Kununurra and surrounds

We mentioned in our last post how excited we were that we would gain 1.5hrs crossing the border into WA!  Well this was short lived.  By gaining an hour and a half also means that the sun rises an hour and half earlier.  We have a little sparrow by the name of Sophie travelling with us who rises with the sun!  Yes so our days commence at around 5.15am.......... long days in WA.

So how have we filled in these long days?  Thankfully there is a little bit to do in and around Kununurra.  Below are some pics illustrating some of the local attractions

Ivanhoe crossing is just on the outskirts of town and you can normally cross the level with a 4WD but due to the massive wet season the north of Australia had last season the crossing is running too fast to cross

 

We then ventured out to Lake Argyle.  Lake Argyle was the ingenious conception of the famous Durack family, one of the first families to settle in the region.  Lake Argyle is a massive man made lake, and it's waters have the same navigational requirements for open sea.  It was developed to supply water for the Ord river irrigation system

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Argyle

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/durack-kimberley-michael-kim-10075

Jack and Sophie got to drive the boat.  Jack was a little reluctant at first but loved it once he got the hang of it

Yes there are freshwater crocodiles in Lake Argyle.  This one was sun baking on the banks!

Check out this pool!  Not a bad view.. It is part of the Lake Argyle resort, we did not stay here but gee we were tempted once we saw this pool

Off we ventured to El Questro Station for the day!  

A 3 and 4yr old do hinder what you can do at El Questro, as well as a raging grass fire in Emma Gorge, but we still managed to relax at Zebedee Springs.  

Thankfully we have been to El Questro prior to the kids and when Jack was 6mths old so we were not too disappointed.  

El Questro is a working cattle station that also markets itself as a Wilderness adventure park.  There is heaps to do in a short distance with magnificent gorges to explore and it is all within approx 80kms from Kununurra.  El Questro Station is at the eastern end of the famous Gibb River Rd.

http://www.elquestro.com.au/

If you have never been and you are thinking of heading to Kununurra you really should take the time to call into El Questro Station it is a lot of fun and heaps to to do and see.

 Jack, Sophie and I enjoying a warm waterfall at Zebedee Springs

No trip would be complete without turning Left out of El Questro Station and driving the 25kms to the Pentecost River crossing.  This is the beginning (or it could be the end pending which way you come from) of the Gibb River Rd. Once you cross the Pentecost you are in for some fun.

http://www.kimberleyaustralia.com/gibb-river-road.html

You can see the Cockburn ranges in the distance, these are a rich red in colour but due to the smoke haze they look a bit dull.  We will not be travelling the Gibb but staying on the bitumen heading Broome.  

We we leave Kununurra tomorrow and probably take a couple of days to get to Broome just in time to find a local pub to watch the Grand Final!  But seriously if we miss it who cares it is after all only Collingwood!

Timber Creek - Kununurra

Any trip to Timber Creek can not go without a stop at the Victoria River Region!

We chose to camp at Big Horse Creek which is about 10k from Timber Creek and part of the Gregory National Park located on the banks of the Victoria River.

http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/parks/find/gregory.html

Below is a pic of our first nights camp.

If you are thinking of joining the NT police and you love fishing, looks like Timber Creek Station is where you want to be posted!

It was a beautiful morning and I can only imagine how nice it would have been on the water

Jack and Soph enjoying watching many boats launch at the boat ramp!

So we accidentally took off on our road trip with Melinda's credit card in our wallet.  We only discovered this as we refuelled in Timber Creek.  Thanks Ninna for the fuel xx

On the Road again! heading to Kununurra WA

The scenery from Timber Creek to Kununurra is spectacular.  Rich red escarpments with boab trees randomly spread throughout the bush.

Bit of fancy photography to keep you entertained. All pics were taken on our iPhone! 

Word of advice for those that have never crossed the NT/WA border, make sure you dispose or eat all of your fresh fruit/veg, honey and walnuts!  The inspectors are very thorough, making Paul pop the van and crawl inside to look at the fridge and cupboards in the van!  Of course we new all about this and had not purchased our fruit and veg in Katherine.  I reckon they would catch a few grey nomads and back scratchers.

Once we reached WA we gained an hour and a half! Paul asked the quarantine inspector if we would be travelling back in time ..... No response was receieved. Paul's jokes doing just as well in WA.

The kids have been travelling really well so far!  As long as we keep them well nourished and watered they seem to drift off to sleep for an hour or so.  Lets hope this continues.

Off to Lake Argyle tomorrow.. x

Katherine she's gorgeous!

Paul has spent the last 3 weeks in Katherine whilst I finished up work and travelled down by bus. We have been taking in Melinda's very generous hospitality while visiting the local attractions; namely the Hot Springs in town, Katherine gorge pool, Katherine pool and Cutta Cutta Caves. It is has been a nice wind down following our hectic couple of months, which has included preparing and selling our house, holidaying in Bali and a quick trip to Vic to celebrate Nanna Edwards's 70th Birthday..

So this is our first post! Yippee. I am going to attempt to upload some video and photos of Melinda's house.

Jack enjoying riding his bike in Katherine... In his jocks!....

Sophie is sooo lazy! she refuses to ride her bike without the assistance of Paul pulling her by a rope... This has to change...

Ok Mum, Dad and other Edwards's who have not seen Mel's house below are some pics of the outside of Mel's house in Katherine

Mel's front drive

Front garden

Front Garden

The very loveable Coco xx

Hope you have enjoyed our first post of hopefully many. We would love you to comment as we go along. We thought this would be the best way for us to keep in touch and for you to share some of our experiences along the way

off to Timber Creek for an overnight stay on our way to Kununurra......