Monday, August 2, 2021

Leaving Kununurra tomorrow

 Just spent a couple of days in Kununurra which was good fun despite the very hot 35-40c temps. On Sunday we did some sight seeing north to Wyndham which is almost a ghost town now as the meatworks there closed 30 years ago and very little employment aside from the 36 road train deliveries of iron ore per day to the port. 4 trailers per truck so really need to be careful of these massive machines on the road. Visited Parry's Lagoon on the way and there were literally 1000s of birds. Also stopped for a photo of the Big Croc (fake). And had a pleasant picnic under a huge shady tamirand tree. Visited the really interesting (seriously even me and Laura were sucked in) historic museum which documents everything from the beef industry past & present, natural history (boabs and crocs!), World War II epic tales of escapes and ship sinkings and the bombing of Darwin and Kununurra by the Japanese. Also the epic story of 2 German guys who crash landed in remote Kimberleys in 1932 and survived (just about) with the help from the local trackers who eventually found them. There's a doco by a guy called Michael Atkinson who reenacts the story in 2017 (see this article for more info https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/australian-geographic-adventure/adventure/2018/08/surviving-the-kimberley/)

Drove up the big hill to Five River Lookout which is where the Ord, Pentecost and 3 other rivers all meet to form huge salt pans and flat wetlands. Very stark landscape. Its also the most northerly town in WA and one of the hottest towns in Oz with an average daily max of 36C!! Compared to Brisbane's at 27 and Cork's is about 17C in summer!! No wonder we were sweating.

We then headed back towards Kununurra stopping at the very deep Grotto which is this huge chasm of a pool cut into the sandstone. Allegedly 100m deep and 144 steps to get to the bottom where you can swim. Coolest water so far of the trip! even colder then some of the showers in Lawn Hill in QLD! So refreshing tho.

Great scenic drive and a bit off the main tourist route of the Gibb River road. 

Today we walked into the tiny but very scenic Mirima NP which is at the back of the caravan park we're staying at. It's such an interesting place, saw heaps of sandstone formations, boabs and birds including the very well constructed Great Bowerbird's bower which was made from sticks, white stones, green glass and fruit and some tinfoil balls as well. Got too hot by 10am so packed up the car and checked out everything is tightened and full and are ready for 3 weeks away from any big centres til we reach Broome. 

We'll be most likely out of touch til mid August as heading to Purnululu tomorrow for 5 days then across to Larawa Station for a quick stopover, Windjana Gorge for a night and then into the AWC sites of Mornington Station and Charnley River for a combined total of 8 nights all going according to plan. Then maybe slowly onto Broome - no plan really from there so need to make that up as well!

SO DO NOT PANIC if we're out of touch. It's part of the plan!

Have heard of some expensive car and caravan issues from the Gibb River rd. Guy next to us has a broken front axle and waiting 10 days for parts to arrive so he can fix it himself as the mechanics are fully booked for 8 weeks. Another story of a caravan costing $3000 to tow back to town and now waiting for weeks for repairs. Fingers crossed for our machine to stay well and at least the tent doesn't have an axel even if we have broken and taped every pole section almost at this stage!!

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