|
Kununurra
|
|
|
KUNUNURRA
is the Kimberley's youngest town, built in the early 1960s to serve the
Ord River Irrigation Project
, fed by Lake Kununurra. The Diversion Dam Wall, an impressive sight as you come in from the west, created this lake, essentially the bloated Ord River. Fifty kilometres upstream is another dam, known as the Argyle Dam Wall, built in 1971 to ensure a year-round flow to the project, which has created
Lake Argyle
, the world's largest man-made body of water. Despite early problems, the Ord River Irrigation Project has moved on to something called Stage Two, expanding an intensive, yet still barely developed, agricultural area where cotton and sugar cane are set to transform the economy.
Perhaps because of its youth and the surrounding countryside, Kununurra escapes the resigned, rather jaded feel of the older Kimberley towns. Instead, the town has an appealingly relaxed atmosphere, enhanced by the copious amounts of fresh water nearby which lend themselves to recreational use. Besides being an ideal base from which to explore the adjacent Kimberley, the town is also a good place to seek out casual farming work from June to November - some of the hostels may be able to help in this respect. A couple of kilometres from town is Kununurra's own national park, Hidden Valley , where a road leads into a narrow valley of "mini-bungles" and terminates with some short trails - you couldn't ask for a better walking area so close to town. Another popular spot is Ivanhoe Crossing , 13km north of town on the Ord River. Officially the ford is closed to vehicles and you wouldn't want to try crossing it in anything less than a hefty 4WD. This is croc country and, although locals still fish and bathe by the banks, it's inadvisable, being just the sort of habitual behaviour salties apparently go for. Valentines Pool , Black Rock Falls and Middle Springs are other popular spots in the area, though the water in all three gets pretty soupy towards the end of the Dry.
Triple J Tours (tel 08/9168 2682) offers cruises up
Lake Kununurra
to
Argyle Dam
with optional return by bus, a much more enjoyable excursion than you might expect. Big Water Kimberley Canoeing Safaris (tel 08/9169 1257 or free call 1800 641 998) organizes canoeing trips down the Ord River, driving you up to the dam and letting you float back over three days for $110 (plus camping gear). The Zebra Rock Gallery (daily 8am-6pm; free), 6km out of town on Packsaddle Road, has examples of the unusually banded rock found on an island in Lake Argyle, as well as a small wildlife park. In town, Warringarri Aboriginal Arts (Mon-Fri 8.30am-noon & 1-4.30pm; free), on Speargrass Road opposite the
Kelly's Knob
turn-off (a sunset-viewing spot), has displays of locally made arts and crafts which are for sale. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
|
Australia,
|