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Published: July 22nd 2013
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Katherine early morning
lovely early morning sunshine as we are about to leave Well we left Katherine with Jackie feeling much better and rested,our intention was to stop at Timber creek which is about half way to Kununurra but the road house has seen better days and the campground was a dust bowl so we stopped for lunch and headed off. Just outside Kununurra is a quarantine station which is manned 24/7 no fruit or veg allowed into WA from the NT every vehicle is stopped and our caravan was searched.We had eaten our fruit and cooked, and frozen our veg over the previous days so no drama's for us.As we drew nearer to Kununurra we tried to find a campground but no vacancies so we pushed on out of town about 10k and found a free camp.All of the perimeter spots were taken so we had to settle for being in the middle ground which was ok we were able to use our genny so recharged the batteries, surrounded by hills we new we were in Kimberly country.
Next day we arrived early at our booked Camping ground hoping to get settled in quickly,once booked in we set off to find our site only to see a guy already on it,I was
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all the perimeter spots taken polite and asked if he was setting off soon and informed him this as my site,he explained he was in fact setting up having been given this site by one of the ground staff after failing to navigate onto his previous site,he had also broken a branch off a small tree.The grounds man had definitely told him to go onto site number 808,I politely pointed out he was on 807 my site he was by this time becoming embarrassed ,we agreed for him to stay there and we would have 808 next door and for him to inform the camp office,he was a nice guy for a pomme!. The camp ground is called Hidden Valley and is nestled between large hills and backing onto the Mirima national park and a kilometer out of town. Once set up we head for town and the local information center.Returning from town armed with lots of leaflets and information on the area we decide to give the swimming pool a once over and cool down in this 33 deg heat.
The next couple of days we spent touring the local area including a trip to a small town called Wyndham which is recognised
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In the middle of the camp geographically as the Top Town of the West with a diverse history of cattle and mining, a small frontier town that typifies the character of the Kimberly region.In the middle of town there is a lookout from which can be seen 5 rivers,guess what the look out is called. The town deep water port continues to be used today to take ore out to export,gone however are the cattle yards and the meat factory.On our way back we decide to take a short cut via a unsealed road,it's on this road we come across a small camping ground Perry Creek Farm, we stop here for a cuppa, we also came across a billabong teaming with birdlife. We continue on hoping to cross Ivanhoe crossing a famous water crossing across the Ord river which was the original road to Wyndham, we arrived to find the crossing closed because of high water levels, we since learned it's because of high levels of water in the local dam.
We take a trip out to find The Grotto a much visited waterfall and swimming hole, no water flowing and the waterhole looked green and murky no swimming for us but the scenery is
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so we settle for the middle spectacular.We also visit a Zebra Rock gift centre , Zebra rock is only found here locally and is mined for it's unique zebra stripes running through the rock,local craftsmen turn this rock in all sorts of ornaments and jewelry for sale.On this property you are invited to feed the catfish at the small jetty and relax have a picnic or just take in the views a good opportunity to take some photo's one that looks very similar to an elephants face and trunk.
Lake Argyle some 70ks away is a man made dam with a surface area of 1,000 square kilometers and a shore line stretching 900 kilometers, it's big. We came here 3 yrs ago and decide to visit again and this time we are going on a boat trip not on the lake but on the river Ord. The trip starts from the Lake Argyle camping ground which is now famous for it,s infinity swimming pool and majestic scenery. We decide on a morning trip in the hope of spotting some local wildlife and to take photo's of this stunning scenery, we were not disappointed.Our 3hr cruise saw us spotting freshwater crocs,plenty of bird life including a
white breasted sea eagle.We hear from our guide the history of the dam and the Ord river and it's importance to the local environment and community.Electricity from the water turbine provides power to Kununurra,Wyndham and the local diamond mine.
3yrs ago we did a trip up the Gibb River road and we have fond memories of this trip.Whilst we are not going down this road on this trip we decided to visit Emma gorge which is at the top end of the road and reachable by a sealed road.Emma gorge is part of the El Questro Wilderness Park which itself is a working cattle station bigger than some European countries.Emma gorge is a resort in itself offering chalet type accommodation with a restaurant and a swimming pool.From here you can book numerous activities from horse riding to bush walking with or with out a guide.We are here to walk into the gorge at the end of which is a waterfall and swimming hole. The walk in is only one point six kilometres long however it is considered difficult, having to scramble over boulders and make two water crossings, it takes most people about an hour to the main waterhole.What
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The hills of the Kimberly greets you at the end makes the journey well worth while,although the waterfall is only a trickle the waterhole is crystal clear and not to cold, a refreshing swim is called for.We took photo's but they will not do justice to this place.We did this on Jackie's birthday,on our return to the station we rewarded our self's with a cold beer and a glass of wine for the birthday girl
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Janet
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Beautiful
Great photos Dad & Jackie x