Barb and Darryl Gottago.....: Trip to South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales #10

Sun 11^th. Today is Remembrance Day and we Salute and Honour all those who fought and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, so that we may live the lives we do. LEST WE FORGET.

We were up at 4.30am to hear the first vehicle leave the caravan park and head west. The sun was just coming up, and YES it was only 25 degrees outside, BUT the threat of animals near the road would be too great for us.

We were waiting at the entrance to the park by 5.05am and were joined by a young couple from the Netherlands, as our bus arrived.

Sunrise

lovely Palm flower

We were taken to the airport and we were all weighed to conform the weights we had given. The pilot then worked out the seating arrangements so that he could load his plane appropriately. 12 passengers and 1 pilot. All Good!!! We were in the air by 6.15am after our flight path talk and then out to the tarmac and our pre-flight instructions and safety instructions also.

What a great way to see the ‘lay of the land’. The amazing geology formations and learning about the ‘taming’ of the Ord River. I find it sad that they have got all this fresh water in Lake Argyle and Lake Kununurra and they DO NOT use it for the town water supply. The town supply comes from three or four bores (with a high calcium content) and not the fresh water that they have at their door step. We were informed that the Lake Argyle currently holds about 4 times that of Sydney Harbour and if needed they could supply Kununurra and Wyndham with water for 20 years WITHOUT any further rain. So why not utilise it for the population instead of just irrigation for the orchards and Sandalwood plantations???

preparing to take off

Darryl looks very Happy

We had a great flight over Lake Argyle – with those seated on the right (westward) side of the plane, getting some great photos with the sun shining of the water and all the rock formations. Those on the left (eastward) side constantly had the sun interrupting their shots.

We flew over two cattle properties – Lissadell Station and Texas Downs (so named because of the shape of the station boundary is very similar to Texas in USA). The – now dry – Bow River, forms the boundary between the two stations. Then on to the Purnululu National Park – was added to the World heritage register in 2003 and the Bungle Bungle Range (which was ‘discovered’ in 1983) and opened up to the tourists. So many different aspects of the range that you can see from the air but must be awe inspiring from down in the base of the gorges.

We then came back up the western side of Lake Argyle and up to the Argyle Diamond Mine. This is a HUGE Open Cut that was prone to landslides, so now they are underground mining. The corporation has announced that the mine will be closing in 2020/2021 and the corporation has agreed to rehabilitate the land. There is talk that they will put the tailings back into the open cut (after they have re-checked it all using latest technology) and also perhaps dig up the roads and airstrip. There is also talk that the current staff quarters will be turned into a resort – it looks very impressive from the air.

We landed back in Kununurra at 8.15am after circling the town and seeing all the Sandalwood plantations, mango orchards, banana crops and other irrigated crops. We were then taken to our accommodations and time for a quick nap before tackling the rest of the day. The temperature at 10.10am is 38 degrees outside and the temperature in the van has risen to 27 degrees (with the aircon on!).

My photos are taken from the left side of the plane and I got quite a lot of glare from the sun. some photos are clearer than others

The Ord River looking north

The diversion Dam that makes Lake Kununurra

Sandalwood plantation

geology on the way to Lake Argyle

lake Argyle

The top island is known as Crocodile Island - due to it looking like a Crocodile head with most of its body in the water

Bow River

Eunice Range

'Ski Jump' formation

Love the geology

Purnululu or Bungle Bungle

beehive formations

the East face of the Bungle Bungle - has a lot of erosion due to facing the winds coming from the Tanami Desert

Three gorges meeting

In the plane

just behind that big yellow patch is the Warmun Community. One of their artists has his work on the Qantas plane that Prince Harry and Meghan arrived in Australia on.