After off loading the trailer and booking into a cabin in Ivanhoe Resort
Caravan Park we set about relaxing and celebrating the fact that we’d made it
to help! We had a look around
Kununurra (which didn’t take long) and began to plan the next 2 days.
Before close of business we gave the repairer the go ahead for the
trailer and discovered that the new shockers needed to come from Brisbane so it
was likely to be 4 or 5 days before it was ready. Putting a small hitch in the original plan of heading south
to Purnululu NP and the Bungle Bungles in 3 days.
We watched the sunset on Kununurra from a nearby lookout and we were
treated yet again to the now familiar sight of the stunning rocks turning
orange and red providing a beautiful contrast to the lush green valley of
Kununurra.
Saturday was spent at the local market, having a look at Ivanhoe
Crossing and relaxing by the pool.
We also booked a scenic flight to take us over Lake Argyle, the Bungle
Bungles and the Argyle Diamond mine.
It was another wonderful 2 hour flight.
Lake Argyle is an amazing site from any angle, but especially the
air. You can almost (by not quite)
appreciate the size of the lake (or inland sea) – at full capacity it holds 41
times more water than Sydney Harbour.
Something I was able to imagine from the air was the landscape that the
lake now hides. What would have
been the peaks of mountains now make the islands within the lake. It is certainly a very spectacular site
and an impressive and effective man made achievement.
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| Kununurra |
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| Lake Argyle |
I’ve wanted to see the Bungle Bungles for a long time and the first
glimpse did not disappoint. From
the air you get a real sense of where and how the ancient rivers have carved
these magnificent structures. The
photos yet again don’t do them any justice – I can’t wait to walk amoungst them
in a few days time.
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| An almost dry river bed - but you can see how much it swells in the wet. On the right you can see a part of the Bungle Bungles which was originally used to muster cattle! |
The Argyle Diamond Mine is a huge V shaped open cut mine – it’s
massive!! It’s mind boggling to
think how many diamonds they’ve mined there. The largest one to date is half as big as a thumb. I bought a rough Argyle diamond in
Kununurra and look forward to having it set when we get home.
Our planned departure day arrived and the trailer wasn’t ready so we set
off without it, south to the Bungle Bungles. An easy (made easier by not towing anything) 250 kms trip
south on a sealed road!! We
arrived and checking into a safari tent – the girls were SO excited. The staff were worried about us all
fitting into the tent – obviously they haven’t seen what we’ve been sleeping in
for the past 10 weeks!!!
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| The communal campfire and our safari tent. |
Our day in the Bungles began early with the slow, winding, bumpy road
into the national park. After a
short stop at the visitor centre we made our way to the Southern part of the
park where we could walk into Cathedral Gorge and the Dunes – the site of the
only rock art in the park. Just
driving we felt a bit like a kid in a candy store – not sure which way to
look. I’ll let the picture do the
explaining…
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| Cathedral Gorge |
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| Rock Art at the Domes |
We drove to the northern part of the park and walked into Ecidina Gorge
– up a pebbly riverbed into the high narrow chasm. Great fun.
The girls were excited to get back to the Station for the evening
bonfire and marshmallow cooking.
What a great day.
Our time at the Bungle Bungles ended and so to came time to say goodbye
to Oma and Opa. More tears…. this
time sad ones. I reassured Mum
that it’s only just over 5 weeks (which almost made me cry) till we’re
home. We said our goodbyes and pointed
the car north again for Kununurra and our repaired trailer.
The day was a big one, just north of the Station at the Bungle Bungles a
road train coming toward us blew a tyre and as we passed each other we were
peppered with stones – leaving a littering of chips in the windscreen (so far
we’ve counted 9), another job to add to the to-do-list in Kununurra. The day added up to a few hours
drive back to Kununurra, food shopping, fuel, putting air back in the tyres,
collecting the trailer, finding some numbers to replace the number plate that
fell off in the river, unload the storage unit where all our gear had been
stored and repack the car and trailer – then drive 70 kms out Lake Argyle!
With all the jobs done it was heaven to dive into the wet edge pool with
spectacular views over Lake Argyle.
A perfect ending to a long day – we feel like we’re back on track and
ready for the NT and all it has to offer.
Our final day of exploring WA was spent first at the Durack Homestead
Museum – the homestead once stood down on the flat near the Behn River (a
tributary of the Ord) and was home to an amazing family – the men of the family
walked over from Queensland with their livestock and made a new life in the
Kimberley, on land they bought unseen.
When the Dam wall was being built and the river began to flood the
surrounding areas it was decided to relocate the homestead. It’s now home to a museum about
the Durack Family and the building of the Ord River Dam.
Once we’d learnt a bit about the Dam wall construction we drove up the
road to see it for ourselves. The girls were amazed at the size of the wall – a
bit like Eildon they said!!!
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| The view in both directions from the dam wall |
Thus ended the list of WA sites – tomorrow it’s on to the
Territory!! When we asked the
girls to help tidy up a bit because we had a big day tomorrow and we needed to
get away early, Olivia asked how far we had to drive. When I told her it was about 400 kms, she very quickly
replied ‘that’s not a big one Mum’.
When I quizzed her about her definition of a big days driving, it
appears that only days over 600 kms can be given the label of big – my
mistake!!!
A.
