shaped domes - the winds from the Tanemi Desert help form their rounded shape. We landed at an airport below them to let off a couple who were joining a tour to drive into the ranges and camp. There are some spectacular gorges there, Piccannini and Cathedral which would be wonderful to see. From the air we could see palm trees and all sorts of tropical plants growing down in the gorges.
We took off again and drove over the Carr Boyd ranges, and the Argyll Diamond Mine, the biggest diamond mine in the world. I’d been having a good look at the diamonds in the jewellery shop in town yesterday - white, champagne, brownish/pink, pink and red are mined there. It’s a big big mine!
By midday we were back in Kununurra. It had been a great flight and we’d seen a lot. It was a 36◦ day so we went back to the motor home where we had a quiet time in the airconditioning to rest before our next tour in the afternoon.
We were picked up again at 3.30pm and taken to the lagoon where we boarded a boat. We had such a nice tour across the lagoon and then in to Lake Kununurra, very peaceful with beautiful reflections. We had brought our own drinks, nibbles were handed around and then the boat driver cooked us a very delicious BBQ. We saw a beautiful sunset while we ate our dinner and slowly made our way back.
They had a spotlight pointed on the water looking for crocodiles. I wondered why our driver had taken off his sandals and was crouching on one of the floats at the front. Imagine the surprise when he reached into the water and pulled up a 70cm crocodile! The croc made a fuss, naturally, calling and wriggling while we all took photos, then he was released back into the water. The mother in me had to say ‘one day, you’re going to get caught’! I can see a few fingers or toes being the target! So we're back home relaxing after a great day. It's been fun to visit Kununurra again.
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