Kununurra

Thurs 10^th – Sat 12^th July 

Looking like an oasis as you come into it, the highway crosses the river at Diversion Dam, with one side held back in a large water storage with a swimming beach, boat ramp and picnic areas with neatly trimmed lawns dotted with shade trees. The other side down below, is a picturesque waterway with ridges of rock. We booked into a caravan park at Happy Valley and spent most of the day washing and shopping. Our site is surrounded by bushes and trees and the ground is covered with green grass (haven’t had that in weeks). We look out on a huge round, rocky hill in front with people the size of ants looking down at us from the lookout on top. At the back is a line of rocky cliffs with layers of coloured rock. In the morning the sun shines on the front one and in the evening it shines on the back one. The colours and shadows look magnificent. Mick at last found someone at the RACWA who could explain all the ins and outs of inverters, solar power, batteries, Anderson plugs and assorted other things we didn’t know.  

Kununurra was established in 1960 to service the Ord River Scheme which began in 1971 when the Ord River was dammed.   The Hoochery is a family run rum distillery, the oldest legal sill in WA. It is a small business with most processes done by hand. The lady said that they have to pay approximately $10,000 excise to the government every Tuesday – that’s not so much based on their sales, but on what is brought out of storage to sell. The place is built of corrugated iron that looks aged. There were barrels dotted around, and behind the sales area was a large shed with big tables and a food servery called Rum Jungle. There was a mini tank from which to get water. The place had such an inviting atmosphere that we decided to have lunch there and   really enjoyed our barra, chips and salad. The batter was so thin you could see the fish through it and we finished off with their Famous Ord River Rum Cake. The whole meal was delicious.

Our next stop was a sandalwood factory which operates from soil to oil.  The Indian Sandalwood, which is grown there is a hemi parasite that connects to the root system of four different host trees for nutrition and moisture throughout its life of 15 years.  At that age the whole tree is harvested, including the roots. At that age it is 7m tall and has a diameter of 25cm at the base. There is also an Australian sandalwood, but the oil yield isn’t as good as the Indian one. The orchard, covering more than 76 square kms looks very unusual with all of the different trees. The heartwood of the sandalwood sells for $100,000 per tonne and essential oil is obtained from steam distillation of chips cut from it. Sandalwood has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and relaxant properties. There were lots of testers in the showroom so we came out moisturised, smelling beautiful and very relaxed.

 

 

The zebra rock factory where the brilliantly coloured rock has been shaped and polished into many objects was an interesting stop off.   Zebra Rock is a unique stone only found in the Kimberley Region.  Identified by rhythmic red/brown banding or rods geologists are yet to agree on how the patterning has been formed. It is composed mostly of small particles of quartz and fine grained white mica, but it also contains other minerals. It is a soft rock, making it easy to work with (so they say). Some of the objects in the gallery were really beautiful to look at, lovely to touch and I would have loved to buy them.

Also in the gallery were a number of paintings by local artists and some boab nuts that have been carved. The nuts vary in size from about 3 – 20cm long. When dry they can be used as maracas, or split in half and used as a drinking vessel. The pithy interior is high in vitamin C and can be eaten straight from the nut or ground into powder and mixed with water to make a milky, lemon tasting drink. Mixed with wild honey and cooked it makes a custard. The seeds can be roasted and eaten like peanuts. Large boab nuts can have up to 100 seeds in them. To carve them you first have to rub off the mossy covering.

As I type I can hear the fireworks going off at the Kununurra Show. Friday was the smoke and alcohol free day. I guess it’s on for young and old on Saturday. I read the program and it’s a real old country show with whip cracking, tug-a-war, lawn mower races, watermelon sports, three legged races and lots more. There are several singers and bands performing and it all seems to revolve around the Crackup Sisters.

Sign outside shopping centre