Kununurra

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The next stage of the trip was to Derby and then through to Kununurra. Stayed in Derby three nights went to the races on the Saturday. I had 2 bets for 2 wins - only 4 horses in each race meant they only paid for a win so John did his dough. Good fun afternoon out though!! On the Sunday did a one day trip out to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek a return journey of 390 k’s along the Gibb River Road. Our guide this time was Amina, a tiny little aboriginal woman who was driving the huge 4 WD bus, doing the commentary, setting up lunch, and taking us on the guided walks all on her own. It was her first day driving the new bus so she was very nervous but did a great job. Photos will show the crocodiles at Windjana and the walk through Tunnel Creek. We had heard so much about the scenery in the Kimberleys and so far we have not been disappointed. Derby, like Broome, has incredibly big tides and we saw this for ourselves at the wharf. Mudflats at low tide and a serene water way after a high tide of about 10 metres. Lovely sunset here too. Good excuse for a sunset drink!!

Derby to Kununurra is quite a drive with not a lot in between except Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek. Both these places have reputations with a lot of drunkenness and unrest with the indigenous locals. We were told the CP at Fitzroy Crossing Lodge was the best choice and we didn’t hold out much hope as we drove through the town. What a sad, depressing place. The CP on the other hand was delightful. Huge expanses of grass and more water than they know what to do with. Clean, spacious ablution blocks and lots of lovely trees to sit under. This place was such a contrast from the rest of town, it took a while to come to terms with things. Obviously someone with a few clues realised that people needed to stay somewhere nice, and set out to do it because it is a long way between watering holes. We ended up staying 2 nights because it was so nice and relaxing. Even washed the car and the van. (Pretty stupid really because our next stop was to be Turkey Creek!) Went out to Geike Gorge for a morning cruise and saw more freshwater crocs and lovely scenery - not the best gorge we’ve seen but like I’ve mentioned before about kissing a lot of frogs----. Anyway even had dinner at the Lodge on the 2nd night so all in all a very satisfying stay. On the way to Turkey Creek, we passed through Halls Creek. This town actually looked rather nice and on the advice of the waiter the night before at Fitzroy Lodge we stopped at the pub for lunch. On the inside it looked just like a trendy pub from a Sydney suburb and they did a great lunch. The major problem here is the rowdy locals which can be quite off putting after dark so we didn’t stay the night but proceeded on to Turkey Creek. Which was a bit of a turkey. It is really only a Road House, dusty, with grotty ablutions, it’s only saving grace is it is close to Purnululu Nat Park, home of the Bungle Bungles. We decided to stay just the one night and tour the Bungles from Kununurra.

What a great place Kununurra is. Stayed at the Ivanhoe CP, a bit crowded but lovely ablutions, I do like to ablute in nice ablutions don’t you? Had a great swimming pool and spa - unfortunately not heated, and a grassed site to boot. Booked 7 nights but stayed 10. Did so much here that I don’t have the time or eneergy to go into detail. A few facts - Kununurra is on Lake Kununurra, which originally had fluctuating levels during the dry season. A diversion dam was built in 1963 creating a reliable source of water for agriculture. The Ord River dam was then completed in 1972 creating Lake Argyle and the rest is history. The area is now a lush, well organised agricultural region growing anything from melons to beans, maize, chickpeas and sugar cane. We were told so many facts and figures that you can’t help but be overwhelmed by it all. Did a few big tours whilst here. Firstly a flight out to the Bungles over the Argyle Dam and Ord River Irrigation area. We were picked up in a bus at 5.45 a.m. by what appeared to be a tall child who announced his name was Will. He drove us to the airport and proceeded to fly us out to the Bungles - on his own!! Then he imparted all this knowledge as well. Lake Argyle has about 20 times the volume of Sydney Harbour at normal capacity and three times this amount at flood capacity. It is designated an inland sea, and if boating on the Lake you have to have all the seagoing licences and safety equipment. Luckily, Will provided all this info in a lovely little booklet so we oldies could remember all the details. We landed at the Bungles and were picked up by a grown up at last who took us to 2 different gorges. Lots of walking and photo opportunities and really exhausting but just plain impressive. Unfortunately, Will wasn’t able to pick us up for the return flight, probably down for his afternoon nap!! Joy, who must have been his grandmother, flew us home over the Argyle Diamond Mine. From one extreme to another!! She had a great sense of humour and also drove the bus taking us back to the CP.

Next days’ tour was to the Argyle Diamond Mine. This time we were picked up by (Will’s slightly older brother,) Chris. Now this bloke not only drove the bus that picked us up, he also flew the plane, did the commentary, drove the bus all around the diamond mine doing the commentary at the same time, (perhaps he was a woman underneath that lovely uniform?) then, flew us back to Kununurra and drove the bus back to the CP. You certainly have to multi task these days in the tourism industry. Luckily Jill and Wayne had arrived from Broome by the time we got home so we had someone to share our experiences with over happy hour drinks. Tell me dear friends, when and how did the rest of the world get to be so young? Or has it got something to do with all those brain cells we’ve slaughtered at just one too many happy hours? I digress!! The mine was great, the figures presented to us were huge, and they gave us a diamond as a parting gift. True!! The teensiest little diamond you ever saw but as I have told you all before, a girl can never afford to knock back a diamond. Another day we did a boat trip up the Ord River to the dam wall supporting Lake Argyle, spotting crocs along the way. Visited the Durack Homestead, which was moved to its present site before the dam was completed. (If left where it was would now be underwater).

Probably the highlight of our time in Kununurra was a trip to El Questro. I have always wanted to see this place after seeing it on Getaway or some such. It was originally a million acre, not so profitable, working cattle station with the Gibb River Road running through it. The million acres can only support 6,000 cattle but as it has some of the most outstanding gorges and scenery in Australia, the tourism potential was just waiting to be tapped. El Questro was purchased in the 80’s by a young English couple who could see this potential, for $1 million. Accomodation ranges from $15 for a tent site, $135 for a tent per night, up to a room in the homestead for $1,800 per night with a 2 night minimum. Wayne and Jill decided to come out with us for the 2 nights and they had their own tent so instead of staying in the homestead and frittering away Michael Stubbs’ share of the inheritance, we opted for the tent - fully serviced of course. We had a ball. First day walked El Questro gorge. This was quite hard for the first part and then you had to swim through a small pool, climb a bloody great rock - from the water, and then another 45 minute walk or so to the waterfall. Jill and I made it to the small pool and tried to climb the rock in swimmers and joggers but just couldn’t do it. John pushed from the bottom, literally, and Wayne pulled from the top but it wasn’t to be. Anyway the 2 boys went on to swim in the big pool under the waterfall and said it was just spectacular. By the time we got back to camp for lunch it was too late to do another gorge so we opted for the helicopter flight. My vocabulary doesn’t stretch to describing this flight, suffice to say I landed with the biggest grin on my face and I think I may have used the word awesome!!! On the way back to Kununurra the next day we swam in Zebedee Springs (closed to us plebs from 12 noon so the homestead guests can soak in peace) walked Emma Gorge and swam in the freezing cold water there. Reminded me of the water at Gerroa around Easter. For those of you who don’t know, the Gibb River Road runs from Derby to Kununurra some 647 km in length and is one of the remotest parts of Australia. The road is incredibly rough and can only be attempted with a 4 WD and it seems to me a bit of stupidity. It’s one of those places, that after you have driven it all you do is compare the broken axles, ripped tyres and so on. Not my idea of fun but I think John has a hankering to do it. Bugger!!!! Anyway, by doing the Windjana Gorge from Derby and El Questro from Kununurra we saw a little bit of both ends and the middle will have to wait. Once again I have been carried away by all we have seen and done and the beauty of this blog is you can turn me off whenever you want. Will be off the air for a few weeks as we fly home on Thursday for Libby’s 50th, for about 10 days. Am writing this from Douglas Daly out of Darwin where it was 31C today so don’t know how we will go in Bathurst where it is getting down to minuses overnight. I seem to have a lot of photos so will publish this blog then do another one with the rest of the photos. Enjoy and looking forward to feedback.

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Photos

High Tide at Derby
Can you believe this amount of water comes and goes in a day?

Derby races
Go you little ripper!! After all those S----- photos here's a little gem.

Fitzroy Lodge CP
Told you it was a top spot

Geike Gorge
Ho hum - just another gorge.

Windjana Gorge Bus
Me riding shotgun.

Windjana Gorge Resident
This is a freshwater croc - of the gentle non maneating variety!!!

The Bungle Bungles
If you've been there you are allowed to call them the Bungles!!!

The Bungle Bungles 2
Cathedral Gorge

Comments

[rob g]

sounds good looking in from Washington DC
What a blast! So natural compared to the streets of the US of A!!

[Michael Stubbs]

By a nose
Hopefully you had my inheritance on that horse. What a great shot. You'll need to frame it and put it over your bar. I understand your bar is the thing you are towing behind your landcruiser.