Kununurra is quite a busy little town of 6000 people. Rio Tinto’s
Argyle diamond mine (famous for their very rare and expensive pink
diamonds) contributes to the local economy.
Agriculture is another large aspect
of life around here. Mango and Sandalwood plantations are quite prolific. No ripe Mangoes available yet
unfortunately!
We stayed in a great caravan park on the lake. The highlight being the freshwater
crocodiles 5 metres from the
caravan at night . We shone our torch out on the lake and their beady eyes were lit
up like little red lights.
These babies just sat there and waited patiently for
some food scraps. Amazing!!
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| The lake during the light hours... |
Beautiful Boab trees are very prevalent around the Kimberleys.
This one in the caravan park has been carbon dated and is 2000 years
old!! These wonderful trees provide homes for a myriad of Australia’s wildlife
such as: bats, frogs, bees, Goannas, Magpie-Larks, and Cockatoos.
We came across this Boab at Emma Gorge with a tap
coming out of it. Not really sure whether the water was actually Boab water??
We couldn’t work it out…….maybe?....perhaps?.....
On the way to Kununurra we drove off the highway to
see a special historical boab who had a date carved into it’s trunk (July 2nd,1856) . It was
carved by Thomas Baines who was an expedition artist. He carved it on the day the expedition group set up camp by the edge of the Adelaide River.
Amazing how obvious the font is….
It is hard not to love these trees. I even felt
inspired to do a bit of ‘Boab Art'….
We drove down some of the Gibb River Road (famous for
diehard four wheel drivers) and visited Emma Gorge and El Questro Station.
Bushwalking in hot conditions seems to be getting easier. Mum is finally ‘manning up’ and
actually enjoying the walks.
(Kylee I might be ready for Bikram Yoga when we get back)
At the end of a rocky, steepish climb in Emma Gorge we
enjoyed a nice cool swim and some had a frolic in the waterfall. Very
refreshing!
Socially we had a great time in Kununurra. We were
able to catch up with some Brisbane friends Gordon and Lesley who work for Rio
Tinto and FLY in and out of the mine everyday! Great way to travel to work
guys! Thanks for a lovely meal and it was great to learn more about your life
in Kununurra.
Many thanks to Darren and Janine (friends of our
friends the Langes) for the invite to enjoy a cruise on the great Ord River in
a lounge boat.
Quite possibly one of the best highlights for the
kids was being towed behind the boat on a large tube thingy. It was funny watching
them all gaining confidence and eventually standing up and ‘tube surfing’ down
the Ord.
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| Go Girls!! |
It was lovely to see the sun setting over the
Ord on the way home.
It makes you wonder why so many Australians choose to live on the coastal bits although crocodiles outside while you are sleeping sounds a bit scary.
ReplyDeleteHave really enjoyed catching up on your recent touring Megan. The photography is just beautiful, particularly love the image of the second gorge in your Katherine post. Definitely postcard material! Chuckled at your 'enjoyment' of bushwalking in high temps. Keep travelling safely.
ReplyDeleteThat's really nice what you have shared for others to look at and get an understanding of whats out there. You did a lot more than what we did. We stayed for two weeks in the same caravan park. Beautiful.. We also broke down in Kununurra and funnily enough it was in the Thirsty Camel Drive Through..So we grabbed a beer and sat in the beer garden and the car stayed shaded. Happy customers haha.
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