Kununurra

Thursday 25 July 2013

Kununurra

Up at dawn as usual at El Questro with a breakfast of cereal and toast. The pack up went smoothly until we were ready to depart. Paul could not get a connection to the trailer fridge as a problem with the earth wire prevented this. I think that we finWe were over it so just left it and headed out to Emma Gorge which is on our way into Kununurra.

Emma Gorge is part of El Questro Station but is 2km on the northern side of the Gibb. Besides the walk into the gorge there is an upmarket guest resort. We were very lucky today as there are bushfires in the area and the park has been closed for 3 days. It opened today. The walk into the gorge is 2km along a rocky path and we made good time. The falls are quite spectacular although at this time of the year only a small trickle of water is falling over the top falls. Nevertheless, the walk into and out of was quite spectacular.

Emma Gorge falls

Emma Gorge

We made good time into Kununurra as the road is bitumised from the El Questro turnoff. We arrived around midday and found the Kimberley Land Caravan Park and set up for our week in Kununurra. I had booked a powered site back in May at we were told without a booking it was highly likely we would not find a powered site in the town. The park is very large and is just packed with tourists – lots of Victorians here as Paul has found out. We decided to immediately book a flight over the Bungles and Lake Argyle for Sunday morning – a two hour flight costing $315. We are all looking forward to this event.

Our campsite is at the base of a 2000 year old boab – we are camped in the shade of this massive tree and I am totally in awe of its age. I am not a tree hugger but this one gets a big hug each morning – it must be at least 30m in circumference. We purchased some supplies that afternoon and the Red Beast received a badly needed wash – the bucket loads of red dust and dirt that came off it filled the wash bay area flowing down into the lagoon. I feel a little embarrassed now that it looks pristine. One of the campers stated that don’t feel bad as it won’t take long to look like all the other vehicles in the park.

Dinner tonight was chops, mashed potato, peas, corn and broccoli. We had to eat this in two shifts as the size of the chops was a huge challenge for Chef Rob who had limited cookware at his disposal. However in indomitable Schock spirit, he rose to the challenge leaving his two hungry colleagues wide eyed and gushing in admiration. (One finger is stuck down my throat!). The movie was the second half of Shutter Island which Rob rated as 3 out of 10. We then proceeded to watch “The Thing”, one of Paul’s favourites, but unfortunately it sent us all to sleep. Oh well there is always tomorrow night. Cheers.