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Kellys Knob

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    • TravelerBert’s Loop
      Day 142

      No wall at the Border

      September 6, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      We successfully crossed into Western Australia at 12:42 today.

      A quick stop at the Timber Creek Police Museum on the way out of town this morning. The photo has us smiling but the invasion stories presented by the curator are a bit upsetting. Talk of many massacres, enslavement and servitude are details that I didn’t learn in school. It’s alarming to know that it was still going on until late into last century. If only it were not so. The records are very detailed and extensive. Along with a great variety of paraphernalia made us wish we had more time to potter about. The caretaker would have been happy to have us move in.

      Random assessment: the Timber Creek Bakery makes an 8 out of 10 pie, and a very acceptable coffee.

      We hit the jackpot at the border. No queuing, Happy police and helpful quarantine staff. Temperature was very pleasant in the mid 20’s. Apparently there can be long periods with queues of 10-20 cars and vans. Imagine that in soaring temperatures.
      You can’t take any fruit or veg, fresh fish, honey or firewood into WA. We had done our homework so no issues there and we also invested the time to complete the border pass properly. We were surprised that nobody checked our temperature - such a simple and indicative test.
      We rolled into Kununurra and immediately did a restock on veggies etc., but after emptying the fridge we are suffering a little from the expected checkout price shock.
      The Campground at Hidden Valley is beautiful and sits under an amazing rock formation of the striped red rock of Mirima National Park. They call it a mini Bungle.
      We are close to Lake Argile, the Ord River Scheme, El Questro and Wyndham. Heaps to do over the next few days.      Read more

    • TravelerBert’s Loop
      Day 143

      Surprising Kununurra

      September 7, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      Construction of this town started in about 1963 in response to the start of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme.
      It wasn’t a very auspicious start with the diversion dam being built on a Sacred Site of the original owners. The Dreaming lines of those people gradually becoming inaccessible as the waters rose.
      It’s fair to say the scheme was groundbreaking and audacious engineering. As a project, there were many challenges like the remoteness and terrible roads, the poor communications (a bit like the service that Telstra offers up here today), and cantankerous seasonal weather. All of which means it’s remarkable that it ever finished.
      The end result is that the town is pretty damn good. It’s nestled amongst some beautiful natural features, the man made features are quite agreeable, nor have the tourism potential been missed with so many features in close proximity.
      As outsiders we notice that the Aboriginal communities are more functional and more affluent than in many towns we have seen.
      The weather since 32hrs before arriving here has hit a purple patch compared to the previous month. That certainly disposed one more favourably to a place.
      Still, I think e would like to stay longer.

      We did a walk this morning into Mirima N.P. (Called mini Bungles), A bike ride around the town and then out to the Kununurra Lake, fix the resulting flat tyre, then a bit of caravan maintenance that was a bit outstanding. Sunset from Kelly’s Knob was sensational, but the video is disappointing because of wind noise.
      Telstra stole 4 hours in trying to get our phone services/billing sorted out. Just don’t get me started.
      We might go back to Kelly’s Knob for sunrise tomorrow. You will be the first to know if we do.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Long Road Home
      Day 52

      Kununurra

      August 17, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      The time zone change sure gives an early sunrise at 5.40am. Definitely the best time of day with cooler air and long shadows. We made the most of this and the fact that our bodies are still in the other time zone and walked around the town before breakfast. Kununurra was a purpose built town that didn't exist before 1961. It was built to house the workers on the Lake Argyle irrigation scheme. Viewing the valley from Kelly's Knob shows such a contrast in the green irrigated valley compared to the rocky hill surrounds.

      After breakfast we drove to the sandalwood factory and shop then back through the cropping region. It was the first time either of us had seen cotton growing. There was also sugar cane and sandalwood trees. We have also been seeing a lot of wild kapok trees. Yet another natural fibre. Is kapok still harvested? We don't know that answer. Man made fibres seem to have taken over.

      After lunch we drove the 70km out to Lake Argyle and the camp we didn’t stay at. Nice camp and almost full yet quiet and shaded. Lake Argyle is one of the largest man made lakes in the southern hemisphere. There is also a small hydroelectric station there. 30MW and built in 1996.
      The afternoon was pleasantly cooler and overcast with 28 degrees. A nice relief for us.

      We had some contact messages from WA police today confirming a few rules due to our arrival from NT. Luckily we had arrived in WA approximately 4 hours before the deadline. If we were later we could now be in isolation awaiting covid test results or could have been in 14 days self isolation in the caravan. That would have been fun for the blog!      Read more

    • The big one Number 2.
      Day 38

      Kununurra revisited.

      June 5, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

      Stinking hot 34deg and humid!
      Ivanhoe crossing.

    • TravelerThe Long Road Home
      1
      Day 51

      Leaving NT

      August 16, 2021 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 30 °C

      We were up early as we knew there could be long queues at the border. We did a quick stop at Timber Creek and a beautiful loaf of wholemeal bread just out of the oven. The smell teased us all the way to the border. The drive to the border was beautiful as it winds through the Judbarra/Gregory National Park. Amazing red rock ranges, our first Boab trees and sandy creeks. We tried to take photos of the Boab trees initially but soon saw hundreds of these. The Boab trees have huge trunks which they use to store water in the wet and use in the dry season and are very special to this region..

      We had had no mobile reception once we left Katherine yesterday afternoon until we reached the border this morning. We were very surprised to receive messages while waiting in the border queue about the lockdown in the NT. Talk about increasing the heart rate. It took around 50 minutes to get to the front of the queue ( there were 4 other vans in front of us). We were processed first by the police asking to see our border permit, drivers licences and proof we had been in the NT for more than 14 days. All of that was fine for us both and then the quarantine officer asked to see any fruit and vegetables. We lost some lettuce and onions leaving just the carrots. We were then free to leave and I finally started to breathe again. We suspect it could be a different story for people trying to enter tomorrow as WA is by far the most strict for border closures.

      It is only 55km from the border to Kununurra and we did have a time zone change. We are now on WA time so 2 hours behind the East Coast and 4 hours behind NZ. It will be strange with sunset at 5:15pm. As we were not sure if we would be able to enter WA we had not booked any accomodation, luckily we found a powered site pretty easy.

      After setting up camp it was into town to get some vegetables and fruit to top up. It is hot here but feels much drier. The usual swim at the hottest part of the day. I suspect it will be an early night tonight with the time change. We have now been travelling for 50 days and driven more than 10000km.

      The NT has been amazing with some incredible treasures if you are willing to hunt for them. From the incredible rock formations rising from the desert glowing in the sun to amazing waterfalls and rock pools in the north. Not to mention the hot springs and blue sunny days every day. Everyone needs to add Darwin to their travel destinations when we can all move freely again.      Read more

    • TravelerPeter Creigh
      Day 35

      Way Up North!

      May 30, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

      Have finally made it across the top to WA arriving firstly at Lake Argyle just over the border for 3 memorable days cruising, swimming, eating & singing at the resort caravan park. Amazing scenery, fantastic story of the dam's development, great day cruise & marvelous weather to top it off.
      The trip over from Katherine, NT took us 2 short days with a delightful stopover @ Timber Creek before we crossed into WA. The trip was far from boring driving through beautiful national parks most of the way.

      Have arrived in Kununurra this morning, planning on a 4 night stay with plenty to see & do. Good to have phone & internet coverage from Optus once again      Read more

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