Kalumburu

---

Kalumburu

The trip out of the Mitchell Falls was as expected, long, bumpy and dusty. By the time we reached the main road to Kalumburu we had lost the other pair of shock absorber on the camper trailer, these joined the other parts in our wood box. We had lunch at the turn off and after a brief discussion it was decided that we would continue on as planned, I must admit I was having second thoughts about the next100 kms of more unmade roads.

We arrived at Kalumburu late in the day, the road was good and bad but we had no more problems. As it was getting late we decided to camp in the Mission camp park as it had green grass, power if you wanted and a free washing machine (what more could us girls want). The township was very quiet and everything was closed.

Kalumburu is on the banks of the King Edward River and is the furthermost permanent settlement in WA. A mission was first established here in the early 1900s and it was not until 1981 that the church relinquished control of Kalumburu so giving the community its independence. Kalumburu Community Council now manages the reserve. This is a dry community (no alcohol permitted) and a visitors pass is required ($50) to stay in the community.

After stocking up on supplies at the local store (bananas $9 a kilo), getting our permits we headed off to check out the coast and see if we could find this mysterious George (who we had been told would take you out fishing in his boat, this is one of the reasons for coming all this way). We found George at the Honeymoon Bay camping area but as we were not staying there he would not take us out!! This is obviously a great fishing spot, a lot of people come up here with a tinnie and there are some permanent fishing shacks along the beach.

We then headed back to have a look at McGowans Beach another lovely spot on the coast. On the way back Ron had pulled over on the sandy road to let another vehicle pass but the other driver misjudged his position and a collision occurred. Ron now has a bent bulbar. There was some discussion about who was right or wrong and where the middle of the road was (beats me how you would know as the sandy track is all over the place).

Before leaving we checked out the mission museum, which has some very interesting artifacts from all around the world, lots of stuff about WWII as Kalumburu was a pivotal staging point in our northern defences during that time, and of course the history of the mission itself.

So we left Kalumburu, disappointed that no fishing had been accomplished and headed off back down that dam road again. Only another 600 km of rough roads till the bitumen!

---

Photos

Mitchel Track
Removing our last broken shock absorber

Kalumburu
The Mission Camp Ground

Wildlife
Beautiful bird - a bit like a kingfisher?

Honeymoon Bay
One of the fishing shacks

Local Sign
Translation - "Slow down"

Honeymoon Bay
The lovely beach