BARBARA'S KIMBERLEY ADVENTURE - KUNUNURRA

Lake Kununurra from our camp site

We left our little camp site at 8 and arrived in Kununurra around 11am.  We got a breathtaking view coming in of the Ord River to our left and Lake Kununurra to our right.  Unfortunately there was road works on the bridge and wire fences either side.

The Ord River

Lake Kununurra

More Lake Kununurra

We found the visitor information centre quite easily but were surprised at what a busy place it was.  We grabbed a heap of info on all the bits we were interested in and after a lovely cup of coffee next door went and found a caravan park to stay in.  We stayed at the Lakeside park and were given a site right on the banks of Lake Kununurra.....absolutely stunning, and with water lilies and dragon flies and a comfy chair, a book and a beer, I was one happy little camper!!

One happy little camper!!

We spent the afternoon looking around the town and grabbing a couple of bits and pieces and decided to book a flight for the next day.  We couldn't get the one to Mitchell falls as you needed a minimum of 4 people, so we booked the diamond mine and the Bungle Bungles.  Later that day we received a call from the tour people to say they had another couple who wanted to do the big flight, so Yippee!!!!!  We were going to go to Mitchell Falls which should be around 3 hours.

We spent the rest of the day making shopping lists for the next leg of our journey, and catching up on the laundry.  Had a chat with the couple in the next camp who were from Kilcunda in South Gippsland and her brother is a hair dresser from Warragul.  They didn't seem very warm or chatty so we left them to own company.

We were picked up at 8.30 the next morning and taken to the airport with a few other couples.  When we got there, we were given a quick recon, a toilet break, an intro to our fellow passengers and then we were off!!  Our plane was a 1970 something 6 seater cessna, it didn't look real flash and I was a wee bit wary as the smallest plane I've been on............other than a helicopter............ was a 36 seater.  No need to worry though, what a little ripper of a plane.  I now want my pilots license and a little plane like that.  It would be awesome!!!!  Even GM was wishing he had his pilots license :-) 

Our taxi!!

Our pilot was a gorgeous young bloke called Matt, and he was also our tour guide.  He did an amazing job showing us the sites.  What a glorious tour.  We flew over Aboriginal Settlements, we saw the famous Pentecost Crossing on the Gibb River Road that we would be driving across the next day, The Port of Wyndham where the big ships come in and the Iron Orr and cattle exports or whatever goes out.   We saw the incredibly stunning isolated WA coast and the mud flats that just blew me away.  They looked as though they had been painted.  The only bad thing was the smoke from the Cockburn (pronounced Coburn GM!!!!) which spoiled the clearness of some of the pics.  And then there were the Mitchell Falls....they were just beautiful but so tiny from way up in the sky.  I would have liked to see the Mitchell Falls on foot as well, as you don't get the feel and sound and smell of the place when you're up in the air but it's a 3 day drive in from Kununurra by 4WD. 

Kununurra

Crops here are all sorts of vegies and Indian Sandalwood trees.  Plantation upon plantation of them :-)

Mud Flats

An Aboriginal Community......these places are so isolated!!!

Port of Wyndham

The Mitchell Falls

Looks like GM's flying the plane :-)

I think this should be my island ;-)  There are just so many to choose from!!!!

An Aboriginal burial ground

We landed on the Mitchell Plateau for a picnic and a cuppa.  We had cheese & crackers, apples, carrot cake and roses chocolates :-)  Our fellow passengers were Graham & Kate, a retired couple from Cranbourne South......yes, nearly every tourist from Australia is Victorian....other than a few Queenslanders ;-) and it was a very pleasant picnic in what I believe to be the best Arrivals/Departure Lounge I've ever been in :-)

Mitchell Plateau Runway

The Loo

Arrivals & Departures

Great Meals served here ;-)

Busy little Airport!

Mitchell Plateau Airstrip

 We flew high above the smoke on the way back until we got to Home Valley (a resort that used to be part of the same company as Yulara at Uluru).  We flew over El Questro Wilderness park, and Emma Gorge.

No roads as far as the eye can see!!!

Home Valley

The Pentecost Crossing on the Gibb River road

The Gibb River road :-) our drive for the next day!!!

Bushfires on the Cockburn Ranges

El Questro Wilderness Park

Emma Gorge

The turnoff to Gibb River road

The Great Northern Way, where we came in.

Back safe and sound!

The different flight options

Matt didn't seem to be in too much of a rush so we didn't get back to Kununurra until around 1.30 in the afternoon then we went for a drive to the Ivanhoe Crossing. 

Beautiful spot :-)

This is no longer passable due to recent floods washing half of the crossing away but still worth seeing.  The Ivanhoe Station is the largest Cattle Station in the Area supplying the majority of beef to Indonesia and Thailand, etc.  They run mainly Brahman & Short Horn cattle.  By this time we were starving, so we had subway for lunch amongst all the school kids.

Then we went and did our shopping.  In Kununurra, you can't buy beer and wine or beer and spirits together.  So luckily for us they had more than one bottlo ;-).  By the time we got back to Barbara we were exhausted.  It had been a long day.  We had dinner then off to bed and up early the next morning for our next leg of the trip....The Gibb River Road :-)

Kununurra was a beautiful place.  It was warm and balmy, though cool at night, very tropical and all the shops you could need unless you can only survive on designer wear.  It takes a long time for parcel delivery to reach them.  The majority of the white population is young and mainly from Victoria or Queensland.  There is a very laid back feel to the place and nobody seems to be in a rush.  Everyone wanted to know where we were from and all had time for a chat and a story to tell.  The indigenous population were friendly and not bothersome like the ones we have in Gippsland.  Overall, I would recommend this place to anyone.  GM and I will definitely go back if ever given the chance.