The Kimberleys (East)

Kununurra

Kununurra is the first town that you get to once you cross the border from the Northern Territory (only about 30 minutes from the border). The caravan park we stayed at was fantastic. It was located on Lake Kununurra and we had a lovely view. There were also two resident freshwater crocodiles (‘Jaws’ and ‘Gummy’ – has no teeth), and a resident Jabiru bird.

Lake Argyle

One of our neighbours at the caravan park told us about these $300 tour vouchers that you could get from the visitors centre. We picked those up and decided to spend it on a family ticket ($290) for a 3-hour sunset Lake Argyle tour.

Lake Argyle is the second-largest man-made lake in Australia. It was created by a dam that consists only of a pile of rocks! (Check out the sign in the second photo)

We got into the boat along with several other tourists (including the family that told us about it). He took us around the lake and showed us the resident wallabies and freshwater crocodiles (apparently there are 30,000 + crocs in the lake!)

After we cruised around for a while, we stopped for a swim (apparently no one else was at all concerned about the 30,000 crocs in the water!). While swimming, the tour guide/boat driver handed out champagne, beer, soft drinks and nibbles. It was fantastic!

The reflections of the rocks on the water was amazing, as was the sunset.

Our Lake Argyle tour was definitely one of the highlights of our Australia trip so far.

Wyndham & 4WD trip

The next day, we took a drive out to the town of Wyndham. We stopped at the “Big Croc” and also a cafe where we ate a crocodile pie.

We then drove up to the 5 Rivers Lookout which was beautiful.

Wyndham started its life as a port for the gold mines around Hall’s Creek. It then had a very large meat factory where meat was processed and then shipped out of the port nationally and internationally. However, the gold mines have now closed and the meat factory also closed in the 1980s. The town has been in decline ever since.

It was really hot up there at the lookout (my guess was around 42C). But when we got back in the car, the car thermometer read 58C (136F)!!

On the way back to Kununurra, we took a 4WD track along the Ord River and wanted to stop at a couple of swimming holes to cool down. Unfortunately, they were all dried up!

At the end of the road, there was a really cool river crossing (The Ivanhoe Crossing) that is only open for a couple of weeks in the year at the end of the dry season. It wasn’t particularly deep, but I was worried about the current! The crossing was in two sections (see the photos below) and I’ve also added a video so you can see what it was like to cross it. (And I should mention there are saltwater crocodiles in the river so you don’t want to get stuck!)

El Questro

We took a day to go to the northern tip of the famous Gibb River Road and visit El Questro. El Questro is a ‘Wilderness Park’ that encompasses several gorges, 4WD tracks, and a campground.

The road to El Questro is beautiful – red escarpments.

Zebedee Springs

Our first stop at El Questro was the reception at the campground where they told us that Zebedee hot springs were closing at noon (it was 11am) so we hurried off so that we could visit these amazing springs. It was really beautiful here – small pools of water and waterfalls. However, when it’s 40C (100F) outside, you don’t really want to spend too much time in a hot spring!

El Questro Gorge

Next up we decided to take a walk to a swimming hole halfway up El Questro gorge. To get there, we had to cross a deep river crossing. As you can see in the video below, the water was reaching the hood of the car as we crossed! Thank god we fitted our car out with a snorkel and 4WD equipment!

The walk up the gorge was hot, but beautiful. It was also hard on the ankles as it was just walking across rocks the whole time and trying to balance.

After a few more days of work, we were off to the Bungle Bungles…