Day 35: Kununurra to Bungle Bungle Van Park

We left at 8:30am and headed out of town on the same road we had travelled four times before (to get to & from El Questro twice). We turned south into new territory after 50km onto the Savannah Way which leads to Broome on the western coast.

We stopped at Warnum or Turkey Creek roadhouse to fill up and have morning tea. They must have had some theft of fuel in the past because you have to drop some ID - a licence or credit card at the counter before you could fill up. I chose my licence!

It was then only another 50km before we reached the turn off on the left to the Bungle Bungles or as they are now known, Purnululu. 750 metres after you turn off, you must open and close a gate because the road to Purnululu travels across Mabel Station. Then another couple of kilometres after the gate you then right into the new camping ground. The new camping ground has only been occupied by the owners or managers for three weeks so it is fairly primitive at the moment - we have a shady site plus their are portable toilets & showers. Other than that, not much.  However, this park is in a fantastic position to catch tourists wanting to go into Purnululu for day trips so it will be a long-term winner in years to come - a safari style van park.

The owner of the van park arrived back from grading the road at about 7:30pm. He told us that the road to Purnululu would be closed tomorrow due to a mess at one of the creek crossings. Which means we will have a rest day tomorrow and drive into Purnululu for a day trip on Sunday.

That night, we had dinner in our vans then went and sat around the fire. Mum, I ran into a big salty near the campfire but as you can see in the photo below, I tamed him quickly......

Day 34: Kununurra

Well, today has been a rest day in most respects - did the washing, cleaned the bathroom, went souvenir shopping, posted a couple more parcels home, relaxed. Honestly can't report anything too exciting.

Tomorrow, we say farewell to Kununurra which has been a great spot. We leave for a new (as in not finished being built) caravan park called Bungle Bungle Caravan Park, just off the turn-off to the Bungle Bungles (Purnululu National Park).  Apparently they don't even have a sign yet but they do have a half-decent web site. Some other happy campers stumbled upon it and told us about it.
The park is part of the Mabel Station property and can be accessed 750 metres off the highway on the way to Purnalulu.

We are planning on staying there for two nights and taking a day trip into the National park. The drive in from the highway turn-off is 56km which they say takes 2-3 hours, but because it has just been graded, it may only take two.  That's all the blogging probably until Sunday when we should be in either Halls Creek or more probably Fitzroy Crossing....

Late Extra

Last night, prior to going out for dinner, we went and sat on the lake edge again to have a drink.  Just on dusk we looked down and what should we see – a crocodile – refer to photo. It is a freshie and 20 metres along the bank was another one. The camp owners have names for them and apparently they come in each afternoon and people throw them bread.

Our van site, Discovery Van Park

Lake Kununurra from our van park

Lake Kununurra from our van park

Day 33: El Questro to Kununurra

We got up at 7:30, had breakfast and packed up. The packing seemed to take forever and it was hot and the flies sticky. Doug & Sue packed a lot quicker than us so they went and had another swim at Zebedee Springs while we packed.

I have decided that I am too old for camping. I love the caravan and the comforts of home that it offers. I don't think we will be doing too much more camping this holiday......

The drive back to Kununurra was quick - just over an hour and it was helped by being able to listen to the audiobook, "Mao's last Dancer". This is the second audio book we have listened to this holiday - they are great because for a good part of the travelling, you can't get any radio stations at all!!!

When we arrived back at the Discovery Caravan Park, where our vans were in storage, we were pleased they were still there (we really weren't worried - the van park looked pretty secure and just to help, I have a lock on the towball and a high tensile stainless steel chain and suitably big padlock wrapped around a wheel and the shackles. Now a keen person with the right equipment could get it off, but they would have to be keen.)

We towed our vans onto our sites and then proceeded to unpack (another thing which has put me off camping). It took hours and then I had to wash the bloody car which had endured two return trips to El Questro over dirt roads plus the other 7000km we had done since leaving Gatton. I was stuffed!


We finished the afternoon by sitting under the trees on the banks of Lake Kununurra sipping cold drinks. (the van park is on the lake).

Maximum temps over the last week have been mild - tops of about 29-30. Tomorrow however, it's back to 32. That's OK - I think it's going to be a bit of a rest day.......

Sorry, no pics today.

Day 32: El Questro (EQ)

We survived the night camping on the stretchers and had a hearty breakfast of bacon & eggs.

After brekky, we drove to Zebedee Springs, about a 10 km drive and then a 750 metre walk. Along the walk, we saw a huge brown snake or taipan beside the walking track - one moment Lorelle was walking forwards - the next backwards... Anyway we left it alone and it crawled off to scare another day.

Zebedee Springs is beautiful - no other way to describe it - thermal springs at 32 degrees flow down a shaded valley covered by pandanus and other palms. We stayed there for 1-2 hours and relaxed in the pools before returning to the home station shop where we had morning tea.

We then wwent back to the camp, had lunch and for dinner we had camp oven chicken & vegies - delicious. Again, May-I (cards) then to bed at about 10pm.

Day 31: El Questro (EQ)

We dropped our vans off at the Discovery Caravan Park at 9am. This park will allow you to leave the van in storage for $8 a day. We then went to Coles for a few late extra and then off to EQ (a one hour drive).

We checked in and they gave us a choice of 3 private camp sites along the banks of the river. After doing a reconnoitre, we chose site 12, 'Harrier' which was right on a deep part of the river with plenty of shade.

Setting up the tent, etc. was a pain in the proverbial after having the luxury of the caravan but we finally got everything ship-shape. After lunch we had a paddle in knee deep water - the river was the most crystal clear flowing water but you could not swim because of crocs.

That afternoon we sat on the riverbank fishing. We caught heaps of fish - catfish, archer fish and something else - not sure what it was.  Anyway the fishing was fun but nothing edible.

That night, we played cards (May-I) under the full Kimberley moon (or close to it). We also scanned the river with our torches looking for the tell-tale red eyes of crocs and we did see one about 50 metres upstream.  Probably a freshwater croc but we are not going to risk it to find out.

The other interesting think that happened last night was we had an invasion of bees attracted to the gas light and lucky me - I got bitten on the back of the neck...  fortunately I am not allergic to bee stings.

Campsite on the Pentacost River, El Questro

Day 30: Kununurra

Sorry, but not much to report today. We went out and tried to catch some fish this morning but no luck. We will try again at El Questro tomorrow.

This afternoon, we had a rest and then packed for camping - what a pain! I'm not that keen on leaving the comfort of our van, but it's the only way to see El Questro unless you have a lot more money than we do!!! We are planning on having Monday & Tuesday nights at El Questro and then Wednesday night back in Kununurra before heading south.

Having fun but not catching anything....... (yet)

Day 29: Kununurra

Went to markets at the showgrounds - straight across road from our van site. They were reasonable country markets.

Then drove out of town and had a look at Ivanhoe Crossing. There will be noone crossing there for a while (in flood) but the fishing was good. Photo below.

We had lunch at the Ivanhoe Cafe - another Barra Burger and mango smoothie. I'm going to learn how to make smoothies when I get back to Gatton - they are all the rage in northern Australia.

We also went to the town lookout - Knob's Lookout - took a few photos.

Went to Mirima national park which is virtually just on the edge of town - advertised as a mini-Bungle Bungle. We drove through but didn't stop to do a walk.

This afternoon it was off to the 'Kimberley Moon Concert'. At 2:30pm we caught one of the buses which were running every 15 mins to get out to the amphitheatre.

There was a variety of entertainment running from 3pm until 11pm. Features were Jimmy Barnes (sang for 90 minutes straight), Vanessa Amorossi, Alex Lloyd and the Pigram Brothers, etc. The concert was very good, despite the fact that I am not a big fan of Jimmy Barnes. We were pretty tired when we got to bed around midnight! At the concert, it was BYO alcohol - people were bringing in their huge fishing eskies on removalists trollies - I kid you not!!  It was supposed to be a responsible alcohol event - I have never seen so many pissed adults.  There were well over 5000 people attending the concert.

Tomorrow we hope to go fishing and get ready for our camping trip at El Questro (it's a long time since we have camped in a small dome tent!).

PS - This might be the last post for between 2-5 days because there is no signal at El Questro and after El Questro we may go camping at the Bungle Bungles.

Click this link to see where we have stopped overnight so far: Overnight stops

Ivanhoe Crossing

At the concert

Looking over Kununurra

Looking over Kununurra