Kununurra – 16 to 31 August 2010

Kununurra is a lovely town , the centre of the Ord River irrigation scheme. We were lucky to get a lakeside location by Lake Kununurra.

The Gibb River Road is an Australian rite of passage and a test for machinery. Kununurra was a good place to do some maintenance and cleaning. John replaced the suspension blocks on the caravan and we needed to replace the tyre that was punctured and the high pressure hose for the Landcruiser’s Power Steering, an emerging problem for Toyotas on this rough road and fatal for two previous Landcruiser’s which developed the problem on the Mitchell Plateau and needed the $3,000 flat bed truck ride back to Kununurra. Trish was pleased with how the interior had traveled, the only thing we had to replace was one cupboard latch. Trish’s main job was a monster wash. There is only one hot water washing machine, three cold and there is stiff competition for the hot water one by people coming off the Gibb River Road.
Trish also cleaned the interior, although as the van is relatively dust proof she was mostly able to sit by the lake and read.

We found a lovely French Restaurant called the Pump House and most evenings saw us walking down there for a beer and a frozen Margarita while we watched the sunset. Trish asked the owner, Dominique from where and why she had come to Kununurra. She said she was from Paris and had wanted to move to a country town. She had certainly achieved that. This is the second French Chef we have found in a truly remote location, the other being the Border Store near Arnhem land. Kununurra has a good Saturday market with lots of local products, and after visiting it we could see how the wonderful fresh products would be very encouraging for a chef.

The road into Wyndham is 100 kilometers of made road which Tricia really enjoyed and it has very attractive scenery. We visited the Grotto, a gorge outside of Wyndham and watched enthralled as the lizards swam in the pool at the end of the gorge.

We had lunch in Wyndham at Capt. Robb's which is legendary. What you have here is the Barramundi. We walked and drove around the town, and photographed Trish at their big crocodile. We think this house will need better stumps before the cyclone season. At present they are Brambles Chep pallets.

The best in Wyndham is the Five Rivers Lookout. There is a fantastic view of the King, Ord, Pentecost, Durack and Forest rivers flowing into Cambridge gulf. This view alone makes the drive worth while.

We made a very quick trip to Melbourne as John had a meeting and as luck would have it Alex and Sophie were also there. This was a great opportunity to catch up and see them and our granddaughter Gillian.

On returning to Kununurra we booked on the Triple J tour to see lake Argyle. This was a fantastic day. We spent the morning on the Lake, then in the afternoon we took a boat down the Ord River. There are little camps on the river for canoeists and we had Afternoon Tea at one of them. At certain times of the day you can see a WW1 soldier’s head on the rocks.We visited the Durack Station, which has been removed from what would be the middle of Lake Argyle and enjoyed the Ord River, looking at crocodiles, flying foxes and rock wallabies.

Nicole Kidman is reported to have said that the water in Kununurra is fertility water, as seven people got pregnant during making of the movie “Australia”, having spent a lot of time swimming in  local waterfalls.