It's all about Kununurra

It's time to blog again, and its all about Kununurra.  We've spent the last few days doing and seeing all there is to do and see around Kununurra.

My first morning here started with a very cute, small lizard staring at me from beside the taps on the sink in the amenities block. The wildlife in the toilets is just another gentle reminder that I am actually in the wilds of BumbleF**k should I momentarily forget.  

Our sight-seeing took us to the lookout above the town, and then out to Zebra Rock Gallery to check out the weird zebra looking rocks that are found in the area. Kevin bought a toothpick holder as a memento- not sure how useful that will be but it's sort of cute in a rockish kind of way!!

By 8.30 on our first night, and Kevin was snoring his head off in bed as per normal. The early mornings we put in mean we tend to go to bed pretty early. His excuse for early snoring was of course that the next day we were heading out for a cruise on Lake Argyle and a boat trip on the Ord River, and he needed to be rested for that.

Our trip to Lake Argyle and the Ord River meant an early start which was a bit of a killer, but once over that hurdle, it proved to be a great day.  We headed off in the bus to the Lake and then from the bus onto a boat to take us for a two hour cruise. We had morning tea on board, and then after touring around for a few hours, taking at least 80 photographs, listening to a running commentary and generally just relaxing, we motored back to Lake Argyle Resort for lunch.

Lunch was without doubt the worst meal we had eaten the whole time we've been away! We waited for half an hour and then with only ten minutes left before we needed to get back on the bus, lunch arrived. Now whether it was because I'd asked how much longer our meal was, or whether they are just generally crap at hospitality and meals in general, but when the meal finally arrived it was almost inedible. Kevin's chicken was about 2 cm square, completely overcooked , very dark brown and crunchy!!  So with lunch sitting in our stomachs like a brick, it was back on the bus and down to the water for the next part of the trip - a four hour cruise on the Ord River back to Kununurra. 

The Ord River was amazing. The scenery was stunning and the eye candy who was commentating this part of the journey wasnt bad either, although I think he may have been just a tad young to be entirely appropriate. We had a great time, and spent the next four hours taking photos and soaking up the scenery (both in and out of the boat).  It was a great tour and an amazing day

Day three in Kununurra and Kevin was up bright and early ready for a trip over the Bungles in a small plane. I wasn't going with him, as the plane was small and I felt the risk of not surviving was way too great!  With Kevin packed off in the bus to take him to the plane, I headed into kununurra township to see what I could find. I decided on a pampering at the Kimberley Hair and Beauty. In hindsight it would have been safer on the plane!

I should have been wary when the girl was asking the manager (who looked extremely young) what colour to mix up. And I should have perhaps left when she mentioned that it may go purple. But I didn't, and I payed the price! Purple is definitely not my colour, and they tell me that it should wash out in a few washes! The cut, also a disaster may mean I wear a hat for the next two weeks until the botched job actually resumes a normal colour and grows at least two more centimetres. Kevin is very diplomatic, but he definitely does not love the Kununurra 'cut and colour'. In fact I think from now on a botched hair job will become officially known as a 'Kimberleys Cut and Colour'!! 

Day four and Kevin was excited. This was the day he had booked to do a farm tour! I wasn't  excited and I wasn't going with him. I'd decided to drop him off at 8.15 and come back and get him. I'd found an art gallery and I planned to go and check it out.

I dropped Kevin at the Hoochery - a place were they make rum and I headed off into town to find the art gallery. The gallery was closed as it was still only 8.45 so I headed to find a coffee shop to fill in some time. A coffee later, and I headed back to the gallery which was now open. I was absolutely amazed at such a cosmopolitan gallery in such an outback place, but there it was.

From the art gallery I moved on to the SandleWood gallery where I whiled the time away testing samples, smelling the products and watching a DVD about the production process. Half an hour later, and smelling much prettier than before, I headed back to the Hoochery to collect the farm traveller who i presumed would by now be much more informed about the Ord River irrigation scheme, the local cropping processes and all things agricultural around Kununurra.

Day five in Kununurra and the plan was to head to Wyndham. We spent the morning just chilling (well not really chilling because it was 25 degrees at 9am) but we thought we'd better make an effort, and get ourselves out of our deck chairs and on the road.

Our first stop on the road was the Grotto. A waterhole in the middle of a chasm. It was spectacular, even though the steps to get down there risked life and limb. Once down, the Grotto was like a mystical place out of a fantasy story. I could have spent hours there drawing!!  Our visit to the Grotto was also shared by a big old lizard who had a fish hook caught in his mouth. It was a bit sad, and Kevin tried to help him, but he wasn't keen to be helped!

From the Grotto we moved on to Parry Lagoon and the Marglu Billabong. It was a birdlife Sanctuary, with a hide built out over the billabong. We sat and watched a crocodile checking out the possibilities for lunch. Then on to Wyndham. 

The best things about Wyndham were the Barra and Chips, and the Five Rivers Lookout which was pretty spectacular viewing. So, after Kevin had finished speaking to everyone at the lookout, we headed for our last photo stop at the giant crocodile, before turning the car towards Kununurra and home (the caravan).  It was really hot, but also unseasonably cloudy, which is probably just as well as any more degrees and I don't think I'd cope!!

Tomorrow will be day six. We are planning on doing the Kununurra markets, and then the afternoon preparing to say goodbye to Kununurra as we head towards the Northern Territory. But that's another story for the next blog........