Kununurra

This post finds us in Kununurra, in Western Australia.  Which means YEAH, we have reached our objective
Our last post was from Mt Isa where we left hoping to make it through to Three Ways on the Stuart Highway in the NT.  Best laid plans etc....so we only made it to Barkly Homestead which actually was a great spot, large shady, drive through sites and good hot showers.
Next morning we took off, reached the Stuart Highway and travelled up the centre of the NT until we came to the Buchanan Highway.  Highway is really not a good description, dirt track is more like it - though a better track than my driveway!!  We stayed the night at a place called Top Springs.  If you are travelling this road please avoid Top Springs at all costs.  Nothing top about it nor are there any springs.  For $20 we had to park beside a building in a state of collapse, toilet that has not seen a brush since the day of  installation and a shower that had grunge growing in the bottom and up the walls.  They should have paid us to stay there! It is a hotel that is used by the occasional passing road train drivers and the local members of the community (they have darker skins than us).  But the highlight of the place was a generator about 50 meters from us - this was no ordinary generator it was the mother of all generators, huge, and it roared all night.
Needless to say we high tailed it out of there early the next morning, and completed the final stretch of the 450 Km Buchanan Highway, passing by Victoria River Downs along the way.
Finally we were back of bitumen again, when about 5 km down the road we got a flat tyre.  Something from the dirt road punctured the rear tyre and it went flat as a pancake as we watched it.  It took Mike and a really lovely man passing by about an hour to change the tyre.  It is no mean feat dragging a tyre out from within a loaded trailer and jacking a car up on the roadside when vehicles fly past at high speed.  The speed limit in the NT is 130 kph.
That drama over we ended up crossing over into WA and spent the night at Lake Argyle.  That place is absolutely magic - we loved it and would go back again and again if the opportunity presented itself.  Lake Argyle is a huge man made lake, part of the Ord River Scheme and has a capacity of over 16 times Sydney Harbour.  The parks itself is in a top spot, overlooking the river and out over part of the lake.  There is an infinity pool that just seems to hang out over the river and with the towering red hills behind as a back drop it is certainly one of those WOW places.
Next morning we did a 2 hour cruise out on the lake, which allowed us to explore a little further into the vastness of the place.  The lake is home to many different fish varieties and a huge population of freshwater crocs.  When out on the lake you can't see the end of it - which is 50 km away.
After all this excitement we arrived in Kununurra, got the tyre fixed.  The tyre people didn't charge - how good was that, that would not happen in the big smoke!!
Yesterday we spent a few hours organising the next section of our trip at the local Info office, and restocked the fridge and the bar (very essential).  We then headed up to Wyndham, the most northerly town in WA.  We took the dirt back road which was most interesting as we passed through grasslands, towering cliffs, the Ord River and forests of boab trees, which stand there like some grotesque creatures from a science fiction movie with their legs and arms all akimbo.
Later today we are heading of again on another cruise, this time to do the 50 km trip along the Upper Ord River to Lake Argyle and back again.  The sun is shining, it is about 35 degrees at 10.15 am, so it should be a great day.
Tomorrow we take off for 3 nights at El Questro.  Having stayed there before there was no way I would stay in their general camping area again - so we have a private site along the river, which should be relaxing.  From El Questro we will continue along the Gibb River Road to various places, like Bell Gorge, Windjana, Tunnel Creek etc until we get to Derby in about a weeks time.
There is no mobile reception where we are going, no power, no nothing, so this will be the last post for a week or more.
Tll then...