Bungles, and then some – at Kununurra

[JohnM]

This afternoon it’s on an Air North (QF codeshare) E190 PER-KNX until Saturday morning for some warmth and exploration. PJM hasn’t previously been to Kununurra, but I’ve kicked around there a few times before, so I have a few (surprise) activities planned to take in the classic sights of the region – and in AFF-appropriate ways.

QF, through TL, only flies direct twice per week; otherwise daily as a QF service to BME and then TL BME-KNX. VA flies PER-KNX direct five days of the week.

It’s school holidays and well into the peak dry season tourist time, so everything will be chockers, and undoubtedly with acute staff shortages. I made sure to secure bookings for accommodation and activities back in January – but even that was barely enough lead time.

 

[JohnM]

Flight delayed 0.45h. No worries - the PER JLounge bar is open and the pizzas rolling…

 

[craven morehead]

Enjoy mate

 

[RooFlyer]

Flight delayed 0.45h. No worries - the PER JLounge bar is open and the pizzas rolling…

I once read of your fine dining described as having 'scraps'. Good to see you are keeping up appearances

 

[JohnM]

I once read of your fine dining described as having 'scraps'. Good to see you are keeping up appearances

It’s no FLounge, but they make good fresh pizzas. I recall when the PER Dom JLounge opened, they made a thing about having the pizza oven/pizza chef. They certainly get scoffed.

 

[RooFlyer]

I recall when the PER Dom JLounge opened, they made a thing about having the pizza oven/pizza chef.

Ah, sorta like when they installed a sandwich toaster in the HBA QP - they made a media announcement

 

[JohnM]

Normally I never eat in the lounge apart from some nuts with a glass of wine as I’m normally on QF in J and eat in the air - although with recent offerings and after seeing what was on offer in the lounge I’m beginning to wonder if that is a mistake...

So I’ve never previously had the pizzas. Today, being in whY on the TL bird and originally scheduled to depart at 1400h (eventually got airborne at about 1530h) I suggested to PJM that we have some lunch in the lounge. Never done so before and so have never really taken much notice of what is on offer.

The pizzas are actually pretty good. They have a sort of ‘pizza corner’ with some decent ovens and the dedicated pizza chef. Two styles on offer, fresh out of the oven and tasty. PJM had some pasta salad that she enjoyed. The food offering was pretty good: apart from the pizzas and the salad, there was soup, pasta and bolognaise sauce, crudites and dips and sandwich/roll-making stuff.

 

[JohnM]

Pretty impressed with the TL flight. On an E190. IIRC my first time on this type.

Even though on a QF ticket, we had to check in at TL in T3 at PER. Default seating 15E,F. Asked if anything further forward was available and got 5E,F. That’s better - and even better when we got aboard: first row of whY.

Two abreast in whY (1 & 2 abreast in J). Great legroom.



F&B offering was tea/coffee and snack thingy plus cheese and crackers (c’mon QF… in J). J pax got the same. No IFE but that’s no issue for me.

 

[JohnM]

OK, back home yesterday afternoon after a jam-packed time away. Arrived at KNX and waiting to check in when the dreaded “Airnorth regrets to inform that your flight to PER has been cancelled owing to crewing issues. We are working on re-routing you via BME or DRW.”

Hmmm, thinks me, this is the last Saturday of the school holidays; good luck with that one – and no QF status privileges to fall back on with Airnorth.

But, 20 or so minutes later, an announcement that the crewing issue was resolved and there would only be a delay of about an hour. And so it came to be.

Righto, rewinding back to Tuesday and resuming the ride to KNX.

Hauling out of PER.



Getting out over rangeland and mining areas.



Moon rising. It was a full moon two days later.



The wriggly track to the west of Lake Disappointment is the Canning Stock Route (Way into the WA wilderness).

 

[JohnM]

With the flight delay it was dark by the time we arrived in KNX. Just grabbed the rental car and headed to our accommodation and a couple of wines and dinner. Next morning, there was time before our first scheduled activity for a sightseeing drive around Kununurra so PJM could get an impression of the area.

Ivanhoe crossing, downstream of the Diversion Dam. Saltwater croc territory.



Cotton pickin’…



Various irrigated crops on the flat valley floor. All the water is gravity-fed. Cultivating and laser-levelling an adjacent field.



The Ord River irrigation scheme was a classic example of enthusiastic mid-twentieth century politically driven dam-building and agricultural expansion into new areas and crops (Ord River - Wikipedia).

The Diversion Dam, at Kununurra was built in the early 1960’s as a means to hold back waters of the Ord River and divert them into the main irrigation channel feeding out into the rich soils of the flat valley floor. The Ord has massive flows in the Wet, so the dam had to allow for enormous through-flow. This was done through large radial gates.

Ultimately, with the high variability of water flows between years, the backed-up storage in Lake Kununurra (in reality just a banking-up of the river rather than an expansive reservoir) was not sufficient to reliably feed the irrigation needs.

A second or Upper dam, of earth-fill construction, was built upstream in the early 1970s forming what is now known as Lake Argyle (Lake Argyle - Wikipedia). It holds a volume of water equivalent to 15-20 Sydney Harbours.

 

[JohnM]

After that scoping around Kununurra, it was back to our accommodation to be picked up at 1130h for the drive to Lake Argyle which was to be followed by the afternoon spent travelling by boat down the Ord River back to Kununurra.

The Upper Dam was destined to inundate the historic Argyle Downs homestead, the home of the pioneering Durack family who had driven cattle a massive distance from SE Queensland to settle in the Ord River area (Argyle Homestead Museum - Home of the Duracks) so plans were set in place to relocate the homestead and outbuildings to high ground near the dam. These became somewhat unstuck when Lake Argyle filled in two wet seasons instead of the 7 or so predicted from average (but highly variable) Wets.

In the end, only the homestead could be hurriedly deconstructed and moved. It now forms a small museum and the burial place for Durack family members and associates. Mary Durack, the acclaimed author and historian is buried there (Mary Durack - Wikipedia).

She had a significant aviation link in her husband Horrie Miller (co-founder of MacRobertson Miller Airlines (MMA) MacRobertson Miller Airlines - Wikipedia) (later taken over by Ansett) and their daughter Robin Miller a nurse and aviator, known as The Sugarbird Lady through her work delivering Sabin polio vaccine by air to outback WA, and who unfortunately died of cancer at age 35 (Robin Miller (nurse) - Wikipedia.

Mary’s younger sister Elizabeth was a famed artist who ran into some controversy when it was revealed that she had also painted under the nom de plume ‘Eddie Burrup’ (Elizabeth Durack - Wikipedia).



Map of the cattle drive. 7PD was the cattle brand, 7 being Patsy Durack’s lucky number.

 

[JohnM]

‘Patsy’, the resident bowerbird has his bower just outside the fence behind the tree in the corner in the picture above.



Then on to the Ord River Dam.

 

[JohnM]

Off to the boat ride part of the day. About 55km down river to Kununurra.



There are many freshwater crocodiles in Lake Argyle and in the river downstream to Kununurra. With the modified habitat, they can grow to an unusually large size for a freshie.



Fruit-eating bats.



Horse drinking…

 

[JohnM]

Stop for afternoon tea.

 

[JohnM]

Black-headed python slid by, while a bungarra stared us down and an old digger looked on...



A fissure in the rock apparently has a spectacular waterfall in the wet. The water hits a rock platform just above the water level and sprays horizontally out of the fissure.



Big gnarly boab and rock wallaby.



Elvis head shadow.

 

[JohnM]

Elephant Rock.



And so ended a great day out. Triple J Tours (Triple J Tours - Boat Cruises along the Ord River & Lake Argyle). Highly recommended.

 

[JohnM]

Another day, another activity…

This time, out to KNX for an 0900 flight to Purnululu NP, within which lies the World Heritage-listed Bungle Bungle Range or The Bungles (Nb. Not The Bungle Bungles) (Bungle Bungle Range - Wikipedia).



It’s about an hour’s run from KNX to Bellburn strip (BXF (IATA)/YBEB (IACO)) in a Cessna Grand Caravan.

Let’s get aboard this bird. Shelby’s our driver.



Hauling out of KNX and the main irrigation channel.

 

[JohnM]

Lake Argyle coming into view.



The dam wall is tiny relative to the scale of the impounded water. Lake Argyle tourist village off to the right.



I need to work out how to remove extraneous tracks from ExplorOz Traveller…



And on and on we go tracking down Lake Argyle and towards BXF.



Woot, woot! Our target.

 

[JohnM]

 

[JohnM]

Kick-off point for our walk. About a 3km round trip. Issued with excellent lunch packs. We’ll dine on the track…



Red wind-blown crust coating from the desert over the white sandstone gives protection against erosion - until it’s breached. Black is from cyanobacteria. These little hills are ancient…



Termite mounds and mud pipes to underground feeding pop up in all sorts of places depending on where the wind randomly landed a founding queen.