All along our journey around Australia the common message we had had from other travelers was “wait til you see the Kimberley!”. As we drove into Kununurra we started to understand why. Rugged, rocky countryside, covered with lush grass, framed by ancient mountain ranges. Along the road Boab trees started to appear, increasing in number and size as we got closer, replacing the endless termite mounds.
After close to a 600km drive Bel and I set up camp at a local caravan park – Kimberleyland! We had a great site right by the pool… and toilets!
We booked in for 4 nights as we had some tours booked. The next day we headed out to El Questro (a station that is well known for its tourist setup) for a day trip. The 100km drive out was filled with more beautiful scenery.
On the way in to the station we had to do a couple of water crossings, nice firm base so no problem but it did catch a few of the other cars in front of us by surprise – lots of waiting while they decided on what to do.
We paid our fees at the station and grabbed a coffee then headed to Zebedee Springs. They are shut at 12 for tourist operators so we had to go there first. They were pretty, but quite small and crowded – we had been spoiled at Mataranka.
Next was El Questro Gorge. On the way we hit a long and quite deep water crossing. It had a sandy base so was quite challenging. We got through but definitely felt a bit of slip on the way back.
The gorge was a long and shaded 4km return walk along a creek into a swimming hole. Very picturesque and a reasonably challenging walk – lots of rock hopping. It was worth it though with a lovely swim at the end. We had packed lunch and picnicked by the water hole before walking back out.
From El Questro we headed up to Wyndham, the local port town at the end of the Ord River in fact it was on the mouth of 5 rivers that ran into the Cambridge Gulf – the Ord, Durack, Forrest, King and Pentecost. We headed up to the 5 rivers lookout – what an amazing site.
The following day we headed out on a flight over the region to the Bungle Bungles. From Kununurra we were heading along the Gibb River Rd which doesn’t pass Punululu National Park so we thought this would be the best way to get there. The flight took us over a couple of the Kimberley Ranges, Lake Argyle, and the Bungle Bungles. Spectacular.
We landed in the national park and then joined a tour to walk through the park into Cathedral Gorge. The tour had a lot of elderly people so went a lot slower than we’re used to but we eventually made it. The dome formations that characterize the bungle bungles were quite amazing and lined the path as we made our way into the gorge.
Roughly 2km in and we arrived at Cathedral Gorge – a huge dome shaped room that enclosed a small pond.
By this stage one of the ladies was really struggling, so the walk out ended up very tough for her. I don’t think she had done much walking before, and it was quite hot. She had to be helped out and was vomiting by the end. She recovered after resting on the bus, but it was quite worrying.
After the tour we were picked up for our flight back, looping over the Bungle Bungles one last time and then flying over the Argyle Diamond Mine. Quite an impressive site.
It was a fantastic day out and a great way to see the region.
On our last day we went on another tour – a sunset cruise on Lake Argyle. On the way there we stopped at the Durack Homestead, that had been relocated out of the valley before they flooded it. The Duracks were the originals pioneers of the Kimberley, starting with Patsy Durack who originally settled in Goulburn when he first came to Australia in 1853. That was a year before my great great grand father settled there – maybe they knew each other!
We had already got a sense of the size of Lake Argyle from the air, but once on the water you realize just how vast it is. It’s a man made dam with one of the largest fresh water sources in Australia – up here in the middle of nowhere! It was set up to establish farming in the region – which is slowly working. It’s so big that it’s actually classified as an inland sea!
The cruise went for roughly four hours, checking out the dam wall and seeing lots of wild life including freshies – big and little…
And Rock Wallabies and Wallaroos that were trapped on the islands formed by the dam…
We had a swim and then at sunset were served bubbles and beer along with dips and biccies while we watched the sun set over the lake. Just beautiful.
It lasted about an hour and the colours constantly changed with the fading light. A fantastic way to finish up our visit to Kununurra.