Saturday, August 28, 2010

KIMBERLEY NIGHT

Black Fruit Bats Ready for the Evening Flight
Sunset over the Lagoon

Still Sunset over the Lagoon


Barking Owl above our Van (in the Boab)



KIMBERLEY NIGHT


LOOK, IS THAT A CROC OVER THERE, DONT KNOW, DONT CARE
YOU ALL LOOK SO SILLY CHARGING HERE, CHARGING THERE
SHINING YOUR TORCHES , SPOTTING EYES IN THE DARK
RUNNING AROUND HAVING A LARK

HAVE ANY OF YOU BOTHERED TO LOOK TO THE SKY,
TO LOOK AT THE SHOW HAPPENING ON HIGH
DO YOU SEE THE WEE BIRDS, HOW THEY WHEEL AND THEN TURN
TRAVERSING THE HEAVENS, THE EARTH THEY NOW SPURN
HOW MANY ARE THERE FREE WHEELING IN SPACE
FIRST THEY ARE SLOW, NOW PICKING UP PACE

THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE FLOCK WHEELS AROUND
AND PLUMETS AND SETTLES BACK DOWN ON THE GROUND
INTO THE REEDS ALONG THE PONDS SHORE
INTO THE TREES THERE ARE NOW BIRDS GALORE
THEIR TWITTERING CHATTER NOW GENTLY SUBSIDES
AS THEY TUCK THEIR HEADS UNDER AND CLOSE DOWN THEIR EYES

AND NOW AS I GAZE INTO THE SUNSET’S RED MAW
ONCE MORE MY EYES WIDEN, I’M SILENT – IN AWE
THE BATS IN THEIR THOUSANDS CLIMB ‘CROSS THE SKY
THEIR NUMBERS SO VAST, THEY TORTURE THE EYE
LEATHERY WINGS, THEY FLAP OER MY HEAD
SOME FOOLS ARE FILLED WITH MIND NUMBING DREAD


IN NUMBERS SO VAST THEY CAN’T HELP BUT AMAZE
AS THEY HEAD OUT BUSH, THEY NEED TO GRAZE
ON BLOSSOMS AND FRUITS THAT ABOUND IN THIS LAND
DISTRIBUTE THE SEEDS, GIVE NATURE A HAND
AS THEY FLY SILENTLY INTO THE NIGHT
THEY PRESENT TO THE EYE A WONDROUS SIGHT

THE BATS HAVE ALL PASSED, THE MOON RIDES ON HIGH
THE BREEZE IN THE REEDS GIVES A SOFT SIGH
THEN SOFTLY AT FIRST, AN OWL STARTS TO BARK
THEY ONLY TALK WHEN IT TURNS DARK
UP IN THE BOAB, IT’S BRANCHES SO BARE
A RARE TREAT, NOT ONE BUT A PAIR

ALL NIGHT THEIR DISCUSSION FALLS SOFT ON THE AIR
AS HE ASSURES HER, SHE IS TRULY FAIR
I HOPE HE’S SUCCESSFUL, I HOPE FOR A NEST
WITH A COUPLE OF EGGS TUCKED ‘NEATH HER BREAST
FOR A COUPLE MORE OWLS WOULD NOT GO ASTRAY
A COUPLE MORE OWLS TO WIND DOWN THE DAY

A KIMBERLEY NIGHT, A KIMBERLEY SKY,
THE STARS, THE SPIRITS LOOK DOWN FROM ON HIGH
THE FULL MOON IS SAILING AND SENDING HER GLOW
ACROSS THE LILLYS AND THE CROCS DOWN BELOW
MY HEART IS SO FULL, MY SPIRIT REPLETE
MY EYES I CAN CLOSE, MY DAY IS COMPLETE
Stephanie..........

UP TO MUD

Nastier than it looks!
Lake Argyle from our camp

Hi there all, this entry is right out of order, but I thought you might enjoy a laugh at my expense. The experience depicted here happened at Fitzroy Crossing and I have a few entries to catch up on before I get there in the 'blogs' - so until next time - keep smiling - Stephanie




UP TO MUD!!!!!


FITZROY CROSSING WAS THE PLACE THAT WE WERE AT
THE PARK LOOKED QUITE UP MARKET, WE WERE SURPRISED AT THAT
WE HAD GRASS, WATER AND EVEN POWER
ONCE SET-UP I HAD MY SHOWER
THE BLOKE WAS RELAXED AND SITTING OUTSIDE
SURVEYING HIS KINGDOM WITH MANLY PRIDE

A COUPLE OF MEN HAD STOPPED TO CHAT
MY BLOKE LOVES TO TALK, NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT
THE DISCUSSION MOVED ‘MONGST CARS AND VANS
OF TRIPS AND ROADS AND LONG MADE PLANS
MEANWHILE MY BODY SAID TO ME
AT THE LADIES YOU MUST BE

A CUPPA MIGHT BE NICE I THOUGHT
WHEN I GET BACK FROM MY LITTLE WALK
SO PASSING THE BLOKE AS I WENT
TO HIS PEARL LIKE EAR I BENT
I’VE PUT THE KETTLE ON I SOFTLY SAID
NOT WISHING TO INTERUPT THE TALK’S MAIN THREAD

WELL, MY GIRLS AS WE ALL KNOW,
AS THEY OLDER GET, THEY NASTIER GROW
MY HAND WAS ROUGHLY SLAPPED AWAY
FOR MY INTRUSION I WAS MADE TO PAY
I WAS TAKEN ABACK TO SAY THE LEAST
HE DIDN’T OFTEN PLAY THE BEAST

OH WELL, NATURE STILL WAS CALLING
TO STAY AND FIGHT MIGHT BE APPALLING
SO TO THE LADIES I DID STALK,
IT WAS A SHORT AND BITTER WALK
BUT ONCE MY TASK HAD BEEN COMPLETED
MY BAD MOOD HAD BEEN DEFEATED

THE GRASS OUTSIDE THE TOILET BLOCKS
HAD BEEN ROPED OFF, WITH RAGS AND ROCKS
THE ROAD THAT RAN ‘LONGSIDE THE GRASS
LOOKED TO BE PRETTY HARD TO PASS
OOZING LOTS OF MUD AND SLUDGE
THRU’ THE MESS I TRIED TO TRUDGE

BEING TRUE TO GIRLY FORM,
I DIDN’T WANT THAT MUD TO STORM
INTO MY SHOES AND TOES AND SUCH
IT LOOKED SO SLIMY TO THE TOUCH
WELL YOU PROBABLY HAVE GUESSED BY NOW
THAT FATE AND PRIDE CAN BE A COW

MY RIGHT FOOT SLID MADLY THRU’ THAT MUD
MY LEFT ONE MADE A SICKENING THUD
AS WITH A SLURP, A SLOP AND A MIGHTY WHOOSH
SOME UNSEEN HAND GAVE ME A PUSH
INTO THE MUD A BELLY FLOP,
THE MUD BENEATH AND ME ON TOP

I’VE HAD SOME DEMEANING TIMES IN LIFE
I’VE SEEN SOME TROUBLE I’VE SEEN SOME STRIFE
AND I KNOW THAT IN THE WORLD’S AFFAIRS
MY LITTLE FALL DOES NOT COMPARE
BUT SPRAWLED OUT THERE FOR ALL TO SEE
I FELT I’D LOST MY DIGNITY

AS I LAY THERE BRUISED AND BROKE
I WONDERED ‘WHERE THE HELL’STHE BLOKE?”
A COUPLE ALL CONCERNED CAME RUNNING
THEY COULD SEE I WASN’T FUNNING
THEY CAREFULLY TROD INTO THE MIRE
MY POSITION TO ADMIRE

WELL MY DEARS, IT WAS PLAIN TO SEE
THAT I HAD MUD FROM A TO B
BUT FIRST THINGS FIRST TO BE ADDRESSED
TO GET ME UPRIGHT WE WERE PRESSED
TO GET A GRIP ON THAT SLIPPERY SLIDE
OR FOR ETERNITY THERE ABIDE

I FELT TO STAND ALONE BE BEST
BUT ALACK ALAS IT WAS A TEST
AS FEET SLID HERE AND FEET SLID THERE
TO TAKE A HAND WAS ONLY FAIR
SO AT LAST I STOOD UPRIGHT
AND BOY OH BOY WAS I A SIGHT

GRUESOME GLOOPS OF MUD SLID OFF MY KNEES
INTO MY SANDALS IF YOU PLEASE,
MY BOOBS WERE LOVELY BLOBS OF BROWN
TWOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER HAD I NOT LOOKED DOWN
TO SEE THE NEWLY ANNOINTED ME
AND NOW THE PAIN STRUCK AT MY KNEE

MY NEW FOUND FRIENDS WERE MOST CONCERNED
EVEN THO’ THEIR HELP I’D JUST SPURNED
THE LADY OFFERED TO GO WITH ME,
SHE WAS CONCERNED ABOUT MY KNEE
SO TO THE SHOWERS WE THEN TRUDGED
HELPING ME, SHE WAS QUITE SMUDGED

THEN SHE LEFT AT MY REQUEST
TO BE ALONE I FELT WAS BEST
MY FRIENDS’ SUGGESTION HAD JUST BEEN
TO SHOWER CLOTHED TO GET CLEAN
BUT OH NO, I KNEW BEST,
MY MUDDY CLOTHES I WOULD DIVEST

IN THIS WAY I THOUGHT I MIGHT PRESERVE
CLEAN UNDERWEAR IN RESERVE
NOW THIS SOUNDS GOOD DOES IT NOT
MY THINK WAS FLAWED, IT WAS ALL ROT
IT WAS NOT EASY, AS ALL THAT
TO GET WET SHORTS OVER ALL THAT FAT

BY NOW SOME SORT OF SHOCK SET IN
AND I COMMENCED TO MAKE A DIN
THOSE WHO KNOW ME KNOW THAT I
WOULD NEVER EVER DEEM TO CRY
BUT MY SHOULDERS SHOOK AND I FELT QUITE FOWL
AS I COMMENCED TO WEEP AND HOWL

ARE YOU ALRIGHT I HEARD A VOICE SAY
OH YES I SOBBED, I’M FINE, OK
SANITY SURGED BACK TO ME JUST THEN
AND I SALLIED FORTH AGAIN
HEADING FOR HOME IN SODDEN PLIGHT
LOOKING LIKE I’D LOST THE FIGHT

NOW SOME TIME HAD PASSED SINCE I LEFT THE VAN
SOME TIME HAD PASSED SINCE I’D SEEN THE MAN
SITTING OUT THE FRONT AT EASE
HE WAS STILL THERE IF YOU PLEASE
“DID YOU NOT THINK I’D BIN GONE A WHILE?”
I CRISPLY QUIPPED AS HE RAISED HIS DIAL.

HE LOOKED AT ME QUITE AMAZED,
‘HAVE YOU BEEN CHATTING’ –HE ASKED UNFAZED
NOW REALLY, CLOTHES WERE SOAKED, BRAS IN ONE HAND
SANDLES DANGLED DRIPPING I LOOKED QUITE GRAND
MY KNEE WAS SKINNED BACK TO THE BONE
INWARDLY I BEGAN TO GROAN

SPEECHLESS, WORDLESS I WANTED TO SCREAM
ARE YOU ALWAYS IN A DREAM?
THE LOOK ON HIS FACE TURNED FROM BEMUSED
AS I RANTED AND RAVED, TO ONE AMUSED
I SUPPOSE HAD THE SHOE BEEN ON THE OTHER FOOT
TO STOP FROM LAUGHING I’D HAVE BEEN HARD PUT

CONCERNED ABOUT THE DANGER TO SOME OTHER
WE URGED THE PARK THE MUD TO COVER
OR TAKE THE BLESSED BUNTING DOWN
TO ENCOURAGE FOLK TO WALK AROUND
OUR WORRIES FELL UPON DEAF EARS
IT SEEMED THEY REALLY HAD NO FEARS

INSTEAD I WAS ASKED TO FILL IN PAPER
THAT WOULD GO TO THEIR HEAD OFFICE LATER
DUTY OF CARE I FELT WAS MISSING
AND TO THE MANAGER I FELT LIKE HISSING
“NEXT TIME WE SEE YOUR PARK WE’LL PASS
AND YOU CAN SHOVE YOUR MUD RIGHT UP YOUR ARSE!"

Thursday, August 26, 2010

AND MORE PHOTOS

Sunset on 'our' lagoon
A calm view of the Ord

How about this one?


I think this is our favourite, make sure you click on these to enlarge them!



Majestic beauty




Just a few more!

STILL NOTHING ORD-INARY

Reflections on the Ord
Is this beautiful?

It just kept getting better


Ancient River Gorges



Startling rock faces




Just wanted to give you some more photos - the last lot were of The Lake, these are of the homeward trip down the Ord. There were some absolute stunners - wish I could show you more - uh, I will, I will show you more!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

NOTHING ORD-INARY HERE







Only the peaks of the ranges show above the waters of the lak.

Amazing Rock formations on the visible peaks.

Where is the edge of the lake?


Stark and watery beauty of the lake.



The Ord River below the dam wall.






Well, hi again – this is just a short issue to take you on a wonderful day trip we did while in Kununurra. In the early morning, we boarded a comfortable air-conditioned coach which picked us up from our Caravan Park and took us on the road back to Lake Argyle. Our bus driver was a bloke called Jeff, one of the original Js of Triple J Tours. Jeff proved to be a loquacious host – imparting bundles of interesting information about the region, its history and the local flora – he was passionate about his subject matter.
Once again we drove thru’ that amazing range that leads into Lake Argyle, the hills sadly were still smouldering after the recent fires. We were informed that particular fire had been lit in order to make catching some goannas a little easier. It seems it was set on one of the communities, but burned out hectare upon hectare of bushland.
On arrival at the Lake we boarded Triple Js newest boat and set off with skipper Scotty for a two and a half hour tour of the lake. Now, we were bombarded with information about the construction and size of the lake, in typical female style (sorry girls) I heard but did not absorb much of the data, I can tell you however that the lake is vaaaaaast, incomprehensibly huge – at capacity it contains more water than 35 Sydney Harbours!! The evaporation alone each year would be sufficient water for Perth and Adelaide. Of course, the question arose, as it has many times in the past, as to why the water is not piped south, there seemed to be some very plausible reasons based mainly on cost factors, but at the end of the day, I think most of us think there must be a way! The water captured is certainly not utilised to anywhere near its capacity use. The water does supply the Argyle Diamond Mine and certainly enables all the amazing orchards and food productions around Kununurra. Incredibly the township of Kununurra does not use the water for drinking purposes. It seems that the water contains a high level of organic matter and the chlorination process would be prohibitive. Instead the town takes ground water from close to the Ord, so in a sense is utilising the facility, but in a more convoluted manner.
In very simplified terms, prior to the creation of the dam wall, the Ord would flood the Kununurra area profusely every wet season. The flow of water down the Ord was astronomical, and most of it flowed on to the sea and was not captured in any useful manner. Since the creation of the Lake the overflow from the dam now provides a steady flow year around. There is a Hydro-power scheme feeding off the dam and of course, some extensive hydro-culture canals enabling food production in the region.
This is of course all very important stuff, and the sensible me is totally impressed by the magnitude of this engineering feat. The part of me that appreciates beauty tho’ was mind-blown by the staggering wild beauty of the lake. We didn’t see more than 1 third in our 2 ½ hours on the lake, and in parts we could not see the horizon. The peaks of the ranges still showing above the water levels sustain wild-life and most of the feral creatures from these islands have now been exterminated. We saw a group of Pelicans in some shallows – they seemed to be staying very close to some ‘Little Cormorants’ - our guide explained that the Pelicans found it hard to fish in the lake due to the extreme depth, they have however, very cleverly solved this problem by following the Cormorants. When the Cormorant very obligingly catches a fish and breaks the surface of the water, the wily Pelican promptly grab the Cormorants in their capacious beaks and shake them until the fish is dislodged into the pelican’s beak – the old Pelican then spits out the somewhat disgruntled Cormorant and consumes the fish. I wonder how long it will take the Cormorants to wake up to this tactic and shake off their hungry mates.
Despite all the beauty, I could not help but spare a thought for all those creatures who had been displaced by the rising waters of Lake Argyle and of the native people who had lost home and memory as those waters inexorably rose and covered all that they had known. I believe that the good done by the Lake is overwhelmingly worth it, but that doesn’t mean that there was not a great deal of sadness attached to the creation of this vast span of water.
After an idyllic time on the lake we were delivered back to the shore and bundled into a rather sad old bus and taken to the Old Durack Homestead. Even tho’ we had visited the homestead previously, we still enjoyed re-visiting the old building again. From there we were bussed down to the Caravan Park and dined on a fish basket while awaiting the bus to take us on the next leg of our journey. At this point we nearly lost Doug as he was lally-gagging around and was almost left behind. We now had Jeff back and I think he was none too pleased to have to go searching for my delinquent other half. Back on our sad old bus, now with many more folk who had joined us for the return trip home, we were driven down to the part of the Ord river where the overflow from the dam issues. Here we boarded another Triple J boat for the cruise down the river back to Kununurra. We had all looked forward to this leg of the journey as the river meanders through some magnificent ranges, gorges and flood plains. As promised it was exceptional – the only way to see these reaches would be by boat. This part of the river is reasonably safe for swimming as the crocs are supposed to be freshwater. It would not be impossible to find a saltwater crocodile there, but highly unlikely.
As we worked our way back down-river the sun dropped lower and lower in the sky, casting shadows and light effects across both the water and the surrounding ranges. A wide range of bird-life was displayed along the river-banks and we saw number of freshwater crocodiles basking on the shore. As we traversed those waters, we could easily see where the flood waters of the Ord of old had swept all before them. It must have been a wild scene indeed.
As the day slowly died, we swept silently past a not so silent bat colony – readying themselves for their evening foraging expeditions. We also swept past what is now ‘millionaire’s row’ along the riverbanks. 20 hectare properties line the river and these we are told would give no change out of $1m.
Gently we floated to a halt at the jetty and were then bussed back to our caravan parks – although some folk were bussed off to vote – just on 6pm when we arrived back in town – not a lot of foresight methinks.
The day was a memorable one and worth the $280per head we paid for the privilege.

KING OF THE KIMBERLY - KUNUNURRA

Prison Tree
Lagoon right next to our van!

'Bungle' like formations at Hidden Valley


Mysterios red rock face in the early morning light.



Ivanhoe Crossing



Hello again, I am writing this on our last day in Kununurra. What a delightful surprise packet this place has been. The only draw-backs have been the extreme heat and the smoke! Oh the smoke!!!!! Ever since we hit Katherine, we have been inhaling smoke. Initially we were advised that this is just what happens in the Territory in the dry. Immediately after the ‘wet’ they do light burns – this means burning off selected small parcels of land – this eliminates heavy growth of native and introduced grasses and diminishes the possibility of ‘wild-fires’. Sounds fine and sensible doesn’t it – well, it went on and on and on and.............well I’m sure you get the picture. Darwin was fairly bad and I may have mentioned that my plane trip over Arnhem Land was spoiled somewhat by the heavy smoke haze. We were hopeful of leaving all that behind once we reached WA, but sadly it has been considerably worse. This time however, it is arson. Many of these fires have allegedly been lit by young indigenous men, sometimes for hunting purposes and sometimes just for the heck of it. When we were at Lake Argyle we could see fires all around us and at night the hill immediately across from the lake was a fiery furnace, the gullies running red – quite spectacular at night, but disastrous for the local flora and fauna. It seems from what we have been told, some pastoralists also burn in order to promote fresh growth for cattle fodder. It seems that many of these fires also get out of control. It seems incredible when you are looking at this enormous quantity of water, that they cannot or do not do something to quench these wild-fires. From the caravan park at night for the first 5 nights we were here, we were looking at a ring of bushfires surrounding Kununurra, the scene at night looked for all the world like some alien volcanic scene. Last night there seemed to be smoke billowing from the local National Park, Hidden Valley. The smoke pall around the lagoon here is thick and very visible. From a purely personal perspective, I have had to resort to antihistamine tablets and eye drops, and even with that I have had terrible trouble with my eyes for around the last 2 weeks. The constant smoke pall has made good photography nigh on impossible, although in some rare cases we have achieved a mysterious hazy effect that looks quite good.
The temperatures since we arrived have stayed in the high 30s and have really defeated our desire to do much of anything that requires strenuous outdoor effort. It seems the season has caught up with us and is chasing us down the west coast. We have decided to opt out of any excursions to “The Bungles” or for that matter any other major sight- seeing events. We would rather return to the Kimberly another year in May/June and really do it properly. It would be a shame, we think, to rush thru’ due to the heat. Of course, speaking with so many ‘off-road types’ we are made to feel guilty for not doing all the bits and ticking all the boxes, but hey, we are self-confessed cream-puffs and we will do things our own way.
We have fallen under the spell of Kununurra however, and can readily see why some folk make this their ultimate destination, staying here for the duration of the dry season. In fact, we feel that we may just do that ourselves at some other time. There is just so much to do from this centre. The town itself is situated right alongside a huge lagoon and is very pretty. Vast ranges pretty much surround the town and the overall effect is one of space and beauty. Admittedly, there is not a great deal here in the way of shopping, but it is sufficient. The park we are staying at, Lakeside is also green and spacious and we as usual have been fortunate in our site, we are right on the lagoon and TBBITW, as I am writing this, is outdoors with a big torch tormenting the ‘freshies’ by shining the torch on them. When you run the beam across the water of the lagoon, 20 or so pairs of baleful red eyes glare back at you. It doesn’t press my buttons, but it seems to excite a lot of other people.
There are so many wondrous things here. Every evening hundreds of small birds take to the sky, wheeling and turning on the thermal currents above the lagoon. Nobody has been able to tell me what they are doing there, perhaps ‘bugging’, perhaps preparing for a journey, perhaps just celebrating the blessed cooler air that starts to come in at that time of the evening. It is spectacular to sit outdoors watching these small fairy-like creatures making patterns on the darkening sky. As the wee ones finally settle for the night, the bats start to cruise overhead. We are told that the local colony of fruit-bats numbers around 2 million! It is fantastic to watch the seemingly never-ending stream of bats flying across a blood red Kimberly sunset. Many cruise right over our heads on their nightly search for fruit and blossom. We are told that they are an essential part of the eco-system, spreading seeds and pollinating flowers. Of course, nobody wants them for immediate neighbours, but they are an integral part of the country here. As the bats peter out, a pair of barking owls that roost in the boab next to the van start up their nightly chorus – a lovely soft musical barking that continues throughout most of the night. During the day the Whistling Kite nesting in the boab behind us calls to her mate while the water fowl forage at the lagoon edge. Little crimson finches flit from branch to ground on their daily hunt. Next to us a striped lizard sits sunning himself on a rock. Once again, we are reminded of the abundance of life in the north of our wonderful country. When you are up here you can really see what we have lost in the more highly populated parts of the country. This place just throbs with life – it is wonderfully refreshing and spiritually renewing to be so close to nature in all its glory.
There is a beautiful little National Park right here in town, called Hidden Valley (or Mirima). It is like a mini-Bungles. Similar beehive structures abound, albeit older and more time-worn. We visited the park in the early morning when the sun had not penetrated into some of the deeper chasms. I found the experience almost eerie, the high red rock face seemed to be silently watching us as we moved around the gullies. A large rock wallaby stared us down from a high vantage spot on an almost sheer rock face, before casually ascending to the sundrenched summit. Some ancient force seemed to be resident there. I felt we were there only by their careful consent.
Kununurra is now often described as a ‘fruit-bowl’ – certainly, thanks to the irrigation canals etc. made possible by the creation of Lake Argyle, fruit production is in full swing here. They are in the process of opening up more land for agriculture. Not surprisingly the price of real estate has escalated dramatically. They have been through a process of elimination here with the types of crops attempted, amongst which were rice and cotton. Local conditions including local fauna proved to be incompatible with some of those early efforts. Now tropical fruit production, like mangoes and bananas have become widespread. Grapefruit production is also popular along with a whole host of other crops. Interestingly, one of the newer enterprises here is Sandalwood. They grow an Indian variety here, as it has proved to be the most suitable for the prevalent conditions. Interestingly, the trees take some 12 years to reach production levels, and as they are parasitic, host plants have to be grown alongside them. They have sensibly opted to use plants that occur naturally in the area, one of which is the very attractive Dragon Flower. Unfortunately, this plant does not live long enough to support the Sandalwood throughout its full growth period, so a second host plant greater longevity needs also to be planted. The overall effect is very green and luxurious. We drove and drove trying to find the extremity of the growing areas, and in the end gave up as it seemed just go on! In the process of exploring the outlying orchards, we discovered The Hoochery – as the name suggests they brew a very nice thank you very much rum. They naturally produce several different types of rum and some very delectable liqueurs as well. Needless to say, we acquired a nice little bottle for late evening consumption. We also discovered one of the local ‘prison trees’ when we were out exploring. These are huge old Boabs, hollow on the inside. They used these to imprison unfortunates in years of old.
Another local attraction is the “Ivanhoe Crossing” – this is a spectacular spot where traffic literally drives through the lower reaches of the Ord River. Being self-confessed wimps, we were not about to drive our precious vehicle thru’ this torrent, but watched in awe as others forded the river. The very fast moving waters came up to the running board on most of the cars that braved the water. As the cars swished thru’ the waters, a large salt-water croc watched from a rocky vantage spot right in the middle of the river.
Some of the more suburban sections of the town were to say the least, depressed looking. Poorly maintained and very run down – sad to see the children dispiritedly playing in the front yards when they should have been at school. Everyone seems to see something different when they come to these towns – I found that the towns thru’ the Territory displayed some really good signs for our indigenous brothers and sisters, and I have seen a much poorer representation here – yet I have met several people whose perception was just the opposite.
While we were here we drove up to Wyndham and also took a wonderful tour which included Lake Argyle and the Ord River – I will deal with both these excursions as separate issues.
Today I had an absolute spoil when I visited a local art gallery. The resident artist was Nadine Lovell. As a would-be artist I was completely blown away by her work – I cannot possibly find the words to describe the vibrant and exciting work that she presents. She was in residence when I was there and offered to sign a copy of her book which I purchased. She also shows other artists work and some of it was the best I have ever seen. If you are at all interested in art, be sure not to miss this gallery when you pass thru’ Kununurra. There is also an Aboriginal Art Gallery here, but I confess I didn’t venture in – having been up thru’ the centre and spent some time in Darwin and surrounds, we have perhaps seen enough for a little while.
Well tomorrow we leave here and head south to Halls Creek. It looks like being a long and hot day so we will get an early start. We have truly enjoyed our stay in Kununurra and look forward to the day we return here.
Please love your families as if there was no tomorrow, and be gentle with yourselves – Stephanie.
At Kununurra we stayed at the Lakeside Caravan Park – this is a Family Park and as such is dog friendly. We found the sites to be grassy and well sized. The amenities were fine and the swimming pool excellent (a daily must in this heat). Despite being situated right on the lagoon we had no undue problem with bugs, that is until tonight. Being full-moon they are a little plentiful tonight. We strongly recommend the park.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

AWESOME LAKE ARGYLE



Dark & misterious the ranges crowd down on the road.

Looking out across a very small part of the Lake!

Ord River below the Dam.


Specifics of the Dam (double click to read)

The bride is in the bower!!



Hello everyone, I am writing this from Kununurra on the day after the elections – we are a bit behind the news up here, but from what we could see from watching the idiot box last night, what an amazing election this has been! We managed to get our vote on in Katherine, so didn’t have to worry about it yesterday. We were pretty surprised by the number of people on the road who hadn’t made sensible arrangements for their voting. So many having to muck up their plans to go find voting booths! So very grateful for our mates Pete and Fleur recommending we vote early. Brilliant thanks folks!
Well, you know I always thought I had a reasonably good imagination, but I now realise I had nothin’ – there was no way I was prepared for the majesty of the Kimberley Region. Mind you, so far, we have seen only a little part of this wonderful part of the country. We drove into the Lake Argyle Caravan Park and I have to say I was just awe-struck! To get to the lake you must drive thru’ the most amazing country – huge and primeval the ranges flank you on every side, rearing up around the car and caravan, threatening to lunge and fall on us as we dared to pass thru’. The colours were rich and vibrant reds and greens, daubed happily with the vivid yellow of the plentiful Kapok trees. I don’t believe my jaw hit the ground once as we traversed those rocky ranges. We crossed small dry creek beds and the stony overflow creek as we approached the caravan park. The park itself was fine – we had been told it was without shade, but in our inimitable fortunate style, we were directed to a beautiful site shaded in full by a couple of lovely gums. We had a stunning view across the ranges and right in the middle stood a pretty white eucalypt which decorated the entire vista in great style. A family of Great Bower Birds cavorted happily in front of us, clambering along our hose to sip the drips running down our hose. Bright Bee Catchers stunned us with their colourful aerial displays as they hunted the bugs overhead, Red Winged Green Parrots happily searched for seeds in the bush adjacent to our van and Red Tailed Black Cockatoos flew overhead into the vivid sunsets.
The Lake itself is absolutely awesome – I will tell you more about that on the next blog however, as we plan on taking a cruise on the lake, but leaving from Kununurra – so more about that experience next time. Whomever we spoke with regarding Lake Argyle Caravan Park, regaled us with stories and descriptions of the swimming pool there, the park itself describes it as the best swimming pool in the world, well, I don’t know about that, but I have to tell you, it is pretty amazing. A beautifully appointed, yet chilly infinity pool overlooking the lake – considering the temperatures there, we were very grateful for this wonderful and glamorous amenity.
We took the opportunity whilst at Argyle to go and visit the old Durack homestead. This has been painstakingly moved from its original position to the new location near the lake. Had it remained where it was, it would now be under some 18 meters of water! Two of my heroes descended from the original Duracks, that is Elizabeth (painter), and of course Mary Durack – one of Australia’s best known authors. The old house was packed with memorabilia of the settlers and these two wonderful women and of course, some of their work. There was an added bonus awaiting us at the homestead, I had been told of a Bower Bird who has a bower in the garden there, well, I was really spoilt – not only was this character in residence, he was working overtime on his bower and appearance and definitely on a mission to attract a lady bower-bird. We were all lucky that morning, as a lovely young hen flitted around in the bushes driving him into a veritable frenzy of whirring and chuckling, he fully displayed his crest and put on a real show for his lady love. She then in turn, decided to give the bower a once over and Doug scored a wonderful shot of her shyly peering out of the bower and he fully displayed alongside – just stunning. TBBITW really is turning into a great photographer these days. Needless to say, apparently the male bird’s only involvement in bringing new Bower Birds into the world, is building the bower and acting the goat in order to get ‘the deed done’ – he then deserts his lady love and goes hunting more girls. The hen is then left to make her nest, lay the eggs and all alone bring the chicks up – hmmm, doesn’t it sound like he has the “Life of Reilly”?
Ah well, as you might have guessed I have become a bloody boring old bird watcher, sorry, but it really is lovely seeing these wonderful creatures in the wild – hope you don’t mind too much.
Well, from here we will be going into Kununurra, so until next time, be patient, be nice and be happy! Stephanie.
Incidentally, we found the Lake Argyle Caravan Park to be perfectly fine, the trees are a bit sparse, but early in will find you a good spot. The amenities are fine and the pool is fantastic. The park is dog friendly.