Following on from El Questro, it was back to 'suburbia' of Kununurra.
This was one place I was interested in going to after talking to B over the years about her time as a backpacker picking and packing bananas up in the area. I had no idea what to expect and wasn't disappointed... I tell you, I didn't mind it. Not sure why, but it was rough, but approachable. Big enough to have the mod cons, but still not big enough for a set of traffic lights.
We shared a night here or there with the Butchers and the McGuirks, and as a whole really enjoyed our time there.
The highlight was probably making new friends with the Tietzels, a travelling family who had their van next to ours. Naturally their kids, Chloe and Lewen, got on famously with our 3 and the lego mat got a real caning. Of a night Renee joined B and I under our awning for some 'grape juice' or whatever else might have been stashed in the kids cupboards... From there we shared a paddle out of the lake, which involved Sam and I destroying all and sundry in rowing races, despite Renee assuring us at the end, it was "slowest wins..."
A great time, with some great new friends in a pretty good town. Now... for the pictorial walk through.
One of the places near Kununurra I was really keen to go was the famous Ivanhoe Crossing. I'd seen so many pictures of it, I was keen to take the Rock Truck across. It had previously been closed for years due to structural issues but I had heard it had reopened. I had obviously heard wrong...
Once the kids had read about the big salties that inhabit these waters, I think they were secretly happy too not to be going across. B was not so secret about it... Prancing around like Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music...
One of our tours around took us to a Zebra Stone gallery, which offered amongst other things, mango smoothies and fish feeding. Feeding the catfish in the river was rediculous... There were so many, it was of plague proportions. Big slimey buggars 'crawling' over each other for bread crumbs. Where was a big saltie when you needed one...
The McGuirks were staying in the park down the way from us (perhaps had a little bit too much of our company) and yep still they invited us over for their turn to host 'Sunday Roast'. Except this time it was Chilli Con Carne for a bit of left field. Was awesome though, and Joe lent Sam his rod to see if he could catch tomorrows dinner. He did not.
James kicking back, looking thoroughly grown up.
Evie, also looking thoroughly grown up...
Teresa had said "wait for the bats" and to the minute she predicted, a huge swarm of bats (collective noun for a group of bats anyone) flew overhead and out across the lake. It was quite eerie but also pretty cool.
We took a day trip out to Wyndham further up the point. We had been told not to expect much, which was good. As there wasn't much out there...
The tides in Wyndham are amongst some of the biggest in the world (11 or 12m I think) and the water really rockets through. You (obviously) can't tell in this still picture, but the river is flowing stronger than any I'd ever seen. You would have no hope swimming against it, unless you were one of the big salties of the region...
The jetty did provide an oppurtunity for a different perspective of the main point upon which Wyndham sits. You can see the flow coming off the pier to the right of shot.
The highlight for me was the 5 rivers lookout, which sits upon the peak you can see in the shot above. From this vantage point you can see 5 rivers that converge on this piece of land and flow out to sea. If anyone is wondering they are the King, Pentecost, Durack coming in from the left of shot, Forrest from top right and Ord (through the trees on the right) Rivers. This lookout was brilliant and definitely worth the drive out. I just wish those bloody people with caravans would read the bit about 'road unsuitable for caravans'... I mean how dare they.
On the way back, the kids got a shot with the 'Giant Croc' in town, which also includes a young fella who basically wouldn't get out of the shot, no matter how much B tried and hinted to the parents.
On the way back home we stopped in to 'The Grotto', a natural feature of the area where a waterfall (dry at the moment) has created a incredibly deep waterhole at the base of a gorge. Quite the steep and treacherous walk down, we were only kitted out in thongs so decided that we'd give it a miss and just admire the view from the top.
You can only imaginve what this creek bed I'm standing in would be like in full flood, and the noise and display the water would have crashing over the rocks.
The Rock Truck and Big Green Lizard both got a bit of a wash down and clean in Kunurra. With the Ord River Scheme and Lake Argyle nearby, they aren't short of water around this area.
Needing to stretch our legs, one morning included the quite strenuous walk up Kelly's Knob (insert all the knob jokes here please....). The lookout is located pretty much in town and provided an excellent view across the Ord River valley, and displayed the vast array of crops being grown in the area. It was quite surprising how good a lookout it was.
See? Awesome!
From there we drove, literally, around the corner to Mirima National Park, which is affectionately known as the 'Mini Bungle Bungles. A brilliant little park with some great informative boardwalks throughout.
It's not hard to see where the nickname came from. The rocks and domes are very reminiscent of the Purnululu beehives.
For those following B's Facebook updates, you'll know the answer to this, but to me this shot is why nature is so brilliant. Within this tree there is an owl sitting there, minding his own business, almost complete camoflauged. Can you see it? You'll need to enlarge the pic (by clicking on it) to stand any chance. Sam actually spotted this himself after we'd all walked past once without even a second glance.
Suited up for paddle out on the Lily Creek Lagoon next to the caravan park. Yellow is quite fetching, don't you think?
Evie teamed up with B, for a girls canoe...
...whilst the boys teamed up for a "super awesome fast boys canoe". This was before James decided he didn't like canoes at all and made us turn around and drop him off. He stayed happily on the shore where we left him, laughing at our races and efforts to look like a speed boat.
The HMAS Teitzel... a formidable ship. Unparalleled enthusiasm teamed with an ability to change seat locations without falling in!!
We were extremely excited to hear that Kununurra still had a drive in as well, after the success of a night out in Tom Price. So we made sure we stayed around for it and enjoyed an evening of Despicable Me 3.
Stepping it up a notch with this one, hotdogs in a flask (just like the footy)! And we jagged a front row seat so could snaffle a park bench too!
And with that our time was done in Kununurra. Here's a 'family' shot of the Whites and the Teitzels. It was amazing how well you can hit it off with a group of people in such a short time. Maybe it's the 'travelling' bit in common, maybe it's right place and right time, maybe it's Mabo, maybe it's the vibe. Either way, great to have another group of friends to share this little bit of our Adventure with.
And so the trek through the Kimberley continues. Thoroughly enjoying ourselves, we were to venture far. Literally 'around the corner' some 70 odd kays to Lake Argyle.
No comments:
Post a Comment