Kununurra

If you visit Kununurra, there is one thing you must do without fail - Climb Kelly’s Knob. Of course for the competitive price of free, you get to walk 600m and climb up the Knob to enjoy 360 degree views of Kununurra. Bonus points for doing it at either sunrise or sunset.

Courtesy of friend Karl, we managed to leave the campervan at the Lake Kununurra Caravan Park. He had a casual itinerary all planned out for us. First stop was the Ivanhoe Crossing. A concrete causeway over the Ord River. Apparently it was originally the main road to Wyndham, but now its mostly flooded as a result of the Ord irrigation project in the 1960s. The same project that resulted in the creation of Lake Argyle of course.

The next day we stopped into the Sandalwood Shop, for some Sandalwood everything. Incense, perfume, body butter, wood, nuts, nougat…all Sandalwood. We even watched a video about the stuff.

A quick trip to Celebrity Tree Park. Apparently a park, where celebrities plant trees, and erect a plaque reminding everyone of this. It’s actually a decent park in itself and the trees will secure its future and I’ve heard even potential expansions. We also had a quick drive into the mini bungles and Mirima National Park.

Towards lunch we popped into the Hoochery Distillery. Cellar Door and Rum Tasty is the blurb on the website. It’s not wrong. There are a limited selection of rum tasting paddles and also a bunch of limited snacks.

The last stop of note in Kununurra was The Pumphouse restaurant down the road from the Caravan Park. According to the website, the restaurant is ‘an absolute sublime culinary experience’. The food was good. Book a table, turn up just before sunset and grab a terrace seat and watch the mass exodus of bats flying west along the lake. That’s the real experience. Tomorrow is Lake Argyle.