ALL AROUND AUSTRALIA: April 2010

25-29 April, 2010. Lilly Creek Lagoon with the Sleeping Budha in the background.... This is the scene as you enter KUNUNURRA. It was only established in 1960 to house all the people connected with the Ord River Scheme which was completed in 1971. This was a most ambitious project to dam the Ord River and open up 1 1/2 million acres of land for irrigated agriculture. The dam is called Lake Argyle.

The lake and lagoon pictured above were formed when water was diverted during the construction of the dam wall.

A view of Kununurra from the lookout with the lagoon in the background.....

The caravan park...... surprisingly few travellers for this time of year....

Our caravan park is accessed via a causeway over a corner of the lagoon and crocodiles cross the road to get to the water on the other side!!! Too bad if you're walking home with the groceries at the time!!

ZEBRA ROCK GALLERY, KUNUNURRA

Visited a lovely property where they sell Zebra Rock which is only found in the nearby Lake Argyle area of Australia. It can only be mined in the dry season when the water in the lake is low.....

The outdoor work shed where they cut and polish the stone. The make jewelery, ornaments and souvenirs...

A plaque on the shed wall.......

At the bottom of the garden was a jetty with a wonderful view of the Budha......

There were hundreds of fish in the water waiting to be fed and they went into a frenzy when we threw them some food.... and then someone else turned up.... a "freshie"..... a harmless freshwater crocodile.

When we took a closer look at all the pictures we took there was another image of something much more sinister lurking under the water...... there are "Salties" in the lake - very dangerous salt water crocodiles.

Salties can live all their life in fresh water. There are two who hang around the caravan park called George and Mildred. One has part of its top jaw missing and the other part of its bottom jaw - this is probably the male as they fight for their territory when they are young.

PENTECOST RIVER & THE COCKBURN RANGE

A road check to ensure that the Pentecost River crossing is open (several roads closed due to recent rains).

A reminder about road trains..... they are so long you need a clear kilometre to safely overtake.....

One of the hazards of sharing the road with a road train - here a prime mover with three trailers - there's no room to pass and thick dust often conceals the dangers.

Wolfgang kicking up his own dust under the magnificent Cockburn range

Approaching the Pentecost River crossing.........

Wolfgang crossing.......

And returning............

DAY TRIP TO WYNDHAM

The Grotto - a natural amphitheatre of rock which falls away from the ground..... on this day the waterfall was dry...

There were nearly 150 precarious steps to the floor of the Grotto!!

Overhanging ledges....

The water in the bottom is nearly 100 metres deep and very cold......

Stopped at a nearby river where there were some old and twisted boabs.... and a forest of "new" ones....

PARRY LAGOONS NATURE RESERVE

Our next stop was Parry Lagoons an important feeding and breeding area for many birds and a stopover point for migratory shorebirds, some from as far away as Siberia.

A Little Egret on a lilly pad. This bird is different from other egrets in the way it collects its food. It will dart here and there in active pursuit of its prey whereas other egrets stand still and allow the aquatic life to come to them.

A Great Egret. It is a solitary bird....

A Darter drying its wings. These birds, which dive into the water to catch their food, are not waterproofed like ducks and get too waterlogged to take off.... at this stage they can easily be approached.....

Plumed Whistling Ducks having lots of fun splashing around! They have large white feathery plumes which flutter out from their flanks. Their name comes from their plumage and a loud and constant whistling sound when they take off in mass.

A Brown Falcon..... just one of many other birds in this lagoon. Could have spent hours here but the skies opened up and we got drenched!

WYNDHAM - WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S MOST NORTHERLY TOWN

This town is in the East Kimberleys, 3,216 kms NNE of Perth and 100 kms north of Kununurra. It was originally settled in 1886 when gold was discovered and although that quickly declined, the town remained as a port for the growing pastoral industry. The town is situated on Cambridge Gulf above (off the larger Joseph Bonaparte Gulf SW of Darwin).

The tides here are up to 12 metres high - the second highest in the world. When the tide is out there are extensive mud flats as you can see here. Crocodiles can come in on the high tide waters and easily penetrate inland areas.

Part of the township can be seen below as well as two ships in the harbour- probably transporting live cattle overseas as we saw stock roadtrains heading into Wyndham. Several major rivers, such as the Ord and Victoria, run into the gulf.

In town in the Warriu Park we saw statues of a traditional family camp....

.... and the Big Crocodile. Looks like the car could be next on the menu!!

LAKE ARGYLE

Part of Lake Argyle..... more than 6 times the size of Sydney Harbour.....

Another view of this vast dam..... it was Anzac Day and the flag flew at half mast...

A picture taken from the top of the dam wall looking down towards the spillway.......

Below the spillway, the Ord River flows north about 150 kms towards the sea and fills the irrigation channels on its way. We had a picnic lunch in a beautiful park amongst the trees up on the left .....

When we had our picnic lunch we fed the birds and a whole family of Great Bowerbirds swooped down. Just a few metres away we saw this bower and a male bird up to all sorts of antics trying to lure a female into his magnificent bower - he had collected white rocks, white wrappers, white bones, broken glass, ring pulls, etc (they like red objects, though we saw none here, unlike Satin Bowerbirds who like blue or yellow objects). The lady bird was not impressed and I watched him through the binoculars fussing over the bower - removing a twig here and putting it there..... very much like a fussy German I know!!

When most of the Argyle Downs Station was submerged by the lake (home of the famous Durack family of "Kings In Grass Castles" fame), the stone homestead was moved and rebuilt. We went to have a look through but I was disappointed as I expected a rather grand house and instead found a very small, cramped home. However, I did snap this little Double-Barred Finch in a seed bowl hanging on the front veranda.

Back in Kununurra, we drove a few kilometres north of the town towards the famous Ivanhoe Crossing.

All along the way were irrigated farms.... there were hundreds of acres growing this experimental crop of sandlewood (the small bushes between the tall trees). Sandlewood is used as a base in all the world's top perfumes. It takes 20 years to mature and is a parasitic plant so it needs a companion plant to feed off. Eventually it kills the trees growing beside it. We also saw thousands of acres of mango trees - their tops cut square to accommodate the mechanical pickers. Rice is also an experimental crop here.....