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Published: July 14th 2011
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Wednesday (6th) was the day of my hair appointment and for the roo-bar to be fixed. We drove the car to Paul’s lovely house in a street called “Mistletoe”. Luckily it was within easy walking distance of the centre where the hairdresser was located so it all worked perfectly. I left Graham with the phone and some money to buy himself a coffee to while away the time. He treated himself to a custard tart and spent some of the time doing crosswords. He got talking to a fellow who had been on yesterday’s trip and, by sheer coincidence, his wife then joined me in the hairdressers to have her hair done. After about an hour, Paul rang to confirm the welding had been completed so Graham strolled off to collect the car. He had done an excellent job and at a very reasonable cost so Graham was delighted. We ladies were still in the hairdressers when he came back so he continued his chat with the fellow from yesterday. It proved to be a good morning as I was pleased with my hair, especially the cost, although the colour was slightly darker than I have been used to of late.
To celebrate our successful morning we drove to the Zebra Rock Gallery where there is a workshop producing special ornaments. It’s traditional to feed the river fish here so we strolled to the river with our pieces of bread. What a spectacle – the catfish were so numerous they created a carpet of fish all clamoring for the bread. They all looked very healthy so although we could have only fed a handful of them they must all get their share in time. We had planned to have lunch at the gallery but the menu was a little disappointing so we settled for some “toasties” and then I enjoyed looking round the showroom. Afterwards we drove to the Ivanhoe river crossing. This is a purpose built river crossing which, in normal circumstances, allows vehicles which can cope with gravel roads and deep water to take a road to and from Wyndham cutting off a considerable length of the normal journey. It’s a popular lookout for spectators and last time we had witnessed a vehicle coming through towards us and it was quite spectacular with water sweeping over the car bonnet. This time, however, they would have needed a submarine
as the raging waters were deep and torrential. It was still quite a spectacle but it will be some time before vehicles could use it again.
We drove back through the local countryside and witnessed the fruit farming development taking place. There were rows upon rows of very healthy looking fruit trees but we couldn’t identify precisely what they were! There were also acres of sandalwood trees and a factory producing sandalwood products. Back at the caravan we went for a swim and, yet again, we timed it just right. Just a couple of other adults were in while we had our half-hour bathe. Within 10 minutes of us getting out, there were about 20 kids in there all splashing about wildly.
After our evening meal we spent time compiling our blogs. Graham eventually found his way to the “open air” big screen TV where, most nights, films are shown. Tonight, though, they were showing the “State of Origin” rugby league clash between Queensland and New South Wales. The series was tied at one game each and this was the decider. Graham missed most of the match but was in time to witness the spats at the end,
when Queensland had won, between the so called fans from the two states who were camping at Kununurra in their numbers. They were extremely passionate and fuelled up by a few “tinnies”. Graham said it stopped just short of coming to blows but the banter went well passed the good natured stage. He wasn’t disappointed at missing the match as the ”afters” were so entertaining (what a shame he didn’t take the camera!). It all calmed down eventually and the rest of the night passed by peacefully.
Thursday 7th July was the day we had chosen to travel the 100 kilometers to Wyndham for no other reason than it is Graham’s second name (supporting his Welsh heritage). Wyndham is not the sort of place you would normally rush to. It did have a heyday once when it was a thriving port outlet for cattle, iron ore and nickel. That must have been some time ago because, as a town, it now appears to be dwindling fast. The port still operates in a lesser capacity and large road-trains are frequent visitors. But, of course, Wyndham does have a lot of history and that brings in the tourists of all nationalities,
particularly Aussies, in their numbers. It also has a most spectacular lookout called Five Rivers Lookout which is accessed by a long, winding climb to the top of the nearby Bastion Range. It provides a view as far as the eye can see out over the estuary into which the five rivers flow (King, Ord, Durack, Forrest and Pentacost) and then beyond across the Cambridge Gulf and into the Indian Ocean. This proved to be an ideal location for our picnic lunch although it took a while to find a spot with some shade. In addition, Wyndham boasts some splendid, huge “Dreamtime Statues” of aboriginal origin. Whilst visiting these we were approached, not for the first time, by an aborigine who had done some carvings on Boab nuts. They looked very attractive and I had often considered buying one. Today, though, after a bit of haggling, I did buy one - a beautifully carved nut for 10 dollars less than he wanted which was a good result for us and at least a sale for him. We strolled along the floating jetty from which a couple of hopeful anglers were trying their luck. We then visited two cemeteries – the
Example of zebra rock
but the one I bought was tiny compared to this first was the Pioneer Cemetery – the headstones told a sad story as many of the people remembered here had died in the construction of a meat processing plant in the early 1900s. It wasn’t a single incident that accounted for them but regular deaths brought about by the harsh working and living conditions. The second cemetery was The Afghan Cemetery where “cameleers”, who provided much of the early pack animal transport, were buried. Many of the graves were exceptionally large as it was the custom that Afghan cameleers should be buried with their leading camel!
On our way back to Kununurra we called in at The Grotto – a deep swimming hole that is a favourite of the locals. It requires a long, steep climb to get down to it but the waters are very cool on a scorchingly hot day like today. Although there were people about, no-one was in the water but that may be due to the fact that there is concern that crocodiles may be in the area following the last very heavy wet season! Back at the caravan we had another swim and our knack for timing it right worked in our favour
again. Then we considered our journey of the following day and began a few preparations to make our packing up slightly easier in the morning. Tomorrow would require an “interim” stopover but we were still undecided about where we would head for. Our eventual destination, Katherine, is just too far to do in one trip but there are a couple of suitable places to head for - we’ll decide as we go.
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Jodie
non-member comment
I hope you don't mind, but I am a long-time follower of your blogs. I absolutely love reading about your travels around our country, I almost feel like I am there with you! My husband and I and our two boys have just come back from a road trip with our caravan down to the Great Ocean Road and often referenced your blogs for ideas for many different places along the way, as we did last year with your daughter and son-in-laws travel blogs when we drove to Uluru. So, in saying all that (and hoping that it doesn't sound too weird!)I just wanted to say 'Thanks' and I look forward to reading about your future travels and marvelling at your amazing photos. Thanks Jodie