DAY 38 – Kununurra

Good Morning Kununurra!
 
Low 14°c (57°F) – High 32°c (90°F)
269km
 
This morning we set off around 10.00am intending to head to Wyndham and surrounds.
 
Burning off continues in the area with multiple fires going as well as smoldering bush that had been burned on previous days.  Of course more amazing scenery and colourful escarpments that just truly takes your breath away.
Stopped in at the Grotto which is a small gorge on the road from Kununurra to Wyndham, that can be reached by 140 steps (with no handrail), with a safe swimming hole and the 120 metre cliff face drops into the water, becoming a spectacular waterfall during the wet season which of course wasn’t “wet” when we were there.  I didn’t brave the walk down as the steps were quite uneven and frankly on a hot day (or any other day for that matter) I’m just not that fit.  Getting down would be one thing – getting back up would be a whole other issue.
 
Wyndham is…. well….. confusing!  Google Maps tells you that you’ve reached Wyndham at a T intersection outside the township where there is nothing but an intersection, while about 15km down the road is the township.  Another 5km along the Great Northern Highway is the Port of Wyndham.  I don’t begin to understand the intersection part of the relationship.  The Port of Wyndham, while still operating, looks more deserted than in use.  Aside from two young children walking down the street with their dog and one guy fishing on a jetty, we saw no-one who might constitute a local, just a few other tourists who ventured out onto the very new looking “Fisherman’s Jetty” surrounded by crocodile warnings.  Sadly no croc sightings for me today.
 
Clearly at one time there were a few tourist attractions here, including a Croc farm which evidently closed in 2014.  As we’ve found numerous times throughout our travels there are some obvious opportunities that seem to just be missed or it’s just too hard to make it happen.  One such building would be the old hospital in the main street. A sign out the front tells the story:
·        A makeshift hospital was built in 1887 and was partially demolished by a cyclone in 1892 and rebuilt in 1896
·        1909 the building was condemned as ant-ridden with temperatures inside 10 degrees hotter than outside.
·        1913 hospital demolished by a cyclone, rebuilt in 1914 with mosquito-proof rooms, operating room and nurses quarters added over time.
·        1936 Flying Doctor Base and wireless station erected next door to the hospital.
·        1937 patients segregated by race, a practice that continued until the 1960’s.
·        1956 extensive hospital additions and renovations including a maternity ward.  Much of the current building dates from this period.
·        1970 hospital closed and new hospital opened at 3-mile.
·        1975 old hospital became Wyndham Prison which closed in 1993
·        Property is now privately owned.
 
I’m not sure who owns it now but my… what an amazing piece of history and what an opportunity for tourists to learn about this incredible building.
 
There isn’t much else to the main street aside from a few old buildings that are obviously inhabited, the hotel motel that looks more like a demolition zone and what has become the requisite Boab trees. 
 
Meanwhile back in Wyndham Mach II we stopped off for lunch with not much expectation.  Obviously Crocs feature heavily around here and so it was the Croc Café that stood out as an obvious lunch choice.  We were surprised by very good quality meat pies that went down a treat but you really did have to fight the flies for a bite – they are really pesky around here.
 
If you’ve been following the blog you’ll already know about our BA (big ass) items we’ve come across – so now we can add the Big Croc!  At 20 metres long and 3 metres high, it’s hard to miss him at the entrance to town and a good reminder to all who visit about the dangers of the local salties.  We were also very pleased to read that the current Cyclone Status is All Clear.  Good to know.
 
Another little monument on the outskirts of town is the Afghan Camels Silhouette commemorating the Afghan cameleers and the pioneering spirit of the Wyndham Area.  The Afghan Cameleers played a significant role in the development and settlement of the Kimberley region and particularly in and around the Wyndham area.  Once gold was discovered at Halls Creek and Wyndham was proclaimed a port, the Cameleers were required to move goods and supplies from the port to the Goldfields prior to the arrival of motorized transport. There is also an Afghan Cemetery commemorating those who passed away between 1919 and 1942.
 
The population of Wyndham has continued to dwindle over the years from 780 in 2016 to just a few hundred people.  Wyndham is the northernmost town in the Kimberley region.
 
Via a few back streets you find your way up to the “Five Rivers Lookout” which is truly impressive, not only for its steep and winding ascent  to the top of the Bastion Range, but also for the spectacular views of the Ord, Forest, King, Durack and Pentecost Rivers where they combine and enter the Cambridge Gulf.
 
On the way home we detoured to the Moochalabra Dam on the King River which turned out to be a monumental (for us) 4wd expedition (without a 4wd).  Sometimes you get so far and think “bugger it we might as well go the rest of the way” which sometimes in hindsight seems a pretty stupid idea and other times offers great rewards.  In this instance it resulted in a minimal reward with a few interesting sights along the way, a dam of minimal interest as it was well fenced which limited any photo opportunities and a large scratch down the complete side of the car from a wayward branch that we saw just a little too late.
 
We were a lot later getting back to the van than we intended and quite tired as well.  The plans of bathing Kitty unfortunately went by the wayside as we would only have had about half an hour of daylight left by the time the hot water service in the van heated up and it is way too difficult and messy to dry her in the caravan.  So Kitty is a job for another day as we prepared to pack up for our next leg of the trip.
 
In the course of the evening we also discovered that one of Shane's new t-shirts glows in the dark - one happy big kid here!