17-Jun-05
| We travelled north from Lake Argyle to Kununurra where we spent 3 nights. The town of Kununurra is relatively new, as it was developed to support the booming agricultural industry that developed after the Ord River Dam was built. | ||
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We drove out to Wyndham, which is the main port in this area for the export of beef, sugar and the other local produce. There is a lookout on top of a hill that give an amazing view of the 5 rivers that converge here and flow out into the Cambridge Gulf, these are the Forrest, Durack, Pentecost, King and the Ord. View from the Five Rivers Lookout near Wyndham |
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There is a large wetlands area called Parry's Lagoons where we spotted a Great Bustard. There were good walkways and hides that were free for anyone to use complete with descriptions of the birds that could be found there. Great Bustard | |
| Parry's Lagoon |  |
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We have been eating baked beans and dry toast for the last few months so that we could save enough money to pay for a flight over the Bungle Bungles. On Friday, we had enough dollars so went for a 2 ½ hour scenic flight. We flew over Lake Argyle on the way out so could see the islands we had sailed around the day before. |
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The Bungle Bungles are in the Purnululu National Park in a remote area of the Kimberly's which few people knew about prior to the early 1980's. The site is World Heritage listed. The tall beehive looking rock formations were formed 360 million years ago and are made of sandstone. Here are some of the photos I took. |
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Remember that these photos were taken from about 3000 feet so those are deep chasms. In a few days we have planned to leave the van and drive into the National Park to spend a few nights camping and walking there. | |
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On the way back, we flew over the Argyle Diamond Mine that is the world's biggest producer of diamonds. It also produces the extremely rare Pink Diamonds which sell for up to $1M per carat (0.2gram). We didn't bother to stop. That's one enormous hole in the ground! The small dot in the deepest part of the hole at the top right is a large front-loading excavator. The Argyle Diamon Mine. |
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