Leaving Lake Argyle we drove 45mins to arrive in Kununnura.
Here we visited the tourist information centre to get details on Wyndham and
the latest on the Gibb River Road conditions. We then stocked up on groceries
and had a coffee while waiting for the bottle shop to open - Sippy needed some
beer re stocked and the store didn’t open until midday.
Back in the car, we headed further north to Parry’s Creek
Farm, getting our first view of the Cockburn Ranges. Parry’s Creek was an
awesome two--night stay. After checking in and setting up with no neighbours in
the non-powered section, we went over to view the river and there on the
opposite bank in full view was a 3-metre salt-water crocodile! It was massive.
A little concerning – we definitely checked under the van as we exited each
morning – well Sippy did as I sent him out first! We had set up camp about 40 metres from the
river, after being warned about the salt-water crocs at check-in, but a family
with small children and a dog chose to set up right along the bank – argghhh.
Just not sure why??
At dusk we were back in the car, unhitched, and bounced
along a 4WD only track down to Marlgu Billabong Bird Sanctuary, within the
Parry Lagoons Conservation Park. This was a magical experience – similar to the
scene in the movie The Notebook – but better! There were so many beautiful birds,
feeding, gliding along the water and flying in formation overhead. The symphony
from them all was so, so beautiful and we had the place all to ourselves! As
Sippy took a close up photo of one water bird (from the raised deck platform we
were standing on) he captured the head of a crocodile as he lowered – so they
were watching us even though we didn’t see it! We do have it captured on camera
though. We stayed to watch the sunset over the water and then dragged ourselves
away, so as to be safely back at the campsite before it was too dark. We were glad
of Sippy’s big spotlight and the bumper bar as we drove back, dodging a snake scouring
across the track.
The next day we headed into Wyndham, only 24kms up the
road. Wyndham is Australia’s most northern and hottest town, with an average daily
temperature of 36,6 degrees. Thank heavens it was only 32 when we visited – as it
was still very hot. On the way we detoured across a salt lake, via King River
Road to view the Moochalabra Dam and the famous Prison Tree. Again, a very
rustic 4WD track that involved a few water crossings and dips and dives. We made
it to the dam, and 400m from the Prison Tree, but the last tiny bit beat us.
The dirt road had turned into a track of quite large river stones and we were
too frightened to get out and walk the last little bit to see the tree as it looked
very crocky! So alas we turned around and headed back. We did however on our
adventure see creeks full of mauve water lillies that looked just like an Aussie
version of a Monet painting. Just beautiful and all viewed safely from inside
the Landcruiser with the windows down, We are sure there were crocs lurking
about.
Wyndham was an interesting visit. At the park with the Big
Croc, we were greeted by a very eager Aboriginal woman, Julie, in her 60’s, who
was keen to show (and sell) us one of her carved Boab nuts (which we ended up
buying). We then headed for the Five Rivers (Bastion) Lookout which afforded a
birds-eye view over the Cambridge Gulf and the surrounding Durack, Pentecost,
King, Forrest and Ord Rivers. An amazing lookout!
A drive around the town to see the Port, the Warriu Dreamtime Statues, the biggest Boab in captivity, which was over 2,000 years old (located in the Wyndham Caravan Park) and the Croc Bakery and we were done with Wyndham. We headed back to Parry Creek Farm for an afternoon lying around the palm-fringed pool.
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