Kunnunurra to Broome for five days then on a camping safari back along the Gibb River Road for five days

Chris and I are leaving our motorhome travels for 10 days. We are boarding a greyhound bus this afternoon and travelling to Broome where we are staying in a Resort Hotel for five days then going on a camping safari with Australia Adventure Travels, travelling back to Kununerra along one of Australias most remote and challenging roads - The Gibb River Road.
Will be back on the blog after the 28th June 2011.
Cheers, Marea.

Lake Argyle

Friday 17th June 2011: We cruised Lake Argyle. This lake is the 8th largest lake in the world. Photos just can't capture the grandeur of its beauty and size. Officially Lake Argyle is classed as an inland sea. The Lake's dimensions are roughly 55klms from north to south and 30klms from east to west. Lake Argyle, if filled is 92m above sea level, would correspond to 27 times the size of Sydney Harbour, or around 30% of its potential. This year due to all the rainfall the area has experienced over the wet season the Lake filled to 180% of its capacity. A record high for the dam since it was built.

Beautiful Lake Argyle Lake Argyle Dam Wall
Look closely up on the bank - a fresh water croc!
Along the waters edge the tide mark from this seasons wet.

Bungle Bungle

Wednesday 15th June 2011: BUNGLE BUNGLE (Purnululu National Park). We had a fabulous day exploring the Bungle Bungle - a spectacular landform of striking beehive dome-shaped sandstone towers and breathtaking gorges. The Bungle Bungle range was formed over 360 million years ago.
We flew in a 4 seater (Cessna 360) over the argyle Diamond Mine and over two large cattle stations - Lissadell and Texas into the Bungle Bungle. On arrival we were transported by 4x4 wheel drive vehicle to an area where we walked into the Bungle Bungle to Cathedral Gorge (where we had a picnic lunch) then to an area known as the Grotto and The Domes. Then we had an amazing helicopter flight over and into the gorges of the Bungle Bungle. Later in the afternoon we flew back to Kununurra over Lake Argyle in another small aeroplane (known as a rocket) just as the sun was setting. Absolutely magical day!

The BUNGLE BUNGLE Range in the distance.

Aerial view of one of the deep gorges.
Shadow of our helicopter.

Beautiful Bungle Bungle - a photo just can do the scenery justice!

Sunset taken from inside our plane on arrival back to Kununurra.

Bungle Bungle - Cathedral Gorge - where we sat and enjoyed a picnic lunch.

Wickham grevillea and Desert Wattle

Large spinifus termite mound on the rockface

Biggles about to take the helicopter flight!

More Beauty!

The tiger stripe appearance of the bee-hive domes which are characteristic of the Bungle Bungle.

Arial view of the Argyle Diamond mine.

Wyndham

Wyndham, Western Australia's most northerly town in the Kimberley Region. The town grew as a port for the East Kimberly goldfields and after the decline in gold remained as a port for the pastorial industry and mining. Today Iron Ore and Nickel are exported from Wyndham Port.
The Bastion Ranges 350mtrs above sea level provide a spectacular backdrop to Wyndham.
The five Rivers lookout, aptly named as five rivers flow into the Cambridge Gulf - (King, Ord, Durack, Forrest, and Pentecost). From the lookout are stunning views over the surrounding mudflats (tidal flats) and ranges. We enjoyed a b-b-q then watched the sunset.

Sunset over Wyndham

B-B-Q (Steak and salad)

Salty taken at the Crocodile farm in Wyndham

Looking out to the Cockburn ranges from the five rivers Lookout

More sunset views

Amazing Kimberley countryside

One of the largest Boab trees in the East Kimberly region

See more photos of the Grotto below - in the wet season there is a waterfall into the pool below.

Man made stairs to the grott0

A goanna sunning himself on a rock at the grotto pool

Kununurra

Chris out on the jetty feeding the fish at the Zebra Rock Gallery

Thursday 9th and Friday 10th June 2011:

Kununurra - is the gateway to Western Australia and the Kimberley region. The town is one of the youngest in WA, (gazetted in 1961), and was developed through the construction of the Ord Irrigation Scheme.

Kununurra features extensive waterways and rugged landscapes.

Chris and I are leaving Kununurra for a few days and travelling north to Wyndham, but will be back to Kununurra, when we will further sight see the interesting places of interest here and around Kununurra.

Chris and I (following with the camera) climbing to the top of Kellys Knob Lookout for a birdseye view of Kununurra

Kununurra from the top of Kelly Knobs Lookout

Looking down

from the top of the lookout onto the Hidden Valley Caravan Park, where we stayed.

Kelly Knobs Lookout from the base.

The beautiful Zebra Rock (polished). This rock is only found in the ground around the Kununurra area.

The rock is cut, polished and then manufactured into jewellery, coasters, wine racks and almost any imaginable object.

No two pieces of Zebra Rock are identical.

Feeding the fish on a jetty on the property of the Zebra Rock gallery. Hundreds of fish appear.

A sign says 'Feeding only, No fishing'.

Lake Kununurra

(created by the partial damming of the Ord river downstream from Lake Argyle).

Lake Kununurra behind our motorhome.

Katherine to Kununurra

Taking a couple of days travelled from Katherine (NT) via Victoria River (in the Gregory National Park) onto Timber Creek over to the NT/WA border. On reaching the border before you are allowed entry into WA you have a Quarantine checkpoint (No fruit, vegetables, honey, seeds, nuts, plants etc). Chris had a cook in the night before reaching the border to cook up all the vegies etc. (He named it border stew)! My golf shoes were given the once over because of soil contamination. Then onto the Border town of Kununurra. On our way across from Katherine we stayed at East Baines River Rest Area. We went for a short stroll down from the bridge to the old bridge to take a few photos. On our way back up the bank came across a 6ft snake slithering along the track - we didn't stop to take photos but quickly back tracked across the old bridge to the other side. Enough excitement for one day! We have only arrived in Kununurra this afternoon so will blog more once we have explored what looks like a very picturesque and exciting town and surrounds.

Timber Creek Supermarket

Landscape in Keep River National Park

NT / WA Border checkpoint

Landscape around Victoria River

Emus crossing the Victoria Highway