Day 118 - Wednesday 1st May 2024

It's the 1st of May already; where has that time gone? The month of May had been this very distant time when I'll be returning home, and all of a sudden here it is. On the bright side, I checked Flight Radar and the Perth to London flight is direct again with no layovers in Singapore ..... but I'm getting ahead of myself by a few weeks!

Last night was one of those where I lay wide awake at around 01:00 and couldn't get comfortable again. I did get back to sleep eventually, and still awoke at 05:45 as has become a habit. Up and showered, and into breakfast before 07:00, then back to the cabin to finish the packing and loading the car for todays drive.

It was a projected five and a half hour journey to Kununurra in Western Australia today, and with a couple of planned stops and some planning to do in town before going to my accommodation, I figured that a departure at round about 09:00 would get me there at around 15:00. So, checked out and away from the cabin at 08:52, and onto the Victoria Highway as I headed south west for the first time since Victoria ..... there is a pleasing synergy there!

The planned first stop was in Judburra/Gregory National Park at the Escarpment Hike, and I arrived here after a couple of hours. The car park was adjacent to the main road, and I ventured onto the path. The full walk was 3 kilometres return, but there was no way I was going to attempt that in 34 degree temperatures, so I ventured in far enough (to just before the steps started to ascend the escarpment) to get some good views of the red escarpments before returning to the sanctuary of the air conditioned car.

Back onto the road, and at Timber Creek I stopped to consider the fuel situation; I had a remaining range of 100km more than the distance to go today, so passed on refuelling at a rather expensive service station. Back onto the road, and the next stop was just a few kilometres further on. I turned off of the Victoria Highway and onto a single track paved road to climb the escarpment to Nackeroo Lookout. This provided some great views across the Victoria River, but it was a real shame that so much litter had been left here.

Back onto the road, and I checked my sat nav ..... the time was 13:10 and my expected arrival time in Kununurra was 12:45. I had totally forgotten that Western Australia is in a different timezone with an hour and a half difference with the Northern Territories, so my planned arrival at 15:00 was a bit flawed!

The scenery along the road out of the Northern Territories has been absolutely stunning, but as with the rest of Australia there were no scenic viewpoints to pull off into to capture photos; this is where they could learn a thing or two from New Zealand. I saw my first Boab trees as I approached the border to WA, and along the side of the road was a mass of purple flowers. 

Through the border to WA and a check on whether I was bringing any fresh produces into the state (they are not allowed, and I wasn't) before proceeding once more. I felt like I was crawling along at snails pace; now that I've left the Northern Territories, the 130 speed limits have ended, and I'm back to a max of 110. It's fast enough; it just feels slow after the last couple of weeks.

I arrived in Kununurra at 12:30, and the first job was to find the local tourist information office. I needed to buy a WA Parks Pass so that I can enter the national parks here, but they pointed me in the direction of the Parks Council office. While there I did book a trip for the empty day I have tomorrow; I'm doing a sunset cruise on Lake Argyle .... it's 70km away, and I have a 140km range left, so I'll need to refuel before going to avoid squeaky bum time in another game of fuel roulette!

Onto the Parks office, and my pass for the WA National Parks was secured to cover me up to 28th May (by which time I'll be home, but the 4 week pass was the only option for my timescales!), then along to Kimberleyland Waterfront Holiday Park to check in.

I was discussing with the receptionist my plans while I'm here, and mentioned the Bungle Bungle trip where I'd been waiting for the minimum numbers ... she's booked onto the same trip as me on the day after tomorrow, so I thanked her for booking so I could go.

Here I have a cabin, but it's comparable to the cabin at Katherine in name only. While Katherine was a tad small and basic (some would say primitive) with an outside shower and loo, this place is fantastic; spacious, modern, en-suite and comfortable with a lakeside view from a patio area to die for. I've definitely landed on my feet for my three nights here!

There is a freshwater crocodile here that comes up to the shore just above the boat ramp. So at 16:15 I headed down there (well, I thought it was 16:15, but I hadn't changed timezone on my watch so it was actually 14:45!), and there he was just one metre away in the shallow water. You'd never mistake a Freshwater Crocodile with a Saltwater one; the Freshwater variety feeds on fish and is nowhere near as aggressive, and it's mouth is far narrower than it's salty brethren.

Then I headed for dinner; the restaurant across the road serves food from 17:00, and I was there at 16:50 ..... in NT but not here! Time to change my watch, and have a beer before heading back to my lovely cabin, then back at 17:00 actual time for a dinner of Chicken Schnitzel. As I was leaving the cabin, the sun was on it's way down and painting the most beautiful colours across the lake.

I returned from dinner in the dark at just after 18:00, and sat in the cabin updating the blog and video, and was suddenly aware of a noise by the door. I had a little green frog bumping against the glass of the door trying to get in, so I had to get a photo!