Good bye to Western Australia

We continue our journey towards the east and just one hundred kilometres or
so from Kununurra we reached the Western Australia / Northern Territory
border. There is an agriculture quarantine at the border but we weren't
required to stop - they only appeared interested in what was being taken
into Western Australia not what was taken out. Unfortunately the state
signs had a lot of graffiti. The next sign was the increase in the speed
limit to 130 kph - we are certainly in the Northern Territory but we won't
be driving at anywhere near that speed. We normally sit around 92 kph with
the caravan on.

We were sad to say good bye to Western Australia as we have thoroughly
enjoyed our five and a half months of travelling in this state. It is a
very diverse state with a huge number of kilometres to drive. Who knows, we
may visit again one day.

Fortunately we have a GPS and it was immediately updated with the time
change between the two states. We knew we had a time change, but there is
no signage to tell you how much. We thought it was half an hour, but we
were wrong. It was one and a half hours. No it is not lunch time - look at
the clock it is getting towards dinner time.

The road from Kununurra towards Katherine which is where we are heading is
quite an interesting road. It passes through two small settlements, Timber
Creek (population 70) and Victoria River with fuel and a general store at
each. The road passes through the Gregory National Park with spectacular
escarpments and follows the Victoria River for some of the way. The Victoria
River is very wide in some parts and apparently is nearly a kilometre wide
at its widest but we didn't see that. Water is abundant in this part of
Australia.

We stopped briefly at Timber Creek. There were a lot of local folk standing
around as the Greyhound bus was stopped. We watched as a group of little
Aboriginal children were playing - they were making some mud out of the dirt
and throwing it at the signage. The little boy would have been three if he
was lucky and he was pretty accurate with his shots but what a mess of the
sign and the pavement he was making. Again no photos - we need to be
culturally sensitive.

We stayed overnight at one of the National Park camping areas - pretty basic
but was okay. It is surprising how full the camping areas get and our first
choice had been an area called One Horse Creek but that was full so we had
to continue on. There would have been about fifteen groups staying
overnight at Sullivans and we wandered down to look at the river. Again
there were crocodile signs and a guy standing bare foot in the river. We
were even dubious about following the track through the long grass down to
the water edge in case there were snakes!

Swimming pool overlooking Lake Argyle, WA

As we commenced our return trip we stopped off at the caravan park and café.
All the tour buses stop here for lunch so it was a busy place. There was a
video playing showing the building of the dam. We had thought of taking one
of the cruises but as the afternoon boat did not return to the park until
after sunset around 6 pm we decided to give it a miss.

We had been told at the Information Centre in Kununurra to ensure that we
visited the swimming pool at the park. This is built on one of the outer
edges and has a wonderful view of the lake from the pool. A swim would have
been ideal as it was very warm, but we were not park guests and so not
entitled. Surprisingly there was no one in the pool when we visited.

We returned to Kununurra for our last night. The agriculture show commences
in Kununurra this week-end but we will need to move on as the caravan parks
are all booked out.

Lake Argyle, near Kununurra

On our last full day in Kununurra we decided to visit Lake Argyle which is
seventy kilometres towards the east. This lake is Australia's largest
artificial lake and is part of the Ord River irrigation scheme.
Construction of the dam was completed in 1971 and is 335 metres long and 98
metres high. There are currently 150 square kilometres of farmland under
irrigation from this lake. Unfortunately, because of its geographical
position, Lake Argyle remains Australia's most under-utilised lake.

Fishing is popular in the lake and there is an estimate of 25,000 fresh
water crocodiles living in the lake. There are a limited number of salt
water crocodiles. As you can imagine, there is no swimming in the lake
however lake cruises are popular.

There is also a power station on the river. We stopped and had a picnic
lunch in the recreational grounds adjacent to the river. There are no
camping facilities at the river but there is a caravan park back further
along the access road.

Ivanhoe Crossing, Kununurra

Last stop for the day was planned to be at Ivanhoe Crossing. This river
crossing is on the back gravel road (which was the original road) from
Wyndham to Kununurra and passes near Parry's Creek park where we had stayed
earlier. The crossing is now closed to traffic.

The crossing is over the Ord River and is a popular place for fishing for
barramundi and there were a few people fishing off the concrete causeway.
We were surprised to see them standing in the water as there were lots of
signs about the crocodiles which are known to be in the area.

Although it was really warm, and tempting to cool off by standing in the
water like some others, we avoided it. We don't want a crocodile nipping
our toes.

On our way back into Kununurra we passed a number of mango orchards. Mangos
are out of season at the moment but fortunately for us, and many other
tourists, one of the orchards had a café so we stopped off for a mango
smoothie. You don't get them made better than those were - just the best.
No wonder the kilos are piling on. It was the third mango smoothie in as
many days. Have to make the most of them when in mango world.

Hoochery Distillery, Kununurra

Next stop was Hoochery Distillery which is the oldest legal distillery in
Western Australia. It produces a variety of rum and liqueurs.

It was interesting to read the notice about the sale of alcohol. It
certainly said something about the alcohol problem within the community.

It was interesting to see the distillery but we weren't one of their
customers for their products. The only thing I bought was a pumpkin from
their barrel out the front! Sure not going to get drunk on that.

Sandalwood Gallery, Kununurra

After walking in the heat we headed out of town to visit the Sandalwood
Gallery and also Hoochery Distillery. First stop was the Sandalwood Gallery
where there were many interesting products produced from the locally grown
Indian Sandalwood. We watched a short video on the plantation and learnt
how the sandalwood tree is reliant on a host tree. We had wondered why the
plantations looked a little untidy with different types of trees.

The Ord River irrigation has opened this area up for a variety of
production. The irrigation channels run alongside the road and there were
huge areas planted out. We had visited an orchard a couple of days
previously which grew varieties of lettuce, tomatoes, melons etc. We
weren't sure what these plants were but they certainly looked healthy.

Kununurra Gorge

In the part of the world we never travel too far before there is another
gorge to walk. We had been told that the small gorge adjacent to Kununurrwakes like a little bungle bungles. There were two walks, both reasonably short, but the shortest one was closed as they are rebuilding the tracks.

So we took the longer walk although much to Peter's annoyance we didn't have walking shoes on! (Peter here, (PH) didn't have walking shoes on what an understatement - jandals - thongs - flip flops call em what you like not only did they not even resemble walking shoes they were a million miles away from them. But as you can probably imagine Miss Muppet had decided that we

were going to walk so far be it from me to challenge the master :-) )

It wasn't a long walk but it was quite steep ((PH)quite steep really we
needed nearly to call Mark to bring up the ropes and crampons!) towards the
end with a series of steps. ((PH)Of course this was after we had boldly
trodden where no other man would have dared to)

I am now back to continue with this update and relieve Peter from adding to
my typing!

Once we reached the top of the gorge walk there was a lovely view of
Kununurra in the distance. As you can guess by the comments above, Peter
was over walking in the gorge, especially at 33 degrees.

Ord River Dam, Kununurra

After a couple of days at Parry's Creek we drove into Kununurra which is the
largest town in the part of Western Australia. It has a population of
around 7000 with a lot of Aboriginal people. The town also houses some of
the people working in the local mining projects. There is a large park area
in front of the IGA and this is a popular sitting place for the Aboriginal
people.

The Ord River dominates the Kununurra area. We stopped at Lion Park on the
entrance into Kununurra and saw the dam. We thought this would be a good
place to camp but no camping was allowed which was a little disappointing.
However we soon changed our mind when we saw a crocodile sunning himself on
the opposite bank.

Water is in abundance in Kununurra. We stayed in Ivanhoe Caravan Park and
we were surprised to see the sign "water is free in Kununurra". We were
asked to water our sites each day to keep the grass growing. After living
in Melbourne for a number of years with water restrictions it is hard to get
your head around being able to use water freely. Peter decided that the
water wasn't good enough to wash the car or the caravan - not sure how he
made that decision but it saved him a task.

Pete made friends with a couple of guys who were travelling Western
Australia. They were farmers from south of Perth and had left the farms in
the care of their sons while they travelled. Pete enjoyed their company and
loved the signage on the back of their camper.

The weather continues to be great - we have not had any rain since we were
in Esperance in March. What is rain?

Parrys Creek near Wyndham, WA

During our travels we get lots of opportunity to talk with other travellers
and obviously places we have visited are the opening conversation. Someone
along the way told us if we were in the Wyndham area to ensure we stayed at
Parry's Creek Tourist Park. This was just twenty kilometres from Wyndham
and then eight kilometres along a dirt road - we were a little uncertain as
we are travelling without a spare until we get to Kununurra and can purchase
a new tyre. Still we decided to go and the road wasn't too bad at all,
although we try to avoid gravel roads with the caravan.

The caravan park is part of a mango farm (but mangos are out of season at
the moment) and is a beautiful setting. There is a small restaurant and
café, cabins and both powered and unpowered sites. The sites had grass
which was another positive. We enjoyed a leisurely couple of days in the
very peaceful surroundings. There were lots of birds and the no swimming
signs were out warning of crocodiles but we didn't see any. Bird watching
was a popular activity and there was a high walkway accessed via stairs with
seating areas built around the lagoon.

The park had excellent facilities. The outdoor kitchen was situated behind
our site and we made use of it cooking dinner. We were a little uncertain
if there would be heaps of mosquitos and midgies, as I had been badly bitten
earlier, but fortunately this was not a problem.

The days continue to be lovely - temperatures sitting around 30 degrees with
clear blue skies. However we are still surprised that sunset is so early
and by 5.30 pm it is dark. The nights are much warmer now that we are not
in the desert.

Surprisingly for a camping area away from any town and off the main road
down a gravel road there were a lot of campers staying. We counted at least
one hundred groups camping beside any staying in the cabins. We camped
beside a couple of guys who had been travelling from Perth for three months
- they were keen on fishing and photography and this area provided them
plenty of opportunities for both of these.

The Big Crocodile, Wyndham, WA

All throughout the Kimberley region crocodiles are present in the waterways.
In the small town of Wyndham there is a "big crocodile". Australia seems to
like to display "big" - the big banana, the big pineapple, the big crab and
many others.

While I sat in the picnic shelter and caught up on some computer work Peter
took some photos of Wyndham's contribution - the big crocodile.

The twenty metre long crocodile was made in 1987 by a group of volunteers.
It is constructed using 5.5 kilometres of steel rod, 50 kgs of welding rod,
10 rolls of bird mesh and 6 square metres of concrete. On the twenty first
anniversary in 2008 a paint job brightened up the big croc for the next few
years.

We often stop at rest areas like this as we pass through a small town and
check if there is internet coverage. We have found that although there is
coverage in this part of Australia it is very limited. Sometimes outlook
will show that there are emails but they will not download, you can open
some websites and not others. We have become accustomed to excellent
internet service in the cities but it is very different in country areas.
The Australian government are working on making reliable internet coverage
to 90% of the population, and there is still a long way to go. However of
course the majority of the population is in big cities so the last 10% which
is these rural areas may have to wait a long time.

Afghan cemetery

On our way back to Wyndham we made one more stop, this time at the Afghan
cemetery. This may sound like an unusual place to visit however it was
interesting. The Afghan settlers with their camels and donkeys provided an
important means of transport between the towns and stations in the area in
the 1890's. The graves are not named, but are marked, and they are quite
large as it is believed that the lead camel was buried alongside its master.

El Questro, WA

Once we were going again I was dubious about turning off the Gibb River Road
to head into El Questro Station as originally planned as this was a 35
kilometre diversion. But Peter was sure it would be okay, so we went in.
On the way in we had three or four water crossings including a further
crossing of the Pentecost River. This station, similar to Happy Valley
Station, is well set out for the tourist. We had our picnic lunch (we had
come prepared with food etc as you can never rely on being able to buy
anything, and more often than not can't) in the lovely picnic area and again
had a look around the camping area. We were a little sorry that we had
decided not to take the tent and stay over for a while. Perhaps we will
have to come to this part of Western Australia again.

Crocodiles are in the rivers around El Questro so there is no swimming.
There are a number of gorges to be explored and also Zebedee Hot Springs.
We had planned on visited the hot springs but they are only open from 7 am
to 12 noon (we are not sure why) and as it was mid afternoon we were out of
luck.

We started our return trip to Wyndham continuing along the gravel road with
no further problems. It was a great day out, albeit a little expensive as
we have to buy a new tyre. It has whet the appetite for a trip along the
full length of the Gibb River Road one day.