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Published: June 27th 2009
KUNUNURRA.
Moving on from Broome, we traveled over 900km heading towards Kununurra. We once again referred to our trusty travel companion, the Camps 5 book. All free overnight camping areas are listed in this book and there are details of the facilities provided on each site. Our main concern is that we can take our dogs there and that the camp site is away from the main road, as the huge 4 sectioned roadtrains make a mighty noise as they travel all through the night. It is good to save a few dollars this way but most of the sites are very dusty and our poor dogs need a bath urgently when we arrive at the next proper caravan site. It is amazing how popular these sites are and are usually full by about 5pm each evening and the cooking smells are mouth watering.
On arrival in Kununurra we made our way to a lovely caravan park called Lakeside, which indeed is beside the Lilly Creek Lagoon area of the Ord River. They did not have any powered sites that night so put us into a temporary site right next to the lake. Just lovely sitting beside the lake having a
nice cuppa, when we spied something very long gliding through the water. Now I know there are small fresh water crocs in the lake which we were assured would not hurt us (and we actually saw a few) but this swimming snake was something else for me and after a night of sheer terror I suggested we move onto a site away from the water. We moved up to the Kununurra show grounds where we had the luxury of the whole football field to exercise our dogs, clean showers and toilets and free laundry facilities. We both had a complete spring clean and managed to get rid of some dust, until the next installment in our journey.
We took a drive into Wyndam and marveled at the view from the 5 rivers lookout. There the King, Ord , Durack, Forrest and the Pentecost Rivers all meet and flow out into the Cambridge Gulf. We have heard so much about the Gibb River Road and took a drive along part of it to El Questro Station, a beautiful resort nestled in the Kimberley.
The Zebra rock found in this region is amazing and we visited a workshop where they fashion it
into various pieces of jewellery, ornaments etc., The folk who run this business are most friendly and we enjoyed mango smoothies and mango fruit cake sitting under the shade of the mango trees. Heaven !! We were even given bread to feed the fish in the lake, and there were so many catfish you felt you could walk on the surface of them. A funny story told to us by the skipper of the boat that took us out on Lake Argyle is that the cat fish caught in the lake were only fetching about $5 a kilo at the markets and very few people wanted to eat them. One fisherman took his plight to the city and had the name changed from Catfish to Silver Cobbler and now it fetches approx $25 a kilo and they can't catch enough.
While in Kununurra we visited the famous Ivanhoe Crossing, which was the original road from Katherine in the NT to Wyndam but due to high water levels it is closed in the wet season. Crocs are known to hunt there for the fish coming over the falls and while we were there we saw pelicans patiently waiting for a feed.
A few brave men drove their 4 wheel drives across the falls while we watched..
Entering Kununurra from the south you encounter the Lake Kununurra diversion dam which comprises 20 gates that are raised or lowered to regulate the water level of Lake Kununurra, all instrumental in the management of water to irrigation systems. Again a popular haunt for hungry crocodiles.
The Celebrity tree park was well worth a stroll around with plaques informing visitors of who planted the tree, the species and the date planted. HRH Princess Anne and Rolf Harris just to name two. Kelly's Knob is a must to visit too as the views over the town and valley are very special. We visited near sunset and the colours of the rock were vibrant.
Our visit to Lake Argyle has to be the high point of our visit to Kununurra. Just a 70km drive from the town through breathtaking scenery you come upon the largest lake you will see in the southern hemisphere, in fact it qualifies as an inland sea. In the early 1970's the Ord River was dammed flooding the Argyle Station to provide a more reliable water supply and it is used to irrigate
up to 15,000 hectares of horticulture, timber and other crops throughout the Ord region, also surrounding towns.
The lake is used for fishing and tourism and is home to many fresh water crocodiles, many of which were visible basking on the muddy banks from the little boat we went out in. There are numerous islands in the lake and they are home to cattle left from before the flooding, many euro's (wallabies) and a huge variety of bird life. We saw the nest of a Jabiru (the bird seen on the Northern Territory emblem) on a single rock in the lake and we were told the young have their first flight from the nest over a huge area of water, so it is definately one try only. The Durack family were very instrumental in the settling of this area and their homestead had to be sacrificed when their station was flooded for the construction of Lake Argyle, so the actual homestead was demolished stone by stone and rebuilt again a short distance from the dam on higher ground. The level of the lake rose so quickly when the Ord River was dammed they only had time to remove the house
and all other out buildings and stock yards are still under the lake.A visit there was a real eye opener to the hardships the early settlers endured and it is amazing how one family could produce so many talented people. The father was a pastoralist, and one daughter was an artist and another an author.
All in all we had a great time in the Kimberley and now we are packing up and moving on towards Darwin ......
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AILEEN
non-member comment
BUSSELTON
NOT HAPPY!!!! - Weather is shocking down here. Glad your having such a great time. Will pass your wishes to the girls at Red Cross. MISS YOU HEAPS - AILEEN