The day we got to Kununurra WA started WAY too early.

As the clock ticked over past midnight, Are You Lonesome Tonight and I was only 19 thundered from (respectively) the vehicle cab and the top-of-the-range caravan parked next to us in Timber Creek.

Yes, you’re right. You’d have to be VERY drunk for that to sound good.

A couple of hours later, our lonesome loser neighbour finally dropped into a drunken stupor putting an end to both the impromptu musical experiment and our misery.

Two bleary-eyed hours drive west got us to the Northern Territory/Western Australia border (the flat tyre didn’t help) where we scored an extra 90 minutes, courtesy of the time difference between the NT and Western Australia. Making it about 9:00 am, WA time!

Half an hour later, the different world – make that universe – of our camp-site at the Lakeside Resort Caravan Park on the shores of Lily Creek Lagoon – with lonesome losers noticeably absent – made an excellent base from which to explore the attractions of the East Kimberley.

And because we’d got there so early in the morning, we could get started on our long, long list of things to do in Kununurra and surrounds straight away.

Yes, camping in Kununurra is the best way to see it all – and there’s a LOT to see and do for independent travellers who like natural attractions.  We were planning a four-day stay – but ended up being there for 10!

SO … where to start?  Just use this list of my favourite things to do in Kununurra and start exploring!

I hope you enjoy them (and Kununurra!) as much as we did

1 Kelly’s Knob and the Ivanhoe Café

It’s VERY convenient that the best view of Kelly’s Knob in Kununurra is from the Ivanhoe Café! Or is that just MY opinion??  If you’re anything like us, you’ll find yourself spending a LOT of time at the cafe, especially during the heat of the day when exploring grinds to a halt.

That’s why the best time to visit Kununurra is during the Australian winter and Top End Dry Season, from about April to October.  But be warned … that’s also the busiest time!

After a session at the cafe, work off the spectacularly fabulous icecreams, smoothies and other goodies chock-a-block with awesome Kununurra produce by climbing to the vantage point at the top of Kelly’s Knob to get your bearings AND enjoy the spectacular view over the town and mountain ranges beyond. The landscape’s surprisingly green in this part of the East Kimberley, courtesy of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme.

Pssst! The real view is even better than what you can see in the photo above!

Why the excellent Anzac Hill Lookout we stumbled upon just out of town heading west, and giving an entirely different perspective, doesn’t appear in any of the tourist information I’ll never know … track it down for yourself and see which one you prefer!

2 Ord River Adventureland

The East Kimberley’s natural attractions can so spectacular they overshadow its hazards. And that could be fatal in Kununurra – because while the Ord Irrigation Scheme has turned this harsh landscape into a food bowl thanks to the engineering marvel of the Ord River Dam, it didn’t get rid of the crocodiles!

There are plenty of reminders of the dangers along the river banks – but don’t let that stop you fishing for barramundi (does anyone bother with any other types of fish?); having a picnic; or even taking an upstream cruise for 57 kilometres to the Lake Argyle Dam Wall.

No boat? No problem! Local cruise operators will be happy to see you on board!

But no matter how hot it gets, don’t even THINK about going swimming!

3 Lake Argyle – the Inland Sea

The arid Carr Boyd Ranges near Kununurra probably aren’t where you’d imagine an inland sea over 1000 km² to be.

If that’s what you thought, you’d be right. Lake Argyle, Australia’s largest body of fresh water, didn’t naturally occur. It was formed when the Ord River Dam was slapped across the river’s narrowest point in an incredible feat of engineering and construction that drowned valleys, pastoral leases and a whole mountain range!

But the staggering scenery surrounding Lake Argyle is SO worth the ~70 km one way drive south-east from Kununurra back towards the WA/NT border we did it twice.  The first time was just to explore; the second for the must-do early morning cruise.

It’s also worth doing for the wildlife – over a third of Australia’s bird species can be found here at various times of the year.

Oh! And there’s also a proliferation of scenic public loos!

It’s said that the damming of the river means none of the large and deadly saltwater crocodiles live above the dam wall, although there have been sightings. But the absence of predators means there are a LOT more of the less dangerous freshwater crocodiles.

SO … if you’re crocodile-averse, don’t go in the water AND definitely don’t sign up for the annual Lake Argyle 10 or 20 km swimming races, held annually on the first Saturday in May!

4 Hunting the Wild Boab Trees

Australia’s only species of Boab tree grows almost exclusively – but plentifully – in the Kimberley. Even if you haven’t seen a Boab tree for real, its distinctive shape and silhouette appear in all the galleries – on paintings, prints, cards, carvings, photographs and jewellery. I’m still having withdrawal symptoms over the earrings that got away – how I managed to leave those brightly coloured glass squares with tiny Boab tree silhouettes in the shop remains a mystery to this day.

And now it’s too late … I can’t find them ANYWHERE on line

Luckily, wild Boab trees are easy to find around Kununurra.

But if you haven’t got time for hunting, they’re also found in captivity – at the Kununurra Celebrity Tree Park at the edge of Lily Creek Lagoon. And although I couldn’t find a celebrity tree dedicated to Red Nomad OZ amongst those for notables such as John Farnham and Princess Anne, I’m sure it’s just a matter of time!

Isn’t it?!?!  Please say yes!

5 Lily Creek Lagoon and the Sleeping Buddha

Like its giant friend Lake Argyle, Lily Creek Lagoon on the outskirts of Kununurra isn’t natural. But it’s an awesome backdrop to a rock formation that looks (supposedly) like a Sleeping Buddha from the Celebrity Tree Park; and (even more supposedly) an Elephant’s head from the Zebra Rock Gallery’s vantage point just down the road.

It’s also a wildlife hotspot.

Of course it’s a helluva lot easier to go wildlife spotting on Lily Creek Lagoon when you’re camping right on its banks at the Lakeside Resort Caravan Park campground like we were. By day, watch a variety of bird-life on and around the lagoon, including Comb-crested Jacana, also called the ‘Jesus bird’, hopping around on the lily pads; and the Crimson Finches hopping around on the banks – and at our campsite.

You might even get to take part in a real life rescue!  Like we did when a bird misjudged the length of a lily pad and slid into the water.  Did I mention the lagoon is full of fresh-water crocodiles?

Sunset brings the Sleeping Buddha to life – at least as much as is possible for a reclining figure – and the Lagoon dramatically reflects the sky’s RED glow.

But the night belongs to those crocodiles … take a torch and watch the RED glow glinting from their eyes if you dare!

6 Mirima National Park

Wondering when the selfie-taking joggers completely oblivious to the 3 metre snake sunning itself at their feet would either notice it or step on it was like watching a car crash.

Was it so wrong to have my camera ready?

Luckily (or unluckily, depending on whether you were them or me), neither happened, and the joggers jogged off into the sunrise to post what could have been a REALLY exciting update (read about that adventure HERE).

I waited for the snake to move so I could admire the view over Mirima National park from the top of the range vantage point on the Lookout Walk (no prizes for guessing why it’s called that!), one of four shortish walks showcasing the park’s attractions.

I can’t guarantee the excitement of a sunrise snake stand-off in the sandstone at Mirima, on the outskirts of the main Kununurra township. But you WILL see dramatic sandstone domes and valleys – smaller, but not unlike those of more well known Purnululu (aka Bungle Bungles). So if you don’t have time to trek there, or the bucks for a helicopter flight, Mirima National Park is a cheaper, closer, and more charming alternative.

The top of the range view also overlooks Hidden Valley – and the Hidden Valley Tourist Park who I mention here because they were nice enough to put RedzAustralia at the very top of their TOP 10 Grey Nomad blogs (even thought I’m a RED Nomad)!

7 Ngamoowalem Conservation Park

En route to discover the Kununurra waterfalls, by the time we’d managed two of the conservation park’s four sites we’d already experienced a grumpy grey-nomad who should have stayed in bed; and a flamboyant four-wheel-driver developing some experimental techniques in what can only loosely be called ‘driving’ (read about that adventure HERE).

Who knows what other weird experiences we might have had if only our car had had enough clearance to visit the Ngamoowalem Conservation Park’s 3^rd and 4^th localities?

The spectacular setting amid the Livistonia Range means the springs and falls that make up the park run hot during the wet season. There wasn’t much water happening during our dry season visit – but that meant we could explore the rocks up close and admire the cluster of butterflies flitting through the undergrowth.

And wonder why Black Rock Falls was called Black Rock Falls!

It’s a shame we didn’t get to see Middle Spring and Molly Spring, but no matter.

The other visitors to Valentine Spring and Black Rock Falls had provided quite enough excitement for one day.

Besides – don’t they say you should always leave something for next time?

8 Killer Kununurra Producers!

There’s not a lot of point visiting the Ord River Irrigation zone without actually sampling the produce, right?

So we gave it our best shot.

A daily dose of something with mango in it – smoothies, cheesecakes, ice-cream, we weren’t fussy – from somewhere local – we weren’t fussy about that, either! We didn’t even care if they sold other products!

And so we did the rounds of the Zebra Rock Gallery Café; Lovells Gallery, Hoochery Distillery, the Sandalwood Factory and a number of Open Door outlets that sold Kununurra and Ord River Irrigation Scheme fresh produce!

Hard to believe, I know, but it’s not always all about cake

9 Kununurra Agricultural Show

They say you always remember your first time. And the Kununurra Agricultural Show was where I lost it.

My Cane Toad Race virginity, that is! (Read that awesome story HERE!)

The Cane Toad Race fund-raiser for Kununurra Wildlife Rescue topped the bill of weird and wonderful events celebrating rural life – with audience participation encouraged.

If you’ve never seen the Melon Olympics, where participants skate in watermelon shoes to throw honeydews into 44 gallon drums; a lawnmower race; the Kimberley Cowboy Challenge – a farmer’s daily life event multi-tasking race; and the Haystacking Challenge where a hapless volunteer perches atop an ever-growing stack of hay bales just before it topples then this is the place to be.

All accompanied by even more of that killer Kununurra produce!! Frozen chocolate-covered banana, anyone?

Experience all the fabulous fun for yourself at the Kununurra Agricultural Show on Friday 10^th & Saturday 11^th July, 2020!!  It’s the most fun you’ll have for $AUD20 (the 2020 cost of an adult admission).

10  Wyndham Rivers and Tides

It’s just over 100 km from Kununurra to Wyndham on the sealed main road, but the back route past Parry’s Lagoon takes you through stunning East Kimberley scenery (and more of those Boab Trees).  Stop at the lagoon for a wildlife extravaganza then continue to the small town of Wyndham with some of the highest tides in Australia, and the fantastic Five Rivers Lookout overlooking an incredible landscape.  Read more about things to do in Wyndham HERE.

11 Crocodile Spotting

Finding a crocodile in the East Kimberley is what’s generally known as a ‘sure thing’.  So take care when you find freshwater (the small ones) and/or saltwater crocodiles (the BIG scary ones) in Lake Argyle, both above and below the dam wall; in the Ord river; in any/all of Wyndham’s five rivers; in Parry’s Lagoon and right next to your campsite in Lily Lagoon.   Want more places to find crocodiles in Australia’s Top End?  Go HERE!

12 Sunset – Kimberley Style!

When you’ve enjoyed yourself to the max in the East Kimberley, max out a little bit more on a Kununurra Kimberley sunset. Sunset from pretty much anywhere will do, but our campsite by the lake gets my vote!

With nothing but the gentle hum of mosquitoes, plopping of crocodiles and chatter (and sometimes snoring!) of the Southern Grey Nomad to disturb you!

Staying in Kununurra (where 26º C is a COLD day) for any length of time puts the careless visitor in serious danger of having a food baby.  So it was just as well for us we left, albeit reluctantly, after 10 days!

The good news is that once you’ve seen the sights of Kununurra, there’s the rest of the awesome Kimberley Region to explore (Read my 7 Kimberley Random Adventures  HERE)!

Having trouble getting there?  Check out the best flights and get your Kununurra adventure off the ground NOW!

Want MORE?

• All about Kununurra
• Kimberley Region Travel Guide
• Red’s Kimberley Adventures
• MORE Kununurra Photos on Flickr
• MORE Kimberley Photos on Flickr

The post COOL Things to Do in Kununurra, Western Australia appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

Even without maps to guide them, Australian place names mean visitors to Australia – whether overseas tourists or aliens from beyond the Southern Cross – need not fear losing their way.

In some parts of Australia, anyway.

Thanks to the daring imagination and colourful speech of our colonial past, working out your location can be as simple as describing what you see.  So join me for a tour of several Australian place names that’ll have you scratching your head … NOT!

1 Big Bend, South Australia

The River Murray, part of Australia’s largest river system, wends its way from high in the Snowy Mountains, through Victoria and into South Australia where it meets the sea at – yes, you guessed right – the Murray Mouth.

But en route to this glorious spot on the South Aussie coast, the river winds through what would otherwise be the quite arid Riverland. What do you get when the river is winding through the cliffs? Bends, of course. So what would you call the biggest bend on the river just out of Swan Reach??

Big Bend, of course!  Incidentally, I bet you can’t guess how Swan Reach got its name …

MORE about Big Bend, Murray River

2 Black Mountain, Queensland

If the person responsible for naming Queensland’s Black Mountain had been slightly more descriptive, it’d be called ‘Mountain covered with house-sized black rocks, unusual plants and animals and odd smells – where weird things happen’.

The odd aroma surrounding Black Mountain National Park 25 km south of Cooktown en route to Cairns is as much a mystery as the local legends about disappearing people and stock, strange noises and unusual turbulence and magnetic fields over the mountain reported by pilots.

And it’s a habitat unique enough to support three endemic species – a skink, a frog and a gecko, the names of which are all preceded by ‘Black Mountain!’

But all that’s too much to fit into a single descriptive place name, so in a grand display of brevity, the unknown (to me) name-bestower chose the two most important words.

MORE about Black Mountain (Kalkajaka) National Park

3 Black Rock Falls, Western Australia

A waterfall that flows over black rocks can’t really be called anything other than Black Rock Falls, right?

And although this Kimberley beauty near Western Australia’s Kununurra wasn’t flowing on our visit, the path of the water was visible against the black rock surrounding the falls area.

When I saw our destination on the tourist map, my well-developed Australian place names deductive powers gave me a pretty good idea that I’d be seeing some combination of black, rocks and waterfalls.

I was right!

MORE about Black Rock Falls

 4 Yellow Water, Northern Territory

I’m not sure what colour the water is at midday or in the dark of night.  But I DO know what colour it was at sunrise as we clambered aboard the boat for Kakadu’s world famous Yellow Water sunrise cruise.

All the better to see the crocodiles with, the glow of the sunrise turned the lagoon into a shimmering sheet of gold, perfectly captured by Pilchard before the serious business of birdwatching began.

MORE about Kakadu National Park

5 Snowy River, New South Wales

OK, Ok, ok … this photo doesn’t REALLY prove my point!

But that’s because it was taken in autumn before the winter snow started. With its headwaters just below the summit of Mt Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest peak, and above Charlotte Pass, where Australia’s coldest temperature was recorded, the Snowy River is an Aussie icon. As is classic Aussie poem ‘The Man from Snowy River’!

I bet I don’t have to tell you how that got its name!

MORE about Mt Kosciuszko

6 The Pyramid, Queensland

I blame the Egyptians.

Their astounding ability to build massive and perfectly symmetrical three dimensional triangular objects from gigantic pieces of rock has given the rest of the world a ready-made name for any three-sided rock formation.

Even when the landscape in which the formations concerned are set bears absolutely NO resemblance to anything in Egypt.

I’m not sure whether or not the Pyramid at the bottom of OutBack Queensland’s Porcupine Gorge is a dead ringer for its Egyptian counterpart, but it really doesn’t matter.

I’m sure you can spot their similarities!

MORE about Porcupine Gorge

7 Circular Pool, Western Australia

To be fair, there’s a number of obvious names for a small body of water that’s pretty much round when viewed from above. So Circular Pool, in Karijini National Park could just as easily have been called Round Lake. Or Spherical Pond. Or Almost-Ovoid Baths.

HHHMMMmmm… maybe Circular Pool was the best choice after all!

MORE about Circular Pool, Karijini National Park

8 Rhino Head, South Australia

It doesn’t take much imagination to work out how Rhino Head got its name. At the eastern end of Stenhouse Bay and part of the spectacular scenery in Innes National Park, the Head is best viewed from the excellent Stenhouse Bay lookout walking trail.

And I can’t actually think of a better name for it. Can you?

MORE about Innes National Park

9 The Horn, Victoria

Victoria’s Mount Buffalo is a great hunk of rock like a landlocked island rising 1723 metres above the sea of the surrounding plain. While the climb (actually ‘drive’) up the Buffalo’s flank is steep, the plateau at the top belies its height above sea-level.

Mt Buffalo’s highest point is, of course, the Horn – a short but steep climb to a 360°view of the Victorian Alps.

And for an Acrophobic like me, the newly installed handrails, stairs and fence around the domed rocky summit made the whole thing a bit of a doddle. Well, almost!

MORE about Mt Buffalo

10 Pink Lake, Western Australia

The name of any lake in Australia that has a slightly different colour to normal is pretty much a foregone conclusion. But unlike other pink lakes in Australia coloured by salt, this Western Australian wonder’s unique colour is caused by beta-carotene!

Just south of Kalbarri near holiday town Port Gregory, the unusual and unnatural colour of the lake looks like a set from a B-grade science fiction movie.  But there’s no doubting the colour.  And hence the name …

MORE about Pink Lake

11 Redbank Gorge, Northern Territory

A dastardly combination of Australia’s ubiquitous RED Rock and our inability to think outside the square with our place names, Redbank Gorge’s name should come as no surprise.

Because yes, the rocky banks of this gorge are RED.

No secrets here! And the red is also a sobering reminder of fatal clashes between the local Aboriginal people and the early settlers.

While Redbank Gorge would fit the description of almost any of the several gorges along the Western MacDonnell Ranges from Alice Springs, it’s perhaps more surprising that it only describes this one.

Redbank Gorge, however, isn’t to be confused with South Australia’s Redbanks Conservation Park.

While this name doesn’t accurately describe the conservation park’s palaeontological wonderland, it DOES describe one of its main features!

See if you can work out which one from this photo … and see if you can tell which of these Australian place names is which!

MORE about Redbank Gorge, NT

and

Redbanks Conservation Park, SA

12 Five Rivers Lookout, Western Australia

Yes, there really ARE Five Rivers visible from this lookout on the Bastion (wonder why they called it that?!) high above Cambridge Gulf near Wyndham in the Western Australian Kimberley. The Ord, Pentecost, Forrest, Durack and King rivers all flow into the gulf but my camera wasn’t wide enough to capture all of them. Not even by stitching photos.

And even if it could, it wouldn’t do the staggering view justice. Or capture the view from what must be one of Australia’s most scenic public toilets.

So don’t take MY word for it – head up Wyndham’s Bastion and count those five rivers for yourself!

MORE about Five Rivers Lookout

13 Boulder Beach, New South Wales

What else would you call a beach covered with small boulders? At least it makes a change from the plethora of Sandy, Shelly, Rocky and Stony beaches along the Australian coastline.

And this fine beach, between Skennars and Lennox Head near Northern New South Wales town Ballina also lifts those coastal photographs out of the cliché category.

MORE about Ballina

Even though this is a long post, it’s really just a teaser! There are WAY more Australian place names that perfectly describe what you see, so YOU tell ME! Which ones have I missed??

The post 13 Australian Place Names that WON’T keep you guessing … appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

Bloated from a surfeit of mango smoothies from several Ord River irrigation scheme produce outlets and cafés during a mini-heatwave, we finally left Kununurra for the day and hit the Parry Creek Road eatery-free zone.

Going cold turkey was the only way to break the smoothie stranglehold, whether or not our abstinence caused the producers financial hardship.

While the significant cash spent on a scenic flight or boat tour as recommended by the Kununurra 7day tourist guide would be well worth it, we’d found the cheapskate self-drive tour of this part of the East Kimberley.

Which, as we found out, came with its own special entertainment.

Victoria Springs was easy to find as the road ran through its pleasant waterholes, so camera at the ready, I headed for the rocky bar above the waterhole to see what lay beyond. With a flourish, a grey nomad vehicle pulled up next to us. She alighted from the passenger seat and strode purposefully towards me. He stayed in the car.

‘What’s on the other side?’ she demanded, invading my personal space.

‘No idea,’ I replied and moved away, trying to shake her off. But that was clearly the wrong answer.

‘Well, climb over and tell me if it’s worth it,’ she snapped.

I checked the front of my shirt. Was it possible that I’d slidden into a nightmarish parallel universe where I was a tour guide?

BUT no.  NO ‘Amazing Australian Adventures’ tour guide badge adorned my lapel. That meant a) my quest to fail to become a tour guide was on track and, more importantly, b) this exacting oldster was just a rude cow. What a relief …

‘Why don’t you just get off your lazy butt and see for yourself?’ I DIDN’T say, opting instead for a more socially acceptable snub as I climbed the rocks to get away from her. ‘There’s another waterhole up here, but only you can judge whether or not it’s worth it,’ I flung back at her, moving further away.

The suspense was too great for her so she followed me up the rocks.

Sadly though, the view was apparently NOT worth it and resisting the urge to perform my first strangulation, I left her muttering to herself (and probably me) about how much better places X, Y and Z were …

Perhaps it was full moon.

By comparison, the short trek from the carpark to Black Rock Falls was uneventful.

Other than having to dive off the track to make way for the 4WD reversing erratically around the corner!

Our sense of adventure was clearly defective. It just hadn’t occurred to us to DRIVE down the narrow, rocky walking trail.

Then again, as we’d only spent about a third of what the lethal weapon ploughing its way backwards down the track towards us must have cost, we didn’t feel the same obligation to prove our 4WD credentials.

Possibly embarrassed about the shiny newness of his off-road vehicle, the driver reversed past us over a couple of small trees, rocks spinning off the wheels and undergrowth beating a tattoo on the underside of the car.

At that rate it wouldn’t stay so new-looking for long!

We continued down the newly-widened track and rounded the corner to find the falls only a few metres away through a thicket of scrub that even a 4WD driven possibly by a former bulldozer driver wasn’t able to penetrate.

Unlikely as it may seem, it’s possible there are those who would NOT immediately visualise black rocks and waterfalls upon hearing the words ‘Black Rock Falls’.

Such people therefore did NOT name Black Rock Falls as it’s a fairly unimaginative description of the actual falls, although not of the surrounding red cliffs or the blue sky above.

Or the magnificent reflections enhanced by the ‘magic’ setting on my camera!

As I manoeuvred my way around the rocks at the base of the falls, a small group of camera-toting grey nomads arrived. The designated photographer directed the others into position and started snapping.

‘I can’t fit the whole falls in the picture,’ she said after stepping back as far as possible. The other group members couldn’t help her. She turned to me, foolishly believing that just because I had a camera in my hand, I actually knew what to do with it.

And so it was that I unexpectedly found myself giving my very first photography ‘lesson’ as I showed her how to vertically stitch her photo. Scary, isn’t it?!

Does this mean I’m one step closer to being a – gulp – tour guide?

There was only one course of action possible to take under those circumstances.

So we broke the drought (of a few hours) and accompanied by sighs of relief from local producers, returned to Kununurra for yet another mango smoothie.

And to watch another magnificent sunset from our campsite, and the Kimberley full moon rise!

Want MORE?

• More about the falls
• Kununurra, Western Australia
• The Kimberley
• More of my Kimberley Adventures

The post Good Day at Black Rock Falls! Kununurra, Western Australia appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.