Kununurra and Surrounds

We stopped at the entrance to Keep River National Park to reinflate our tyres. We crossed into Western Australia and went through the hassle of having the van and 4WD searched at the Quarantine Checkpoint before heading towards Kununurra. 

We had already eaten our fruit, vegetables, and honey, so there was nothing to declare. 

We were surprised to see about eight different groups of campers who were clearly unaware of the restrictions, devouring their fruit before passing through the checkpoint.

 

We are camped at the Ivanhoe Village Caravan Park, but they are exaggerating and should drop the word' resort' and simply call it a park.

Our first night's site was on dirt, with only a few blades of grass and a tree overhead that kept dropping leaves, which kept us awake. Behind us, on a rise, a van vacated a lovely, green, grassy site, so I quickly went to the office, and luckily, it hadn't been pre-booked - this is where we had stayed.

On one of our days, we drove north to Wyndham, which is called the Top Town of the West. We took a 4wd track known as Parrys Creek Road and then returned to Kununurra on the tarmac. Part of this route ran parallel to the Ord River, and we stopped at a campsite called Mambi Island boat ramp. There were three groups camping there, and it was clear they were into fishing.

The port was originally established in 1885 after gold was discovered at Halls Creek, and over five thousand miners passed through here to reach the goldfields. The Five Rivers Lookout is the main attraction for visiting Wyndham. The lookout, situated atop the Bastion Range at 330 metres, offers a breathtaking view over the port and the five rivers that flow into Cambridge Gulf. These rivers are the Durack, Pentecost, King, Forrest, and the Ord. Sadly, we couldn't quite capture with our cameras just how spectacular the view from the lookout truly is. I would imagine sunset might help to improve one's photos.

Talk about 'Boot Hill'. The rocky ground on which this cemetery is situated reminded us of the Farina cemetery. Digging graves here with a pick and shovel would certainly be tough work. This pioneer cemetery was in use between 1886 and 1922, and reading the tombstones gives you an idea of just how harsh conditions must have been in those early years.

On another one of our outings, we visited the Hoochery and the Sandalwood Factory. The Hoochery is the only legal distillery in WA. Locally grown sugar cane is used in the process, and they have the capacity to produce 50,000 bottles each year. We sampled one of their tasting paddles, then tried their rum and mango ginger cake, followed by a coffee. Both cakes were absolutely delicious.

Our tasting paddle, from left to right, included: Aguardiente Verde Aniseed Liqueur, Cane Royale Liqueur with chocolate and coffee, and Ord River dark rum. I believe Bundaberg Rum's Royal Liqueur surpasses this one easily.

The sandalwood factory and plantation are located just north of Kununurra. The company owns two plantations in Western Australia, two in the Northern Territory, and one in North Queensland. Processing facilities are situated in Kununurra and Albany in the south of WA. The trees are actually Indian sandalwood trees, but wild populations are now endangered due to illegal harvesting and theft. The oil is highly sought after and is widely used in the pharmaceutical, fragrance, and aromatherapy markets.
 
Photos taken from Kelly's Knob, including one showing the main irrigation channel that supplies water to numerous plantations across the Ord Valley. 

We have just finished an Ord River Cruise with Triple J Tours. When we were last in Kununurra, we visited the dam and the museum, which is a replica of the original Durack family homestead built using the original stones from their homestead.

Our tour involved cruising 55 km up the Ord River to the base of Lake Argyle and then returning. We were later joined at the dam wall by people who had completed the Ord River day tour, where they were bused to the dam.

Lake Argyle and the Ord River scheme are a massive project that was initially conceived by Kimberley Durack, but unfortunately, he passed away in 1968 and never saw it completed. 
 
The damming of the Ord River formed Lake Argyle, which usually covers 1000 sq km, but during a good wet season like 2011, the surface area expanded to 1500 sq km. 
The dam wall was constructed using materials sourced within a 1 km radius of the site. It is not made of cement and steel but of clay and rock. The type of clay used becomes stronger when it gets wet.
 
Before the dam was completed, a pumping station was installed on Lake Kununurra to help divert the river if water levels became too high. It now sits idle and has been repurposed as the Pump House Restaurant.
 
Unlike the Snowy Mountains Scheme, which uses pumping stations and holding dams to transfer water for hydro power, the Ord River scheme relies solely on gravity. The height difference from the dam wall to the ocean is 42 metres, so the water flows downhill continuously. 
 
The hydro power station at the base of the dam generates enough electricity to supply Kununurra, Wyndham, and some of the diamond mines south of Kununurra.

Lake Argyle has a volume comparable to twenty Sydney Harbours and is estimated to hold 30,000 freshwater crocodiles. This one is just a baby hiding in the reeds.

The 55 km stretch from the Lake Argyle dam to the diversion dam at Lake Kununurra has an estimated population of 6,000 freshies. I have never seen freshwater crocodiles that grow to the size that we have seen. Grant, our skipper, explained the reason, and it is that their habitat never changes, remaining constant regardless of the season.

To enhance agricultural output on these black soil plains by increasing plantations is as simple as digging more drains that connect to the main drain.
 
Water extracted from the lake and the upper reaches of the river is diverted for agricultural use, but then returned to the river without changing its flow.
 
We stopped to observe a large and foul-smelling population of fruit bats, estimated to number over 1½ million, which fly north each evening to feed. Grant explained that they do not pose a nuisance to farmers growing crops like mangoes because their habitat, like other parts of Australia, has not been cleared for farms or development. They are more interested in feeding on nectar than attacking the crops.
 
The Comb Crested Jacana and its young, or Jesus Bird, because it spends its life living on floating vegetation.

Australian darter:

Black tailed rock wallaby:

Sunset over Lake Kununurra: