Australia
Celebrity Tree Park

Discover travel destinations of travelers writing a travel journal on FindPenguins.
Travelers at this place
    • Day 10

      Lake Argyle to Kununurra

      May 9, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

      Another very windy night and morning…. Gosh we were so lucky with the weather for the swim. By the way the results are in and the Moirskateers Team ended up in an amazing 6th position in the 20km quad swim (out of 27 teams) with the final time of 5 hours, 33 min, 20 seconds. Overall, in 65th position from a total of 122 teams.

      We packed up at Lake Argyle and headed to Kununurra, having a short stop at the Hootchery again to buy something something for someone 🤫. We have arrived to the KimberleyLand caravan park just before lunch time. We left the trailer there and headed to Wyndham, the most northerly located town in Western Australia. The drive there took a good hours and was another display of a beautiful scenery. Wyndham was interesting, quite run down but had some good history. Established in 1884 when gold was discovered in Halls Creek. The original town is now called Wyndham Port Town with only a handful of people there (although there was rather large police station…), the town moved more inland to Wyndham 3 mile. They moved the town as the daily tides risen and fell by 8.3 meters and because of that the original town was not able to be expanded. Wyndham is one of the hottest places in Western Australia with the average daily maximum temperature reaching 36 degrees. Luckily for us, it was balmy 28 degrees today - almost jumper time…hahaha.
      We visited the small museum in the original Wyndham that had quite interesting stuff there. They even had a ‘Czechoslovakian’ gun made in Brno on display. Heaps of old photos and some old cigaret commercials with totally unacceptable slogan’s if judged by today’s standards. We also saw Kim and Chris’s boat parked in the harbour waiting for the passengers to arrive.
      On the way from the original Wyndham we stopped by in a cool caravan park to have a look at the biggest boab tree… it was big indeed!
      Oh and I almost forgot to mention the unforgettable lunch at the local bakery… Kat had a barramundi pie and I tried the crocodile pie….it was… different, unusual… ok…. Not to be repeated any time soon,
      Before leaving the ‘newer Wyndham’ we drove up to the 5 river look out. Pretty steep drive up the hill with fantastic views across the land. Pretty spectacular and would be interesting to see that when it is flooded.
      We then headed back to Kununurra but felt tempted by the Parry Lagoon Park so we turned off on dirt road and travelled to Marlgu Billabong. It was a 6km one way dirt road in the middle of nowhere. The first lookout was at the Old Telegraph Line and we were quite stunned by the view. Heaps of boabs and wetland in front of us. We saw another car in the distance and decided to continue on the dirt road until it finished. We arrived at the billabong and it was absolutely beautiful. So many different birds were flying around, the wetland had a variety of lotus flowers, it was so peaceful with sun going down throwing a orange light on the dried grasses and water. It very much reminded us of Kakadu National Park. We met two local ladies there who confirmed that to their knowledge there are 5 salt water crocodiles living there. Did not see any so we think there were fibbing….hahaha….
      Kat drove us back home and again we very much enjoyed the sunset light reflecting on the red rocky boulders. We arrived to Kununurra in dark, assembled our ‘chamber’ and made ourselves a dinner including frozen garlic bread made on a pan…. That was a first and it kinda worked.
      We are based next to the lake so mosquitoes are going crazy here, we have lathered ourselves in anti mosquito stuff head to toe, have citronella candles going like there is no tomorrow and also have the mosquito repellent on….. fingers crossed we will survive with no bites. We were also told by the caravan staff there they have 3 fresh weather crocodiles here, one supposedly lives next to our spot… and has no teeth so they call him gummy - poor thing. Hopefully we can see him tomorrow. May prepare some purée snack for him 😉
      Read more

    • Day 11

      Kununurra and surrounds

      May 10, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      An early morning for me while Kat was snoring away. A beautiful sunrise over the Lake Kununurra. I poked Kat awake around 6ish as I could not lie in the bed anymore. Made us some breakfast - scrambled eggs, coffee and we headed to Mirima National Park which is located only a few kilometres out of town. We walked all the available walks in these mini bungle bungles and enjoyed the views and some Aboriginal art. Yet again, we were amazed by the true blue Australians conquering level 5 walks in thongs… the temperature today was very pleasant hovering around 28 degrees with breeze. We were done with the walks before lunch time when Kat gave me a homework to find an ice cream shop. Luckily for me, Dr Google suggested the only ice cream shop in town that definitely exceeded expectation of my ice cream head Kat. The choice was impressive, they were selling Simmos Ice Cream and had about 20 to choose from. Kat was in the heaven.
      We also went to the local Aboriginal Art centre and got us a small carved boab nut.
      After the refreshing break we went to see some Zebra stone products on someone’s property 5km out of town. They had some cool stuff and we splashed out on some Astronomite jewellery. In the near by farm they were selling some papaya so we got ourselves one and I’m looking forward trying this fruit tomorrow.
      We checked out another zebra stone shop in town and it was equally impressive. What a unique stone!
      In the afternoon, we drove 25km out of town to check out Galgiba - Molly Spring - it was 6km from the main road accessed by dirt road. It was really pretty, like a little oasis with running waterfall and little but quite deep lagoon. The water was nice and warm and we could not see any 🐊…. We were the only people there, it was very peaceful.
      Following the Molly Spring we headed via another off road tract to Valentine’s spring that was also very pretty and had a sign to be aware of 🐊 🐊 🐊 , so we threaded lightly around and thankfully did not see any.
      We then headed back ‘home’ and checked out Gummy who is just on the side of the lake. Poor thing, people feed him with bread! That cannot be good for him…
      We took a few beers and some very ‘healthy’ snacks to go with it to a bench where we just sat and overlooked the lake while the sun was going down putting on a beautiful light display.
      We had a really nice day, more relaxed, taking it easy…. Just what the doctor ordered. Tomorrow we will be relocating to El Questro.
      Oh and we just was the International Space Station passing by….
      Read more

    • Day 43

      The Phoenix

      June 14, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

      It’s been an eventful few days here in Kununurra.

      We flew in, full of mixed emotion - glad to be out of our forced isolation, but devastated to have come back to ‘Kunners’ under such circumstances, and without a clear way forward. Mechanics in town need a minimum of 2 weeks, usually closer to 6 weeks to even look at it.

      The tow truck that got us out wasn’t exactly unscathed either. He broke down himself some 30km from where he picked us up, sending his fan through the radiator. He also snapped a differential and a few other driveline items.
      Then, closer to Kununurra, he managed to snap all the engine mounts, causing the engine to twist, stopping the truck permanently. The company needed three tow trucks in the end: one to get us most of the way, then one to rescue the broken truck, and a third to finish our ride to town. A nightmare!

      Whilst this was going on, we put a call out on Facebook on what to do about the car, which yielded a flurry of suggestions, including to ship a replacement part from Darwin. We did just that - a new shock was delivered overnight.

      Then, armed with some online comments, our trusty little toolkit and YouTube, Wiebe limped the car to the park across the road, and set to work. You aren’t allowed to perform maintenance in the caravan park.

      And so, from the smouldering ashes of despair rises up the mighty Disco, reborn and ready to start again! Hopefully Max’s drawings can stop being of a square car with only 1 wheel now. (He draws in profile view)

      The trailer too has arrived back, and we stayed ‘home’ again last night. Great to be back in our humble little tent. TVs and Dishwashers are overrated.

      Bit more cleaning today, and a day trip around town to restore confidence in the car, and we should be back to ‘normal’ soon. We will need to hang around in Kununurra for a day or two longer, whilst our satellite phone gets delivered, and we clearly communicate our travel plans to our support network at home :-)

      It’s a sweet little park here - a kingfisher came to say hello and there’s a beautiful view over Lake Kununurra.
      Read more

    • Day 5

      Kununurra

      June 19, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

      Kununurra is a town in far northern Western Australia located at the eastern extremity of the Kimberley approximately 45 kilometres (28 mi) from the border with the Northern Territory. Kununurra was initiated to service the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. Its language is Miriwoong.
      Kununurra is also the gateway to the Bungle Bungles and other trips.
      As with most outback towns there is a large indigenous population and they advise not to walk around at nighttime by yourself and to lock up the doors and windows.
      We stayed at a lovely place that had a great pool and an outdoor shower and bath which was special being able to look up at the stars whilst washing yourself down.
      There is a big lake in the middle of town which is run off from the Ord River tributaries and more on that in later posts.
      Key farm activities include the growing of melons, mangoes and until recently, sugar cane. Farmers are now turning to a more lucrative (though longer term) crop of Indian sandalwood. Other crops that have been grown in the Ord are cotton, safflower and rice, which is being trialled once again, having been the first crop planted on the Pilot Farm in 1960. The town has a melon picking season, which attracts migratory farm workers to the area. There is also a thriving tourism industry with most tourist operators capitalising on the scenery of the Ord River, Lake Argyle, Diversion Dam and other local locations, including the relatively nearby Bungle Bungle Range.
      Read more

    • Day 76

      Trip out to Wyndam

      August 21, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

      Took a short trip about 100 klms to Wyndham. It’s main history was the meat works transportation up till 1985.

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Celebrity Tree Park

    Join us:

    FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android