Arrived Kununurra and it is still hot! Everyday has been upto 38 degrees and the nights very warm about 23. The caravan park we are at edges the Lily Lagoon which is quite a big lake and has freshwater crocodiles in it. Near our site are a group of boab trees which have two whistling kite nests. We have watched the birds coming and going to feed their chicks. There are also two barking owls that frequent the nearby trees and hearing them at night is really awesome, they sound just like barking dogs. The lake has lots of lily leave pads and it interesting to watch the jacanas literally walking on water as they walk from one lily pad to another. There are also some lovely crimson finches that we see a lot of near the waters edge. After getting setup we went into town to get some info on the Bungles Bungles and El Questro. Didn’t appreciate it was 250kms to the Bungles from Kununurra with the last 50 odd kms on being on dirt road and this alone takes about 2 hours to transverse. The closest town to the Bungles is Turkey Creek which is basically just a roadhouse. We are in two minds whether to leave the van and camp overnight or do a flight. The problem of course with camping is that Coco can’t come with us as it is a national park and the caravan park at Turkey Creek has limited powered sites and no-one to care for her. So in a bit of a quandary on what to do. Someone we have met in the park is doing a 2 hour flight tomorrow so we will see how he enjoyed it. The population of Kununurra is 6000 with 50% being Aboriginal. There is a Coles and IGA supermarkets and other stores that cover most things. Not a particularly attractive town. We spent a couple of hours in the pool which is a nice pool but not very cool, the water temperature being 31 degrees in the morning! The next day (Wednesday) we went on a loop drive to some of the attractions the first being the Hoochery rum distillery. Besides rum they distil cane spirit which is made from sugarcane and hard to come by her. Popular in Africa. We tried the cane spirit and their liquers, one made from mango, another aniseed and the third rum with coffee and chocolate. They were all quite nice but ended up buying the cane spirit. We then went to the zebra gallery which is a gallery selling zebra stone ornaments. Some were ala naturel, others glossed and painted. Some nice pieces but pricey. Driving around we saw a lot of farmland with the irrigation channels fed by the Argyle Dam, each with their little black syphon hoses running into the furrows to water the crops. Orchards of Sandalwood trees lined the roads. The best thing we did all day was later in the afternoon when the sting had gone from the sun we went to the little known Mirima National Park. The park is 2kms from town and it is known as the ‘mini bungle bungles’ and easy to see why. It is magnificent. We were a tad late to get good sunset shots but got some reasonable ones. It is only a little park so the walks are easily done in a couple of hours. We are so impressed we are going back in the morning at sunrise to get some nice piccies. Up at 4.45am (not a typo) to go back to Mirima to take sunrise shots. We are taking Carmel with us (we have caught up with and her hubby David and Nellie their cattle cross dog at a few camps recently). They are unable to leave their dog alone as it has panic attacks and as David did the Bungles flight yesterday it was Carmel’s turn to see something similar. Sunrise was at 5.37am and was a very subtle light quite different from sunset. Still very speccy though. It was a beautiful morning 22.9 degrees and a beautiful welcoming breeze. Took heaps of photos. We were the only ones there had the whole place to ourselves! Back to camp at 6.30am and took Coco for a walk before it got too hot. I went back to Mirima mid morning to get some shots against the blue sky as the Kimberley colours look magnificent against a blue sky (well I think so!). Its looking unlikely we will get to the Bungles Bungles this trip so making the most of the next best thing! Have decided to drive to El Questro tomorrow and we have to get entry permits $17.50/person! It does last for 7 days. We are planning on going to Emma Gorge and seeing as much as we can. Our only concern is Coco, whilst she can come to El Questro she isn’t allowed to do any of the walks to the attractions so kind of defeats the purpose and it is way too hot to leave her in the car. So will leave her in the van with the aircon and TV. Hate doing that but sometimes no option. Having real problems getting somewhere to stay in Broome which is our next major stop mainly to catch up with Carl and Alison who live at Cable Beach Caravan Park. The one and only park in Broome that takes dogs from 1 September won’t have dogs bigger than ‘small caravan’ dogs, ie the pretend dogs. When I queried this and pointed out that the smaller dogs are usually more yappy I was told it is there choice to decide what size dogs they will allow into their park! So there you go. And they wanted $38/night for the privilege. Looks like we will bypass Broome and spend our dollars elsewhere! Fortunately we have spent some time in Broome previously so aren’t missing out by not seeing it. Anyway have spoken to Carl and it might have to be that we stay at Barn Hill 95kms south of Broome and they come for a weekend. Looking forward to Barn Hill have heard some really good reports. Whilst I am doing this blog the barking owls are really vocal tonight, sounds so nice.
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