Wyndham
On Tuesday we went for a drive to Wyndham (100km from Kununurra) which is the oldest and northernmost town in Western Australia. The Port handles live cattle export, nitrate for Argyle Diamond Mine, sugar and molasses, fuel and other goods entering and leaving the East Kimberley.
With a population of 800, Wyndham is a sleepy little town located on the Cambridge Gulf and is surrounded by some stunning scenery. A lot of business and government agencies transferred to the newer town of Kununurra when the Wyndham Meatworks closed down in the mid 1980’s.
Unfortunately the day we were there was very hazy so the photos really don’t do justice to the scenery, but here’s some shots of Wyndham.
If you hover over the photos you will see a description (well, on most of them anyway).
After looking around we had a really nice pie at the local bakery, then headed out to see some of the surrounding area.
We saw the Prison Tree – a big boab tree which was used by the early police patrols as an overnight lock up. I found it quite spooky in the daytime – I can only imagine how it felt to those locked up in it overnight! I was going to climb inside it for a photo, but there were too many spider webs. I know, I’m a wuss!
We also went to see the dam and the Aboriginal rock paintings. These paintings of Wandina spirit ancestors and animals have been done with natural ochre.
One of the best spots was Marlgu Billabong located in the Parry Lagoons Nature Reserve. These wetlands are an important feeding and breeding area for an amazing variety of birds as well as being a stopover point for migratory birds, some coming from as far away as Siberia.
Marlgu Billabong (Marlgu being an Aboriginal word meaning wild bird, consists of a boardwalk and shaded bird hide so visitors can enjoy watching the birds without them seeing you. There are waterbirds, waders, birds of the grasslands and birds of the sandstone country using this billabong. There is also the odd crocodile or two! Two of the following photos are of the croc – it’s a bit hard to see, in one of the photos you can see it on the left hand side just above the middle; and in the other it’s located about the middle of the shot – you can only see his eyes and snout. This croc didn’t move the whole time we were there.
The birds weren’t worried about the croc at all – and obviously the croc wasn’t hungry as it made no attempt to take a bird even when they were practically walking on top of it. I loved it here and could happily have stayed for hours. I’d taken the binoculars so could even see the brolgas down the far end of the billabong. A beautiful spot.
We also visited The Grotto – a swimming spot about 30kms from Wyndham. The pool lies at the base of some cliffs, accessed by about 140 steps. It’s estimated to be more than 175m deep. I would imagine during the wet season that there would be a few waterfalls which would be fantastic to see.
David went in for a swim but I preferred to take photos.
It was a big day, and we still have a lot more to see so stay tuned!