Travelling around Australia in a motorhome. A story of our travels starting from NSW then through Queensland, across to Northern Territory and Western Australia, then to South Australia, Victoria and finally across the seas to Tasmania. We have enjoyed everywhere we have visited and look forward to setting off again in our motorhome.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Kununurra 5 – 6 September 2006

We cleaned out all our vegies and fruits, consumed the last of the honey! Then to the border that looked like the border crossing in East Germany from our 70’s travels! Out in the bush too! They are very particular but we got through quickly. Saw another van there getting the full works with guards pulling everything out! The protection seems to focus on the banana industry the most, but there are obviously other agricultural industries in the Ord to protect.
The day was another really hot one and the air-conditioner was a necessity! The scenery was again very different and we could ‘feel’ the Kimberly country. The boabs are fantastic looking like the trees in the Wizard of Oz. Will have to re-look at that movie to find out why it felt that way. The trees look like characters from another land but friendly and interacting with each other! Often dancing! They are different from the QLD ones with much bigger bottle bottoms! They look so ancient!
Lots of fires burning quietly and continuously, with no response by fire services. It wouldn’t happen in NSW with Firie Phil in charge!
Still HOT! The air conditioner has started to make weird squealing noises.
Drove into Lake Argyle and we were amazed at the size of it - it is really amazing. It contains 75 times the volume of water in Sydney Harbour and its all fresh and topped up every year without fail. The little village is really only a roadhouse sized one with camping pub and petrol. There is very little room to drive around and everything is located on the water, which is considered geographically as an inland sea. Moved out of town to visit the old relocated station house of the famous Duracks. (Mary Durack the writer of Kings in Grass Castles). They had to give up the property for the flooding of this lake which was opened by Menzies in the 60’s. One of the sons is on the property and happy to chat to you. We engaged in a conversation
about the terrible under utilisation of the amazing amount of water. Michael pointed out that there is only 30,000 hectares under irrigation in the Ord system. We were also amazed that this resource is so underused, but there are lots of stories and talk about it what to do to fix the problem.
Arrived in Kununurra which is a young town about 40 years old. Lots of greenery and lovely farms around. Bought rockmelon and honeydew melons for $1 each and the flavours were the best. In Woollies and Coles they have imported ones and the cost is about $5 each! The mangoes are hanging heavily on the trees but still very green and look like another 4 weeks before they will ripen - the campsite must have been an old mango farm. Nevertheless we took 4 of the bigger ones and have them wrapped in newspaper, ever hopeful! We visited all the main attractions and really enjoyed the Hidden Valley NP, immediately behind the caravan park, which is made up of the same rock formations as the Bungle Bungle NP.

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