Northern WA & Crossing the Continent by Train

[henleybeach]

It’s been a while since a trip report, with my last being our trip to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in 2019.
Like most since covid19, we have travelled within Australia. During 2020 we spent 8 nights in Noosa, 2021 we spent 2 weeks in Tassie and earlier this year it was 5 nights at Magnetic island.
Late last year we started planning for a holiday mid 2022, at that stage overseas travel felt like years away! So we decided to go somewhere in Aus that we wouldn’t usually go. Mrs HB left it in my hands as usual so we fly out this Saturday heading for the west with the following plan -

ADL-PERTH with VA Y
overnight in Perth
PERTH - KUNUNURRA with VA J
4 nights in Kununurra
2 nights at Lake Argyle
KUNUNURRA - PERTH with Airnorth Y
1 night in Perth
PERTH to SYDNEY on the Indian Pacific in Gold Class twinette room (3n4d)
1 night Sydney
SYDNEY to ADL with Qantas Y

So far we have planned a dinner cruise on lake Kununurra, sunset cruise on lake argyle and a 3 hour scenic flight of the Bungle Bungles.
Open to suggestions of things to do up in northern WA, is Wyndham worth a visit?
We have a hire car for the 6 nights.

 

[RooFlyer]

Busman's holiday?

 

[henleybeach]

Busman's holiday?

That’s what I told Mrs HB- looking at her suitcase she’s already started to pack she’s not on the same page.
I’ve already told her to remove their heels as you won’t need them walking into the local tavern up there!

 

[Major]

Just remember that on the train you are not in Seat 1A

 

[henleybeach]

Just remember that on the train you are not in Seat 1A

And you don’t want cabin 1! Over the bogies.
Cabin 6 or 7 will be nice.

 

[craven morehead]

Following along

 

[henleybeach]

Today we departed for Kununurra on VA1635.
We arrived on time yesterday in Perth, we were originally booked in J however we got an email several months notifying the plane had been changed to A320. We went from seat 1 to seat 27 , it was hard to swallow!

The flight was absolutely chockers and no tea and coffee could be served due to water issues which also affected peoples ability to wash their hands in the toilets. Not ideal in normal times, let alone in these times!

The flight to Kununurra we were seated in 1a and I was nervous leading up to it, thinking it would get changed to a Fokker or an A320, however the 737 remained.

PD orange juice or water was offered for the 9-am departure and the cabin manager Kevin was excellent, customer service was 100 percent throughout the journey.

Breakfast options were muesli or zucchini slice with bacon, we both choose the latter and it was very nice.

Fresh fruit and a pastry was served as a side on the tray with coffee, water and sparkling wine.
Kevin offered pantry items approx 1 hour later,
however we were still full, but the sparkling kept flowing.

We landed on time and the approach was fantastic seeing Lake Argyle.

We grabbed the hire car and headed to our accommodation, Kimberlyland Waterfront caravan park. We were booked in a waterfront cabin with uninterrupted views of the water. There are only 4 of these cabins with direct views in the park so you have to book early!

Upon checking in, I was told every night a croc usually comes up on the grass out the front of our cabin

We stocked up some cheese, crackers and dips for some afternoon snacks and sit back on the balcony soaking the view and warm weather up.

 

[henleybeach]

Today we headed out for a look and we went to black rock pool, Molly springs and Wyndham.

The pools and springs were beautiful and I can imagine how much water would be dropping down in the wet season.
The country is just sensational up here!

We headed for Wyndham and thought we would stop at the grotto, however the road was closed due to back burning.

We continued on to Wyndham and got some lunch at the bakery (the only option really)
I got the barramundi pie and it was delish, and full of meat.
We drove to the port and walked along the jetty, and then headed up to the five rivers lookout, which provides a spectacular view.
Wyndham looked like it was once a thriving a town and the port part of town had a lot of the orginal buildings with their original signs still up. (Video hire shop, motel with cold beer sign etc)
Back to the balcony of the cabin enjoying a cold beer over looking the water!

 

[henleybeach]

I couldn’t get a decent photo of black rock pools which was the best one due to it being so vertically high. I video it- but I don’t think I can attach a video

 

[Daver6]

I couldn’t get a decent photo of black rock pools which was the best one due to it being so vertically high. I video it- but I don’t think I can attach a video

You need to upload the video somewhere like youtube and then use the media link to attach it to a post.

 

[henleybeach]

Found one the wife took of black rock

 

[pjm99au]

Thank you for the photos. My son is based and flying out of Kununurra at the moment but he’s not one for sending pictures so it’s good to see what he is experiencing.

 

[ellen10]

Sounds like a great trip, following along

 

[henleybeach]

We arrived at Lake Argyle around lunch time and checked into our waterfront cabin.
Lovely big spacious cabin, big balcony with views of the lake and the cliffs.

It was nice and warm so we headed to the renowned infinity pool for a swim.
The pool was like ice water, so we didn’t last long, but enjoyed laying next to the pool and watching everyone’s reaction when their first foot hit the water!
We had a lake argyle sunset tour with lake argyle tours at 230pm, so we went back and got ready.
This was a fantastic tour and the skipper/tour guide Greg was fantastic and his commentary was informative without being boring.
I highly recommend this tour, we seen some rock wallabies, a freshy, had a beer floating in the lake, and witnessed a sensational sunset with the colours constantly changing.

We got back around 630 and had some dinner in the beer garden at the resort.
Not cheap ($34 for parmy) but to be expected here.

 

[henleybeach]

He is coming

 

[henleybeach]

Find the Rock Wallaby

 

[henleybeach]

 

[VPS]

Find the Rock Wallaby
View attachment 281246View attachment 281248View attachment 281247

It did take a little while

 

[RooFlyer]

He is coming

A freshie?

 

[henleybeach]

A freshie?

A freshie?

Yep they estimate there are 20k of them in lake argyle, we did see a few of them laying on the rocks in afternoon and we watched one grab a big fish and we could hear it crunch away it’s dinner