Sunday in Kununurra...

We slept for 9 hours, solid! The early-birds were off at 5.30 for the flight to the Bungles. So...we had our day of leisure.

Doug got hooked up to the internet, this is one happy Dude I'll tell you! Fellette found the laundry and tossed in the lot, and hung out to dry before heading out in the 40c heat to look for a church.


The town is virtually dead on this Sunday morning, except for campers and bush trackers gassing up before heading out.

We found an Anglican service that was 1/2 way through, where we were greeted and ushered in to an air conditioned glassed in 'sanctuary' with about 35 mixed-age in the congregation. Some with young babies. One couple had three aboriginal foster kids there.


We stayed for tea and chatted with a few finding out a bit more about the area. Many are here for a few year stint, some came for that years ago and stayed. It actually is a very nice little part of the world. Good climate, lots of water and all the amenities a growing town of 6,000 could need. Not for everybody with the heat though. This is the heart of an 'agricultural zone' as a result of the dam and now lake established 40 years ago. Nothing is older than 40 tears as a result.

There are some aboriginals around, as I mentioned earlier, many seem to sit about in the shade of the canopied trees on boulevard and parks as a group and sit and talk, for hours and hours on end.


A fellow traveller said that she had heard that they rest during the heat of the day and do their 'work' at night. [?] Apparently in the schools the mix is about 50-50 white to aboriginal. We have had two guides that have been of mixed blood and they were very professional and informed.

After church we stumbled upon the only open shop in town and wandered through.



Fortunately all the diamond shops were shut, yes diamonds! More about that in days to come. Back to the resort and bring in the laundry then a relaxing swim prior to a meat pie for lunch.

After that a short coach tour to see the results of all that water in the farming district just outside town. Mangoes, melons, sorghum, and other crops are grown here. Sandalwood is also being cultivated here to make up for the world shortage from India, where they use native trees. They try to plant what is not in season in the other parts of Australia to command a better price.


Transportation is a really big factor, I am not sure if the area is really going to its full potential because of the transportation costs. The distances are so vast, from here to Perth, Melbourne or Sydney, [where the market is], is in the thousands of kilometers. Road Trains are the only way out as thereis not any train service to this part of Australia. Petrol [gas] is 1.55 C$/liter, and that is not the highest around.

An interesting spot today was "Ivanhoe Crossing". It crosses the Ord River, the run-off from the dam system on the way to the sea. It was constructed by hand by a small crew over two dry seasons when there was no or little water.




It allows vehicles to drive safely across the river. Some people swim and frolick in the steady running cooling waters. There are saltwater crocs in the water below the crossing, but it does not seem to bother them. Once again it was about 40c outside.