Kununurra to Litchfield via Katherine Gorge

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So we have been traveling a fair bit since my last blog and signal has been rarely available. We finished our time in the east Kimberley in the town of Kununurra. We did some shopping- including a new iPhone for Brian and a life case each to hopefully prevent further issues.
We also did a flight over the Bungle Bungles (Pununurra) since the national park was closed due to bushfires. Our flight was with Kingfisher and our pilot was a young lady called Ash who had previously been a cabin attendant on Emirates. We flew over the Ord river irrigation area and then on over Lake Argyll (some amazing statistics about how many Sydney harbours fit into it) , then over the Diamond mine which is due to close in 4 years after which they must return the land to its natural state. That is going to be a massive job for someone!!!! The diamonds found include pink diamonds which are the most valuable apparently. On we went over the Bungles and they really are very strange and beautiful with chasms and gorges that make it very rugged..we flew on over the EL Questro area and saw some of the gorges we had walked and some very remote cattle stations where the terrain is too rough for an airstrip. Finally we flew round the Cockburn Ranges and the on to Wyndham and back to Kununurra over the river spotting enormous saltwater crocodiles.
This area also grows huge amounts of chia seed which are attractive plants with lavender flowers.
Saturday night we went to the open air cinema witch is community run by volunteers. It was interesting as you could bring your own chairs or hire some or sit on your car and tune to the fm station. There were lots of Utes parked backwards filled with kids as we were watching Ice Age Collision Course. It was really good and well supported mostly by locals.
On Sunday we left Kununurra rather late as we are trying out yet another car pack configuration which meant taking everything out and starting again. As a result we crossed into Northern Territory and had to stop and camp at the Victoria River roadhouse campground with great fish and chips in the pub. It was here that we discovered a large beetle had been in my swag and had chewed a hole through the pvc base , through a vent, a canvas side and had begun eating my top canvas with 3 holes already. I'd only been on the hotel 2 nights!!!!! So we have swag repair kits but I am now going to have to replace my swag at the end of the trip.
We moved on to Katherine Gorge/ Nitmiluk where we did a nice /HOT bushwalk and then did the 3 gorge boat cruise which had an excellent guide called Chris. The cruise included some information about the Jawoyn people who own the land and viewing some rock art.
We also had an hour for a swim in a safe area beyond the reach of salties.
We have moved on to Litchfield national park for a couple of days , camping at Florence Falls.
Litchfield is small compared to Kakadu but there is a lot to see but the flies and mosquitos are ferocious!
We have bushwalked and swum at Florence Falls and Wangi falls, my collection of swimming in waterfall selfies is extensive. We have driven out to the Lost City which is a large cluster of sandstone columns that are around 4-6 metres tall and resemble a ruined city but they are an entirety natural feature. We also visited the Magnetic Termite mounds. Now these are just plain weird! We have seen termite mounds all over Australia and they vary in colour, height and shape but generally follow a general design. These were flat, and align directly north south and have strange crinkly bits at the top.. They look like gravestones and apparently it's to assist with temperatures and ventilation control.
We also had a look at Tabletop Swamp which is a pond fed by the floodwater during the Wet season.
A lovely pond full of flowers and lots of birds plus hundreds of little lizards. So today we leave Litchfield and head for Darwin.

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Comments

[Karol Muir]

Sydney harbours
Can you not just throw that swag away !! So how many Sydney Harbours fit into it ? Don't leave us in suspense.