Katherine to Kununurra 2009

August 20th, Packed up and ready to leave Timber Creek, was chatting with our neighbours and they told us, that when we cross the border into Western Australia we have to stop at the 24 hour Quarantine Station. Things not allowed into WA are fresh fruit & vegies, nuts, honey, cane toads and grass seeds, to name a few. Of course, we didn’t know about these strict Quarantine requirements and had stocked up on our shopping before leaving Katherine, including fresh fruit and vegies. Promptly we then ate the bananas and gave all our vegies to the cleaner at the Caravan Park, who was delighted to take them off our hands. We were told that we would be able to keep our carrots, so we did. We had cut some sandwiches for lunch which had tomato on them, so decided that we would eat them before the border. We were cruising along, enjoying the changing scenery and around the bend, 40klms from our destination at Kununurra, we site the 5klm sign to the Border and we still hadn’t eaten our sandwiches. Just as we reach the border there was a roadside picnic area, so in we ducked to have early lunch, while eyeing the Quarantine Station only 30 metres away. We pulled into the Q’Station and was greeted by a very pleasant Officer who checked the fridge in the Caravan and did take the carrots, as they were not allowed. He spotted Val as someone he could have a joke with and proceeded to tell her any beer we were carrying was not allowed because of the hops content and wine also made from grapes. Well, Val went 3 shades paler, knowing that we were carrying 3 four litre casks of wine. Anxiously he then said, “Is it good wine?” and when told it was only cask wine, he told her to have a nice day and could go. Val had read in a travelbook that when crossing the border heading west to add 1.5 hours, which we did and set out watches. We drove on to Kununurra and after booking into the Ivanhoe Village Caravan Resort, went to the Information Centre, to get info on the local sights. Checked the time to make sure our setting was correct, only to find we were out by 3 hrs, as we should have wound our watches 1.5 hrs back. It pays to check. Next stop was the Supermarket and bought $30 worth of fruit & vegies.




August 21st, I can’t believe that in a small country Town I was able to buy the Printer that I could not get in Darwin. How lucky is that. To-night we did a “Sunset BBQ Dinner Cruise” on the Ord River, which took in the Lily Creek Lagoon and saw the sunset over The Diversion Dam. We started with nibbles on board, a beautiful BBQ and fresh local fruit for desert. On the return trip they connected up a spotlight and we went Freshwater Croc. Spotting and there were plenty to see. A very enjoyable cruise with friendly and informative staff.



August 22nd, Ready at 7.45am, we are picked up from our Caravan Park to go on a 5 hour Bus Tour with Kununurra Scenic Bus Tours. We were taken on a tour through Kununurra and the Ord Valley, drove across the Diversion Dam to view it from the outlet side, took in the panoramic views from Kelly’s Knob Lookout, on to the Ivanhoe Crossing and took a great photo of a 4 WD crossing the weir. We saw a lot of the Sandlewood and Fruit Farms, which were all supplied with gravity fed ditch water from the Ord River Water Scheme. We were taken to some interesting Galleries and were especially impressed with the polished rock artwork all made at “Rockalong Stonework”. We finished off the Tour with a visit to Hoochery Distillery where they make Ord River Rum. The rum liqueurs were really great. A very extensive and informative tour.

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