Before and after: Kunanurra

The Six spent time sightseeing before and after the horse ride. I took way too many photos as usual. Here are just a few. BEFORE A tour out to Lake Argyle and back. Bus to the dam via the Durack Homestead which was dismantled and reassembled in a new location before the dam flooded much of the original station. Naturally us horsey types inspected the tack room.

The dam wall is not very big when you consider the massive size of Lake Argyle - 1000km2 or 19 Sydney Harbours. I find it hard to comprehend how so much water comes out of such a dry landscape.

Below the dam wall we were loaded on to a boat. Four of us scored front row seats. The other two were on different boat also touring the river.

Our boat captain was one of the owners of the tour group. He was very knowledgeable, gave us lots of info about the dam, the history of the area, the wildlife and ecology and happily answered questions. He pointed out wildlife such as crocodiles, the many birds including sea eagle nests, and a rock wallaby.

AWe met the other boat as we arrived back in Kunanurra just after sunset.

AFTER Three of the six did a full day tour to the Bungle Bungles/purnululu. Loretta was a tad excited to score the front seat beside the pilot in his little Cessna.

The Ord River

Lake Argyle.

Purnululu - a small section of it.

After morning tea at the dirt airstrip, we were driven for about an hour for our first walk. Bec, our guide is one of the traditional caretakers. She did a welcome to country before we walked into Cathedral Gorge where she sang two songs in language which was an unexpected and ethereal experience.

We drove for another hour to Echina Chasm where we had lunch and Bec sang again

Bec told us we walked too fast. It was not time to go back to the plane. So she took us to the visitor centre and then down a 'closed to the public' road to her special swimming and fishing waterhole. We had afternoon tea sitting on the sandy beach watching crocodiles and birds. This was a very special day.

On our final day in Kunanurra, Loretta and I climbed Kellys Knob on the edge of town while the others lazed around the pool. It was very hot. We enjoyed the view and watched a dozen hawks wheeling and diving overhead. They hang around the town constantly. We joined the others in the pool after lunch.

Across the road from our accomodation there was a well watered shady park and a beautiful lake created by the Diversion Dam which has become home to lots of birds.

Kunanurra is small, but the pub is good and Simmos Icecream shop has over 40 flavours of icecream! There are some great murals too.

After 3 nights in Kunanurra, post ride, we headed to the airport for the next chapter of our adventure - Broome, a one hour flight away.