The Kimberleys - WA at last !!

Well, we have made it into Western Australia.

Having stocked up with fresh groceries and diesel at Katherine, we set off towards Kununurra last Saturday.  We also made sure not to buy any fruit & veges as the border crossing into WA would have claimed it.  Every vehicle is inspected and our van had to be opened; however, our inspection was quite brief and pretty painless.  They are trying to protect the Ord River irrigation crops from diseases.  Sadly they have lost the battle to keep the cane toad out and it is now right through the NT, including Kakadu, and into WA.  The drive from Katherine into the east Kimberly area is quite dramatic and if it weren’t for the other vans we passed, it would also be quite lonely.  The road is excellent and the scenery changes from flatter scrubby country to large rocky mountain ranges and huge boab trees with the occasional spectacular river crossing.  The Victoria River is one of those wide clear water rivers that appear among the rocky ranges.  There is a roadhouse (pub) at the crossing and a short drive off the main road leads to a large boat ramp in the middle of the river bed.  The river bed at this point is probably 200 metres wide with a mixture of deep permanent water, large sandy beaches, and large rocky areas.  This area is also where the Jones family live on their property of “Coolibah” from the TV show ‘Keeping up with the Jones’s’. 

It's hard to imagine friving through this and finding....

.... this, Victoria River.

  We pulled up for lunch at Timber Creek which is a small town about halfway to Kununurra and decided that that was its best feature. 

 Kununurra loomed as a large welcome town with lakes and shopping centres and several good van parks.  The town has only been around since the ‘80’s when the Ord Irrigation Scheme started and the Argyle Diamond began production.  The shopping is good with a Coles and an IGA grocery stores and a good well manned (personned) Information Centre.  We found the groceries reasonably priced and the choice of local tours extensive.  Our first choice was a full day tour of the El Questro cattle station followed by a flight over Lake Argyle, the Bungle Bungles, and the Argyle Diamond Mine.  The El Questro tour was a good full day with an early pick up from the van park and a drive to the station.  The property is just under a million acres in size and the Cockburn Ranges take up about one third of it.  Our first stop was at Emma Gorge where a 40 minute walk into the gorge rewarded us with our first swim of the day in a large pool under a waterfall at the end of the gorge.  It was a pretty walk and great pool that was well worth the scrambling to get there.  The gorge is cut into the Cockburn Ranges and the steep sides rise hundreds of metres above the gorge floor.  There is a great restaurant and tourist accommodation at the mouth of the Gorge.  Another drive bought us to Zebedee Springs.  These warm mineral springs are at the foot of a sandstone cliff and, while not large, are very refreshing.  They are only a short walk from the car park and the vegetation is thick, green and full of palms and moss which contrasts starkly with the surrounding desolate rocky ridges.  Another drive onto the station ‘village’ for the beef and barra lunch by the river and we were coached to the Pentecost River for a cruise along the river through towering sandstone gorge walls with the expected sighting of Crocs, Barra, Silver Cobbler (Catfish) and Archer fish.  It was a pleasant cruise with fruit and bubbly supplied to wash the dust away.  Getting home after dark made for a long but pleasant day.  The road out turns off from the Kununurra to Wyndham road along the Gibb River Road, which runs through El Questro and is in the process of receiving a bunch of bitumen, and then turns onto station roads which are solid but rough with rocky creek crossing – definitely not touring van roads.

Cockburn Ranges on El Questro Station

Water tap directly out of the boab

Emma Gorge pool under the waterfall...beautifully cool!!

Cool pool with neat hanging gardens cut through the mighty Cockburn Range

Emma Gorge Falls

neat pool on the way in

Large leaf from Emma Gorge

Zebedee Springs at the foot of the range cliffs

Pentecost River Gorge on El Questro

A chat on the beach at the end of the cruise while the men watched the hundreds of fish in the water.

The colors really come out as the sun sets

Our flight over the Bungle Bungles was great.  From Kununurra airport we flew along the Ord River and upper irrigation area, over Lake Argyle, across Lissadale and Texas Stations, over and around the Bunble Bungles and its many gorges, and home via the Argyle Diamond Mine and Lake Argyle again.  Lissadale Station is another property of a million acres and is the biggest cattle station in the Kimberley by number of head of cattle on it.  Lake Argyle is impressive and is approx. 80 km long by 50km wide all held back by a rock and clay wall just over 300m long and 100m high on the Ord River.  As it is the end of the dry season they are releasing water to make room for the next wet season so it only holds about 12,000 Gigalitres at the moment.  Full capacity is 40,000 Gl and in the big wet 2 years ago it was more than 5 metres over the spillway and was 190% full holding 80,000 Gl.  There is a 30MW hydro power station at the base of the dam wall which powers Kununurra, the Diamond Mine, the Irrigation Farms, and surrounding districts.  It is a massive lake and apparently qualifies as an inland sea when full.  

Early morning over Lake Argyle

the opposite way with some on many islands.

Bungle Bungles - these photos do not do the rock formations justice.

Neat fault line through the sandstone formations

Some of the many deep gorges cut into the Bungles

Argyle Diamond Mine, cut through a mountain range, forming a dam and now underground

The Bungle Bungles are remarkable in their difference from anything we have seen before.  The striped, colored, round peaks and ranges are unique.  Several of the gorges we flew over were very deep and again we were surprised by the amount of permanent water and green vegetation on top of the ranges and in the gorges and waterways between miles of dry rocky steep mountainous country.  The diamond mine is an impressive huge cut through a mountain range following a ‘seam’ down to and below the surrounding plains.  The mine has now extended underground and is in the process of expanding.  There are 2 large accommodation villages on site which are both full and some workers FIFO daily from Kununurra.  Flying seems to be the common method of travel up here with at least 50 light planes parked at the airport.  The next day was a more restful day and we took a drive out to Wyndham which is the oldest town in the Kimberleys and still a port for industry.  Iron Ore, live cattle, sugar and other produce from the Irrigation Area is exported through here.  Wyndham has an excellent pier built for recreational fishers but the locals we watched were not enjoying much luck.  The huge run on a 9m tide seemed to have something to do with it.  Wyndham has a great lookout atop a nearby hill which provides views over the mouths of 5 major rivers which enter the bay.  They include the Pentecost, the Ord, the Durham, and others which are all large waterways and would be great to see during the wet.  

Iron Ore stockpile ready for loading onto export ship at Wyndham

The sound at Wyndham where 5 major rivers join the Indian Ocean

Carol at the Big Croc in downtown Wyndham

Big Boab tree, no leaves in the dry but alive

Zebra rock from Lake Argyle area

The diversion dam on the Ord River at Kununurra releasing water in readiness for the coming wet season

Another great western sunset over the lagoon at the van park in Kununurra

On the way home we called in to see the Zebra Rock Gallery.  Zebra Rock is a stone with starkly contrasting black/brown and white colours which appear as stripes or round spots depending on which way it is cut.  We have seen it made up into jewellery at the Mindil Markets in Darwin and it was good to see it being cut and polished.  We purchased a bag of off-cuts and Garry has been busy shaping and polishing several pieces.  Zebra Rock is only found in one place in the world and at 7 sites.  5 of the sites are now under Lake Argyle, one has been mined out, and the last site is being mined on a peninsula in the lake.  None was able to be mined this dry season due to flooding from the big wet over the last 2 years and hence the price has gone up significantly.  We also bought some bananas and tomatoes from an organic farm.  It is the first time we have had tomatoes in a few weeks as they are $9+ / kg in the supermarkets.  All rested next day, we decided to take the van out to Lake Argyle as we had heard a lot about the van park out there and its great pool, fishing and lake views.  After a few days here we can agree that the pool is special with the infinity edge providing excellent lake views and great sunset colours on the surrounding red hills, not to mention the cooling off you get while enjoying the views. After floating a hook for several hours I can report that there are fish in the Ord River but I only landed a good sized “Silver Cobbler” as the locals call it.  It is eaten up here but I returned the plain old Catfish to the Ord for a local to catch and eat later.

The dam wall on the Ord River holding back Lake Argyle

Downstream fishing area with the Hydro Power Station at the foot of the wall

Small Bay between the ranges below the van park

Catching the views from the pool

Durack Family Home & Graves relocated from the Lake area

note the 1880's style hot water system and beds !!!

  The Durack Homestead of Mary Durack and her book ‘Kings in Grass Castles’ fame also was in the way of the lake and has been relocated and rebuilt near the van park to house a museum in the family’s honour.  They came to settle this area in the early 1800’s by planning to take 6 months droving 7,000 head of cattle from Queensland.  They arrived 2 years later with 2,400 head.  As the Museum suggests, they didn’t know much about saltwater crocs when they left but knew a lot about them by the time they arrived in the Kimberleys. Mary and many of her female ancestors lived well into their 80’s which is testament to their toughness living in this country before A/C’s, electricity, phones, grocery stores, etc.

We have watched the Footy Grand Finals and are back into Kununurra to get the A/C checked out on Tuesday before setting off towards Halls Creek.