Wyndham, WA.
This will be a shorter blog than usual because unfortunately I wrote a nice long post and then just as I was about to save it, the app on my phone crashed and I lost the whole thing!! So very frustrating.
We arrived at Kununurra which is a little oasis caused by the daming of the Ord River. We had a day to reset and restock before heading north for a few days.We drove across the Ivanhoe crossing just to have a look at how deep it is because in a few days we will take the van across.
We spent Saturday morning at the local market. Kylie bought some nice baggy pants to wear in the hot weather but to keep the mozzies away. Elsie thought it was a dress up costume. We bought some honeycomb, mango smoothies, and stocked up with local fruit and veg. Welcome to the tropics.
We spent the afternoon at the local footy grand final between the Ord River Magpies and the Halls Creek Hawks. The Magpies won by 2 points but it was challenged because one of the goal umpires was found to be drunk. There were people calling for a replay but it didn't eventuate.
The next day we ventured north across the Ivanhoe crossing to Hairy Dog's Ultimate Adventures. This was a great little camp. Rosie the 4yr old kelpie was very friendly. There was only 5 camps, no phone reception and lots of peace and quiet. A little dip pool the kids had fun swimming in. Elsie almost stepped on a Olive Python going to the toilet before bed one night.
Saul went out on a full day fishing charter and caught a barramundi and saw some crocodiles. The barramundi was a delicious dinner that evening.
We spent a full day exploring Wyndham and the local area. First stop was Marglu Billabong with all its wonders of birdlife. The kids were nice and quiet in the bird hide and enjoyed finding different birds of the info boards.
Next stop was the Five Rivers lookout over the old Wyndham town which is now Port Wyndham. This used to be the home of a large meat works factory early in the century and it was the largest meat works in the southern hemisphere back in it's day.
From there we went back to Wyndham itself and took a photo by the big crocodile statue, bought some bread and donuts at the Croc cafe and met an aboriginal lady who carved a boab nut, which we bought from her. She was telling Saul about the pictures she had carved and one was the seed pod of a local tree. She also told us to visit the Dreamtime statues in town which was amazing. There was a man standing with a spear in his hand and a snake behind him, a young boy and a lady sitting down, and then some animals further along the park. The detail in these sculptures were very impressive.
Next we drove along the King River Road towards the Moochalabra Dam and another Prison Tree. This was a very rough road but we went into it without reading any descriptions or reviews and there were a few surprises. The prison tree was actually used to hold prisoners, whereas the Prison Tree in Derby was only a resting place during the journey to the Derby prison. We had lunch under a big shady Boab near the dam wall, then went for a short drive to see some amazing aboriginal rock paintings. The kids loved walking in the caves and finding the pictures. Zara and I laid down in the cave and looked at the paintings and saw large hands next to smaller hands. It was a "You and Me, Murrawee" moment which is a book we read at home about 2 kids playing on the same river 200 years apart.
A beautiful sunrise for our last morning at Hairy Dog, but then as Saul went to start the car to drive off the warning light in the car came on indicating that something was wrong. Maybe we didn't come out of the King River Road unharmed after all...to be continued in the next edition.
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