The return to the N.T.

A split second decision saw us travelling towards Wyndham instead of back to Kununurra; we knew we had enough fuel to get there and had a couple of days before our friend was free to see us in Kununurra, so off we went. We passed The Gibb River Road turnoff and were sorely tempted to take it, however continued on our way. The Grotto was our first major stop for the day, where we looked down into the gorge and had it not been so hot we may have tackled the 200 odd stairs down. We could just see the water through the trees, which looked somewhat slimy and stagnant so was really not that enticing either. Instead we chatted to another couple that were chilling out up top who informed us that we’d stumbled into Wyndham on the busiest weekend of the calendar – the races! They recommended that we join the after party (which is apparently the big thing) and our night was planned – we thought.

As we approached the town we were stopped by an RBT unit, who informed us that the whole town was closed down as a result of the races (“hope you’ve got supplies on board because you won’t be getting anything today!”). With the fuel gauge on empty we had to book into the van park to play it safe, luckily it was still manned and turned out to be a great place, with a cool pool, the largest boab in “captivity” and a resident donkey (Scruffy) to keep us amused.

Scruffy coming by for a pat.

6 o’clock rolled around and it was time to get gussied up and head to the party. As we pulled up we watched people in tuxes and dresses flooding the carpark, most looked like they’d had a little bit too much fun that day (the races and after-party were two separate events and therefore everyone was kicked out in between for another entry fee). The carpark became a hoard of dressing rooms as girls changed into their evening wear and the men changed into all sorts of weird and wonderful outfits, my favourite being hot pink lycra suits. The couple we had met earlier found their way to our van and invited us over to theirs for happy hour, turns out the gig didn’t start for another hour, so we sat, ate and drank whilst we watched fireworks people randomly set off. Eventually we could start to hear the sound testing of the band inside (Dr Elephant, who we had heard in Alice Springs) and people started to move towards the gates. One of the fellows we were with didn’t have enough money to go in, so instead we opted to stay in the carpark and chill out. Although not quite how we planned we ended up having a really great evening with “free” live entertainment and good company, you can’t go wrong.

The next morning we awoke to find that a market had set up within the van park full of all sorts of goodies, including fresh local fruit and veg – yum! We gave Scruffy a pat and an apple as we wandered around. Once our fridge was brimming it was time to leave the park and continue along the back road to Kununurra. The first stop was the Five Ways look out where five of the mighty rivers converge and meet the ocean – a pretty spectacular sight. Then we went to Marlgu Bird Hide, which was truly an oasis in the middle of nowhere. The pond was full of lilies and birds and we saw our first wild salt water crocodile. We also saw Brolgas for the first time as well. 

Spot the Croc! apparently he's full because he's not eating all the plump birds around.

We then continued to meander down Parry Creek Road to Mimbi Island boat ramp, located on the Lower Ord River. This place is well known for its salt water crocodiles, which was made all the more evident as we watched a man launch his boat with his missus holding the rifle ready to let loose if need be. After a few tense minutes of trying to get the engine started he was on his way and the stress seemed to die down. We wandered along the track after lunch and spotted several salties on the opposite bank – some of great size! We once again felt surrounded by wildlife with wallabies, a resident cow and birdlife – a change from much of the Kimberley’s. If we had more time we would have camped here the night, but instead we continued along the road to see some of the other attractions including Middle Springs, Black Rock Falls and the Ivanhoe Crossing (now closed due to structural reasons). 

A couple of Brolgas we spotted on the Lower Ord.

Once back in town we went straight to Mary-Ann’s house, it was great catching up and also reuniting with her beautiful and energetic dog – Bindi the Kelpie. We ended up staying a couple of nights which allowed us to slow down, see Kununurra and clean the dust off some of our stuff. 

Bindi and Michael driving her crazy!

 

The Sandalwood Factory was a great visit, all heaps of information of the industry, including a 20 minute doco. We then headed further up the road to The Hoochery – Western Australia’s longest running legal still, the guy even had to wait for the government to change the law to include stills along with wineries and breweries. This visit changed from a quick taster to a 3 hour session with a full lunch of barramundi, salad and chips (amazing!), a full tasting compliment and then a lavish cheesecake desert laced with chocolate liqueur and cream (seriously heavenly). Had we more money and space we would have bought a lot here, but settled with a bottle of 40% proof rum. When it was safe to drive we checked out the other side of the Ivanhoe Crossing and a couple of Zebra Rock galleries around town. Feeling content that we had experienced a lot of Kununurra we decided it was time to move on, although would happily return one day – especially to The Hoochery! We said our goodbyes, packed up and headed east into the Territory once more!

Crossing the border!

The next attraction to head to was Lake Argyle, the largest freshwater lake in Australia, and its all manmade through the damming of the Ord River. The only way to really explore this piece of work is on a cruise, however with tours not lining up with our schedule we opted for the slightly more out of the way Zebra Rock Mine. This property is on the north-eastern side of the lake in the wetlands area, and is operated by a lovely family trying their hand at a number of business ventures, ranging from mining through to tourism. The campground wasn’t anything flash, but it was all the extras that really make the place what it is. The moment we walked in the door we were met by a friendly face, booked onto the evening boat tour (dirt cheap at $80 a head) and invited to come back in 10 minutes when the scones were ready – just bring a donation. We couldn’t wait and quickly set up camp under a tree then came back to the gallery to pretend to look at all the zebra rock jewellery as we could smell the scones cooking.

Just looking at them makes me want more - YUM!

4 o’clock came around and we wandered over to the shop where the 4x4 bus awaited us to shuttle us down to the river. The guy running the tour had lived here his whole life and had a heap of stories to tell, including from when he rode this land on horseback before the damming of the Ord and subsequent flooding of the area. The boat took us through wetlands and islands, where great trees once stood, but are now just majestic skeletons after being long submerged. This area has only seen tourists for the last couple of years thanks to this family, so we felt pretty privileged to be seeing it, once again something a bit off the beaten track (but probably not for long the way word of mouth is going for the place). The boat ride was great, with a cooling dip in the freshwate (some people more worried about the possible presence of crocodiles than others, freshies only though). After cruising through the edges of the lake for a while, we pulled up on a remote piece of land complete with green grass, shade-cloth, table and logs to sit on. Happy hour had been prepared for us – an antipasto plate and all you could drink beer, wine or bubbles provided – they sure know how to treat their guests well. Apparently they’ve never ran out of beer, and as much as we tried there was still a couple of cans left by the end of the night. We watched the sun slowly sink over the horizon making an amazing array of colours and contrasts. We hopped on the boat once the sun had disappeared, continuing to see its colours and also the rising of the full moon behind us. Come 8:30pm we were back at camp, had a quick feed then walked up behind the shop where there was a raging camp fire to sit around. Still quite hot, we were not sitting very close, braving the heat every now and again to turn the damper.

some pics of the cruise...

One of the few crocs we passed - this one freaked out a few of the ladies on board.

The final attraction we enjoyed here was to fossick for zebra rock in the creek bed (of course after some fresh scones for brekkie). We didn’t hit the jackpot, but feel we came out with a couple of cool looking specimens. We left the Zebra Rock Mine to continue for Katherine. We stopped briefly at Gregory National Park to see the Gregory Tree, which is a massive old boab with dates carved into it from an early explorer – dating back to the 1800’s, with the inscriptions now ½ metre tall due to the growth of the tree – cool to look at. We stayed overnight at a rest area in Gregory N.P. near the highway on the banks of the river. Katherine was our aim for the next day, and with nothing much to see in between we made good time. First stop was the trusty information centre, then we hit up the hot springs, just 2km out of town. After spending too long here, and Michael doing some more stuff on the computer for interviews, we opted to stay at Springvale Homestead Caravan Park for the night. The park was full of Muscovy ducks, wallabies, turkeys and a croc named Elvis – all in all a nice stop that gave us some time to prepare for our drive north to Darwin.

The Gregory Tree  inscribed July 2nd 1856

Sun setting over camp at Gregories N.P.

Lesson of the Week: It’s the family run operations that give the best bang for your buck.