Day 28: Kununurra (El Questro & Wyndham)

We had a very full day today. We set off for Wyndham at 9am for our day trip. Not too far out of town, we visited the Zebra Rock shop. Zebra Rock is dug around Lake Argyle and can be carved into various shapes. We bought a bag of rough stuff which we can polish up ourselves.

We then drove 60km or so and detoured south onto the Gibb River Road and drove into El Questro station. The first stop is Emma Gorge which is a part of El Questro and there is a lodge available - no camping or caravans at Emma Gorge. We then head on to El Questro proper - we had to cross two creek crossings, the second being the Pentacost River - it was a crossing of about 50 metres but was only about 30cm deep. The base was large stones however so we decided that we will not take the vans to El Questro. We had to pay $10 per person fee after arrival and then we sat down and had morning tea in the pub/reception gardens. The place was quite crowded because a bicycle endurance event had finished yesterday and cyclists were camped everywhere.

The general camping area was nothing to rave about - just a basic camping area. Plenty of shade however and one amenities area. The river looked nice but guess what - no swimming because of crocs.

We then took a drive along the river bank away from the camping ground - there are numerous camping spots and some have toilets. These spots are right on the water and are beautiful - so we have decided to stay an additional night in Kununurra (Sunday night) then head for El Questro on Monday with our camping gear after putting the vans into storage. We will stay at El Questro for 2-3 nights and there is no mobile phone service, so no blog for those days. After El Questro, we will then return to Kununurra before heading south.

But wait there's more - after El Questro, we drove into Wyndham where we had beautiful Barra Burgers and chips at the pub. There is not much keeping Wyndham going and it's a bit decrepit but it has a fantastic lookout - I think it is called Five Rivers Lookout - about as high as Mount Cootha and it looks out over where the Ord, Pentacost and three other rivers all join before reaching the sea. It is a magnificent view but unfortunately the afternoons are very hazy so the pics were not great.

After Wyndham we visited a Lake with a road going right across the centre - see photos (we didn't drive across it as we were running out of time).

We then drove out to Parry's lagoon, about 15km south of Wyndham. This lagoon was absolutely fantastic - a wetland bird sanctuary. We could have stayed for hours watching and photographing the birds but sunset was nearing. This made the trip to Wyndham well worth the visit and it was free and we were the only ones there - strictly 4x4 country but an easy drive.

Tomorrow we hope to look at some of the sights about the local area before going to the concert tomorrow night.