Travel: Kununurra, WA

The principal town of the Eastern Kimberley region, Kununurra is roughly halfway between Darwin and Derby. It gets its name supposedly from an Aboriginal word meaning "meeting of big waters". It is a young town, having been gazetted only in the early 1960s.

Kununurra is a convenient place to stop en route between the NT and WA or, indeed, as a destination in its own right. You can choose from five caravan parks of high quality, some located on the shores of Lake Kununurra, and the showgrounds also allow caravans and motorhomes, but I have been told that a permit is a requirement.

We stayed at Kona Lakeside, which was great. The staff were very helpful and allowed us to leave some gear with them when we went further north and west. Incidentally Kona has some great treats in the shop, such as frozen mangoes and local barramundi.

The first European settlers in the Eastern Kimberley region were the Durack family. They travelled for three years (1883-1885) from Thylungra on Coopers Creek to this area and founded a pastoral empire and a dynasty. Their story is told so well by Dame Mary Durack in her books Kings in Grass Castles and Sons in the Saddle. The properties they established or otherwise acquired were Argyle, Lissadell, Ivanhoe (the site of Kununurra), Newery, Bullita and Auvergne (NT).

The Ord River irrigation scheme, which started in the 1960s, is said to have been the "realisation of a dream" by Kimberley Durack in 1941, resulting in the inundation of the site of Durack homestead at Argyle, but fortunately this was removed beforehand and made into a museum. The irrigation scheme is the main reason that Kununurra exists.

The township certainly had problems in the past, with cotton, rice and peanut manufacture proving unsuccessful, but sugar cane, pasture and vegetable (particularly magnificent melons) production seemed very well established.

There is much to do in and around Kununurra. Local attractions abound: the Zebra Rock Gallery, the City of Ruins (a natural sandstone formation), the Hidden Valley National Park and other walks and drives. The Zebra Rock museum is well worth a visit: Zebra Rock is believed to be unique to this part of the world and is found in small reef outcrops of stratified claystone or shale in the Rainford Formation. It has been dated at nearly 600 million years old. Zebra Rock is very attractive, fine-grained siliceous argillite (indurated silt-stone or claystone) with rhythmic patterns of red bands or spots contrasting sharply on a white background. Most Zebra Rock sites found to date are under Lake Argyle.

The Hoochery is the oldest distillery in WA, where magnificent drinks derived from sugar cane can be sampled. The Ouzo is superb!

Other attractions that interest most Kununurra visitors involve Lake Argyle, the Ord and other rivers, and the surrounding countryside. There is a variety of guided or self-organised tours and activities available: canoeing, fishing, bird watching, bushwalking or boating trips, and it is a great place for photography. The duration, degree of difficulty and nature of these trips is such that there is something for everyone, regardless of price, expertise, time available and age.

We spent a fascinating day with Arnie Birch, who runs "Arnie's Fishing Adventure". We fished at various places along the Keep River (in the NT) and caught two salmon and one barramundi. It was interesting to hear about various plants and their uses and indigenous explanations for the role of water pythons and maintenance of water holes. The bird life was splendid.

Wyndham is about 100km away and is worth a visit. This was the business centre for the cattle industry for many decades. Durack's original store is preserved much as it was and opposite is a building that was occupied by an outfitter and tailor. The view from the Bastion overlooking the town is spectacular and the five rivers (Ord, Forrest, Pentecost, King and Durack) can be seen entering Cambridge Gulf. There are three cemeteries, one of which holds the remains of 12 men who died while building the meatworks.

In contrast to many old cemeteries in Australia the inhabitants are mostly young and middle aged men, with few women and children. Headstones are inscribed with "remembered by his mates" or similar, rather than tributes by their families. It was a hard and lonely life. In some respects, such as this, Kununurra is a sad and tired place, with the detritus of the abandoned meatworks (1905-1985) at the forefront of the Port area.

There are two roads between Kununurra and Wyndham running roughly parallel: bitumen to the west and dirt to the east. About 20km south of Wyndham is an area that is really spectacular. This includes the Marglu billabong, Parry Lagoons Nature Reserve and Parry Creek farm camping area. Due to its conservation value, the Ord River floodplain is part of the United Nations' RAMSAR Convention. Until 1962, drovers rested and fattened some two million cattle in this area on the way to the Wyndham meatworks.

Marglu is stunning. There is a bird viewing area in a hide and it is easy to spot darters, wandering whistler ducks, cormorants, rainbow bee eaters, jacanas and many others. Nearby, the road crests a hill and the view over the floodplain and the lagoons to the surrounding ranges is magnificent - it is 'picture-perfect' Kimberley.

On this rise are ruins of an old telegraph station, built in 1914, that played a major role in the sinking of the Embden in World War 1. It must have been lonely, but what a piece of real estate!

A few kilometres towards Kununurra is Parry Creek Farm. Although small, there are apartments, hotel-style rooms and powered and unpowered shady camping and caravan sites, also a bar and restaurant.

Mango-laden Madagascan boab trees, Australian boabs and other trees are planted in the farm grounds. The creek is substantial and flows past the camping area and again the bird life is a feature. Parry Creek Farm is a serene and beautiful place to spend some time.

Opposite the gate is the old road to Halls Creek, built in 1894. There is some great scenery, vegetation and water holes along this road, but the most interesting feature is the stone kerbs, built by convicts to retain the gravel put there to allow travel to the goldfields in the wet season. It is salutatory to think about today's methods of travel and our caravan and motorhome comforts, compared to those diggers of so long ago.

When towing a van, access to these places is best done by driving on the bitumen towards Wyndham and turning east at the signposts (85km from Kununurra and 15km from Wyndham), then returning the same way.

A car is fine to the farm and Marglu, but a 4WD would be better to explore the old road. For those who don't mind a good dirt stretch, the road from Ivanhoe goes right past the farm and lagoon. About halfway you will find four gates, and between gates two and three there is a lovely camping spot right beside the water with a toilet and boat ramp.

The most outstanding natural attraction in the Eastern Kimberley region is the Bungle Bungle Ranges. There is a bitumen road to Turkey Creek (200km) where caravans can be left in a locked compound, then a further 50km of bitumen until the turn into the park. The park office is 53km from there and the drive takes two hours. It is 4WD only and signs ask drivers to travel in 4WD to protect the road.

Once in the park there are two campsites in the south and north known as Waladi and Kurrajong (named after trees).

The famous, beehive-like structures made from red-and-black-striped sandstone are in the south and other ranges, including the wonderful Echidna Chasm, are located in the north - the scale is gigantic.

The northern ranges are Devonian-aged sedimentary sandstones with large rocks in the conglomerate. This was washed down from the Osmond Ranges to the north aeons ago.

This process continued and the 'beehives' were formed by finer sandstone being washed down from the northern ranges.

Near the rocks one walks on sand that appears identical to dry, white beach sand. The beehive formations are outstanding, but they comprise only about 20 per cent of the park.

These are a world-class natural feature according to travel experts and are a shame to miss, if you are in the area.

Apart from personal vehicles there are 4WD bus tours and plane trips from Kununurra, and helicopter rides from Turkey Creek and in the park itself.

The Eastern Kimberley is a wonderful region to visit, but even getting there involves passing through magnificent areas such as the Western Kimberley, Timber Creek and Victoria River in the NT, Halls Creek and many other places.

Don't forget, Kununurra runs on Western Standard Time so both the light and the dark come early, which should suit caravanners.

Kununurra Fast Facts
Kununurra Visitors Centre, (08) 9168 1177, fax (08) 9168 2598, kununurratb@bigpond.com
Write to: Box 446, Kununurra, WA 6743
Check out the useful East Kimberley - Travellers' Guide

Wyndham Visitors Centre, (08) 9161 1281
Zebra Rock Gallery
Ph/fax: (08) 9168 1114, www.zebrarock.com

Parry Creek Farm
PO Box 253, Wyndham 6740, (08) 9161 1139

Kona Lakeside Tourist Park, (08) 9168 1031, kona@wn.com.au

Arnie's Fishing Adventure
Box 961, Kununurra 6743, (08) 9169 1820, fax (08) 9169 2604, arniesfishing@wn.com.au