Lake Argyle to Kununurra and Wyndham

Monday 18^th June.  We were up and on our way from Lake Argyle by 8.30am. 

 Native kapok flower

Darryl’s left knee is giving him a lot of pain today so we will call into the chemist at Kununurra to see what we can do.  We did not get reception until we had almost reached Kununurra (about 7km out of town) and managed to contact the showground to ensure they had space for us.  We were assured that there would be room for anyone with a big rig or a pet and to come on in….. J We were in and settled by 10.30am.  It was then that we noticed that the LIFE bike riders were also camped at the Showgrounds. 
We went to the shops and stocked up on groceries and honey J [we had to hand ours over at the border BUT instead we put it in the tree at our last stop for the birds and ants to enjoy] and some fresh meat.  We went to the chemist and got a knee brace for Darryl plus pain cream to rub on and he has to ‘R.I.C.E’ it. He won’t enjoy the elevation bit I can tell you J :D
Back to the van and put away the groceries and then take Buster for a run.  He loves it here.  He is allowed to be OFF his lead and to free-run around the oval to his hearts content.  He looks so happy as he is running around and meeting other dogs.
At happy hour time we wandered up and saw Tommy and Markus and had a good chat with them whilst waiting for Nick and Jimmy to come back from a fishing expedition out to the crossing.  Their remaining trailers had arrived at the post office along with some more tyres and tubes and they were now planning on leaving Kununurra in the morning.

Tuesday 19^th June.  We were up just on 7am and went for a walk and just caught the LIFE cyclists before they headed out on their way to conquer the Gibb River Road.  We had to wish them well and hopefully we will catch them up as we cross the Gibb later this week.  Today we did not do too much at all as Darryl was made to sit and rest his left knee - Much to his disappointment. L  I made sure that he actually laid down and elevated it after sitting up most of the night playing his computer game – and he wondered why it was still quite painful this morning J :D

 

Three of the lads from LIFE, Markus, Jimmy and Tommy

Our friends that we met at Sullivan Campground are staying in the van park across the road and they called in this afternoon and are going to call back for Happy Hour.  Kareen and Ray, Christine and Gordon came and joined us for about 2 hours.  It was really good to catch up with them again.  Our friends Greg and Carol [whom we travelled to Darwin with] contacted us to say that they had just arrived in Kununurra and were on the other side of town but there tour plans and ours are at complete odds and so will not be able to catch up with before we leave on Friday L  Hopefully we will see them when they get to Broome.

Wednesday 20^th June.  Today we left the van park at about 9am and I was driving as Darryl’s leg is still not 100%, and headed on our way out to Wyndham. 

 Panorama of landscape travelling to Wyndham

Wyndham is Western Australia’s most northerly township; it is small and relatively undiscovered which typifies the character and spirit of the Kimberley.  Established in 1886 as a result of the Hall’s Creek gold rush, it has a population of approximately 1000 people.  Situated on the Cambridge Gulf where the King, Pentecost, Durack, Forest and Ord rivers meet, Wyndham is surrounded by some of the most spectacular landforms, rivers and wetlands in the Kimberley.  It is also home to the ‘Big Crocodile’ which takes pride of place in the main street; and 20km out of town in the western ranges is a prison Boab tree.

This took us about an hour to get there and we called into the ‘Five Rivers Café’ for a pit stop and morning tea.  We were able to let Buster out of the car and sit with us outside whilst we had this.  From here we went into one of the streets and Darryl went and took photos of the ‘Dreamtime statues’

 and then we headed up to the ‘Five Rivers Lookout’

 panorama of five rivers lookout

4.5km up the hill overlooking Wyndham.  We were here for about an hour just taking in the spectacular scenery. 

 Three of us at the Lookout

 Showing the five rivers entry into the bay

 Orange gum blossoms

The road up was just wide enough for two cars and on the way down the hill we were passed by a BUS……. Wouldn’t like to meet it on one of the many switch-backs in the steep climb J
We stopped at three other mini lookouts on the way back down the mountain and it gave us different aspects of the township. 

We then headed out to the wharf area and the older part of town.  We stopped at the Jetty (which was opened in February 2012) and watched the water rushing out to the bay.  There was lots of mud floating in the river – so Darryl said that something must have been down underneath stirring it up.

 can you see the mud swirling in the brown water?

We then drove out past the crocodile farm and then back into town to the pub.  We had been told to stop and have the Barra and Chips for lunch here so put in our order and waited----and waited----and waited.  An hour and 20 minutes we had to wait for it to arrive.  During this time I had been back out to the car to let Buster out for a walk and a piddle [it was 30 degrees and the car was in the sun – thankfully he had the vents in the windows BUT I managed to find a shady area for him and gave him plenty to drink] and then when I got back inside the lunch had arrived.  This was the BIGGEST disappointment for the day. L  We were going to stop and have a look in the museum but because Buster had been in the hot car for nearly two hours we gave this a miss. 
We headed back to the township and stopped at the caravan park to have a look at the ‘biggest Boab in captivity’ J a Boab that is reportedly 2000 years old. 

 info about the tree

Wyndham is also famous for its big Crocodile.

We then headed back to Kununurra and stopped off at the ‘Grotto’ for a look on the way.  This stop had been recommended to us as a fantastic lush area to stay overnight but when we got there it had been ravaged by fire and the only green part was actually down in the grotto – 149 steps down in the valley. 

looking down into the Grotto gorge

Information told us that some of the pools in the Grotto are nearly 300 feet deep (100metres).  As we got close to Kununurra we pulled over to the river and Darryl got some shots of the Diversion dam and some of its open spillways.

 the Diversion Dam at Kununurra

Thursday 21^st June.  Today we went driving and exploring Kununurra after Darryl went to the hospital and had his INR.  We firstly went to Kelly’s Knob lookout

 looking over kununurra

which has got great views of the town and surrounding areas.  It is also part of the Mirima (Hidden Valley) National Park which is also referred to as the mini Bungle Bungle’s; they were interesting rock formations.

We left there and headed out to the Hoochery – a local distillery of RUM. 

Hoochery Distillery is a family owned and operated distillery and is the oldest legal still in Western Australia and uses locally gown ingredients.

Darryl was the tester (as I was driving) and he said it was quite nice but he is not a rum drinker [neither am I - BUT he did like the Aniseed ‘Verde’ liqueur] and then we had morning tea and some rum cake and cheesecake to share.  He purchased a bottle of liqueur to take with us on the rest of journey.  From here we drove back toward town and called into the Mount Romance – Sandalwood Factory. 

 A nice little facility that has got just about everything that has sandalwood in it but ALAS it was quite overpriced. We continued back into town and then out on the Ivanhoe road to go to the Ivanhoe river crossing.  This is part of the old road to Wyndham and we were told that it is a really good way of washing underneath your car as you cross as most of the time there is 35cm of water going across the causeway.  The added thrill is that the road curves in the water so you have to make sure that you stay within the bollards. J

We then took Buster back to the van so that we could go and do the grocery shopping and get the supplies for the next 8 days.  We are planning on taking that long to get across the Gibb River Road – but we will see what happens when we get on the road.

We were again joined by Christine and Gordon for drinks before we leave in the morning.  They are going out toward Wyndham for about a week before they continue on to Broome.