Mario and Pat's Australian drive holiday

Day 12:  15/9/2014   Darwin, NT  to Kununurra, WA   Distance traveled:  850km

We left Darwin around 7am and headed south to Kathrine, then west toward Kununurra, WA. The drive was long, but because we were swapping our driving every hour, we found it manageable.

Along the way Pat and I both made comments on the ever changing topography and the stunning rock features.

We hit the border of WA and had the car fully inspected by the border quarantine inspector. They primarily look for fruit and vegetables, plus anything that may affect the WA agricultural or native vegetation. We got a clean bill of health.

We arrived in Kununurra around 2:30pm, that’s allowing for the time difference of 1:30hrs. So that’s a total of -2 hrs behind Sydney time. We had a little rest, and then off we went exploring the town.

A little about Kununurra:   Kununurra is a town in far northern Western Australia located at the eastern extremity of the Kimberley Region approximately 37 kilometres (23 mi) from the border with the Northern Territory. Kununurra was initiated to service the Ord River Irrigation Scheme around 1961.

Kununurra is the largest town in Western Australia north of Broome, with the closest town being Wyndham, 100 kilometres (62 mi) away. Kununurra is 3,040 kilometres (1,889 mi) from Perth via the Great Northern Highway.

The town is situated in among the scenic hills and ranges of the far north-east Kimberley Region, having an abundance of fresh water, conserved by the Ord River Diversion dam and the main Ord River Dam.

The tropical agriculture crops grown in the Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) have changed over the years. Tourism and mining have also become important to the local economy. It’s a feel good town.

Tomorrow were off to Halls Creek, or about 40km past Halls Creek and staying on a working Cattle Station. That should be fun.

 The only place in the world to find the unusual Boab tree is the Western Australia Kimberley region. Every Boab tree is unique. They have character and personality as you would expect of such an ancient creature. Some individual Boab trees are 1500 years old. A mature Boab tree is a sight to behold. Though not exceptionally high, up to 15 metres, they appear huge. The name bottle tree relates to the swollen trunk that can reach a massive girth of up to 20 metres.

The Boab is a very slow growing tree and it takes many hundreds if not thousand years to grow into one of those impressive specimen.

 Pat and I at the border crossing near Kununurra

Some of the rock features around Kununurra. While not the most impressive we have seen, it was the one I photographed.