Thurs 10th
– Sat 12th 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.
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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.
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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.
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Sign outside shopping centre |
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