KUNUNURRA

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We are parked up in the Ivanhoe CP in Kununurra in an extremely small site. Thank heavens the one behind us was empty when we arrived because we could not have backed in there. Same Same for Shirley and Dave. With our van and annex deployed there is not enough room to park our car so it has to hang out onto the road.

Rushed out on the morning of the 10th and did some shopping most especially to get lotto for Tuesday and Thursday so Mary, GMan and I can continue to dream of great things. At 10:30 am all four of us headed out to Lake Argyle area where we spent some time checking out the relocated Argyle homestead. It is far more sophistocated that when we last visited it 23 years ago, poshed up quite a bit. Lovely lawns all round it and attractive gardens. Double barred finches were bathing in the bird bath whilst a male bower bird was doing his mating dance, fluffing out his feathers and presenting the most attractive pieces of his bower display collection to a prospective mate. She was playing hard to get, though she did actually enter the bower for a short time them moved off when he made to go and join her.

We then went off to the main tourist area and headed across the actual dam wall. Surprisingly narrow. Back to the shop/bar/restuarant where we collected the tickets which were being held for us and order lunch. I had a wonderful chicken paninni with pesto and salad while Graham had a beef burger with the thickest hamburger bun I have ever seen. We then watch a very aged film about the construction of the dam and were amazed at the sheer scope of the building program and the absolute lack of any OHS&W regulations. How about working on a construction site with only shorts and boots (not even steel caps) and best of all lighting the fuse for the largest explosion to ever take place in Australian history with a cigarette!

One that was done we all piled onto the bus and headed off across the dam wall again then down a dirt road to the boat the Kimberley Durack, filed on and took seats. There were about 60 people on the boat. Whilst we were cruising about it was lovely, breeze and just a little spray where we were sitting. Unfortunately when the skipper began pointing things out they were always on the opposite side to where we were and everyone would rush over to have a look and not let anyone else in. We were half way through the tour when our side got to see something. It was feeding some euro's who live on the largest island on Lake Argyle, Bob (Dad) Beckky (Mum) and Ishie (baby two weeks out of the pouch). The guide kept telling us all to look out the front of the boat which was a little difficult as there were solid bits about 4 feet high before any windscreen and the only open bit was about 3 ft wide. Having been a cow and complained about parts of the cruise the information dispensed and getting to actually see the sheer size of the lake which is actually classed as an inland sea.

One fact was that 1 metre of water from the top of the lake is enough to provide all the water required by Perth for 5 years! A lot of water.

The irrigation areas are now mainly growing Indian Sandlewood because there is difficulty with shipping out fresh produce as there are only trucks available and Kununurra is a long way from the most highly settled areas where the produce is required. There is a sandalwood factory here and we are going to see it later today as well as the Hoochery, a distillery making alcohol from the local sugar cane.

Now for the big surprise. In this park they like you to water the grassed area you are on everyday so that it remains green and the next parkees benefit. So you are encouraged to wash both your car and van as they have access to extremely cheap water. This morning we did both car and van and now it is necessary to wear sunglasses when approaching our campsite. I did think Dave's comment about our car of "this model does come in a white option" was a little pointed. We scrubbed and rinsed for nearly three hours and the results were incredible. Also the lawn has definitely been watered.

After we had cleaned up and had lunch we headed off to the "Hoochery" a rum distillery just outside of Kununurra. We tried 6 different drinks and I now know I definitely do not like rum!

Next we wandered down the road to the Sandalwood Factory. We watched the promotional films which were okay but not really informative about the processes used to extract the oil and checked out everything in the shop. We came away with a 1 litre bottle of sandalwood body and handwash, sandalwood mosquito sticks and a special holder (we also got an extra packet of the sticks) and I rushed back to buy a jar of Dukkah. Baby Q, Woolies bake at home Turkish bread, Olive oil and Dukkah at sunset somewhere, sounds wonderful to us.

We are heading off tomorrow morning to Timber Creek again. I am looking forward to the croc and whistling kite feeding demonstrations again, perhaps I can get some better pictures. After that Katherine, so I will send another blog then.

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Comments

[Carol]

I could See it :)
... your crocodile shaped island. Always loved watching clouds and drifting with whatever pictures passed by my eyes :)

[Silver Kestrel 2]

Stunning
how spectacular are the Sunset/Colour Change photos? Gramma looks very white & shiny, as does the Nissan. Keep Rollin along da dem Roads. Stay Happy. Your hair is getting long again Chris. B