Day 41 - Monday 13 August - On to WA's most northerly town, Wyndham

Day 41

Monday

13 August

Lake Argyle – Kununurra – Wyndham

Began book 8, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society By Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

Paul woke in discomfort, is back having ceased up further during the night and he was now in need of a chiropractor. I was glad I had seen a sign for one on the board in Coles over the weekend. This would have to be our first port of call. 

We stayed in bed, happy to doze until 7.30am and then we got underway. All the usual stuff out of the way and the car packed, we made our way to Kununurra. This time I was the driver, as it was too much for Paul to manage. 

We arrived at the Coles at 9, grabbed the address and drove the 200m to the Chiro. Unfortunately, Paul couldn’t get in until 8.20am tomorrow, so we were left hoping for a cancellation and a decision about our day. We had planned to head to Wyndham and check out the northerly town and in the end, we decided to stay with the plan we had made. 

We stopped for fuel and then returned to the Victoria highway, heading back towards the Gibb River Road, but instead of taking the left we continued on the further 50km. The last 25km were painful as there were roadworks happening and it was slow going. We eventually reached the town at 11.30am. 

I had read in the local Kununurra rag that the new bakery was worth a stop, as they were serving up barramundi and croc pies. Seeing our stomachs were rumbling, we pulled in to the side road and parked up outside the shop. We ordered one of each pie and sat sharing the spoils. The barramundi pie had a distinct fish taste, but the croc one tasted like chicken. They were both delicious and served their purpose of filling our bellies.

We drove down the main road and out to the Wyndham Port. We found a place to park by the new jetty and we alighted the car and began the walk along the new structure. From here we could watch the murky, brown waters of the Cambridge Gulf disappear rapidly. There was plenty of movement of water, but not of life from what we could see, which wasn’t much in these waters. 

We returned to the car and drove up the road, passing the port and the remains of the original residency for the magistrate. I did a quick walk around the building and read the plaque, before joining Paul back in the car and on to the town. 

We stopped in at the local caravan park, where the largest boab in captivity is housed. Paul remembers parking by this boab and pitching his tent behind it when he was here in 1986. We checked out the size of the boab, walking the perimeter and marvelling at its 2000 years. 

From here, we wound our way through the town and up the hill to the Five Rivers Lookout. It was a beat of a feat getting up the hair pin turns, but we eventually made it to the top, joining plenty of others who were taking in the view. From here you were able to see the Pentecost, King, Durack, Forrest and Ord Rivers emptying into the Cambridge Gulf. The mud flats were well defined and sent out their spidery patterns across the landscape. 

The town and port were also clearly defined. We could even see cows being loaded onto a boat ready to be shipped off to foreign lands somewhere. Unfortunately, it was particularly hazy, so the horizon wasn’t particularly clear.

After our trip up the hill, we made our way back through the main street of town and stopped briefly at the large croc structure, before beginning our trip home once again. There wasn’t much else to see in Wyndham. 

We cleared the roadworks, but only just, passing through thick clouds of red dust that left me driving blind. I was enjoying watching the dust settle, like dry ice on a dance floor, floating above the red dirt road after a vehicle disturbed it. It was smooth driving following this though. 

About 10km out of Kununurra, we stopped at Dunholm River. Paul took his fishing gear down to the water, while I grabbed all my computer bits, keen to do a bit of catch up while I had the chance. We spent an hour, by the water’s edge, in the late afternoon sun, it was peaceful when the traffic wasn’t passing over the bridge, which echoed the noise like a loud speaker. I did what I could, while Paul attempted to catch something, he didn’t. 

We packed it up at 4pm and drove into town, collecting some beers and then I had the last 70km to burn off before home. We finally arrived just before 5pm, greeting our new neighbour and having a chat about the where’s and how’s of what to do. 

I was starving, so began dinner, while going through the photos from today. We ate, washed up and then sat about enjoying the serenity of the evening.