Kununurra

Kimberley Land Caravan Park from the cruise

Mans Greatest invention was supposed to be the wheel, but in this part of the world, from Karratha on, its air conditioning! thank god for the Lunagazers aircon!
Stayed at the Kimberley Land Caravan Park, fantastic spot right on Lake Kununurra, full of small fish, and an odd freshwater crocodile.

Had a dinner cruise on the lake, given that the boat was open with no fans, great look at the Lake Kununurra which is the diversion dam, the beer was excellent.

Lake Kununurra Cruise

The temperature while we were here was 37 degrees every day, humidity fluctuates between 60 and 80 %,  The calendar says its the 2nd June, second day of winter!!!

Lake Kununurra Cruise

 I don't know how they handle it in summer, reminds me of
The Diary of a Pom.

The Ord Dam is massive with plenty of water, its classed as an inland sea.

Its hard to work out why the area hasn't been more successful as an irrigation area, Water is $6 a Megalitre and plenty of it, Southern high security water at market price in Goulburn Valley is probably closer to $600 Click Here for info.

So you would think there would be Southern farmers flocking here for the cheap water.
So there must be reasons why the area hasn't taken off, one is the heat, its bloody hot, so people would find it difficult to acclimatize.

The area is a long way from southern markets, so trucking distance and spoilage would be a big issue, and the lack of a deep sea port close by would make exports difficult.

TFS Corp Share Price

The main crop here is Indian Sandalwood, with 60% of the farming area planted to it.
All managed by TFS Corporation, we visited the visitors centre, so got the corporate rundown on how good it all is, share price looks pretty flat, but as it takes 15 years to grow, they are only just getting into the production phase, could be worth a small punt.

Apparently the biggest plantation of the species in the world, which is in high demand in see TFS corp video for further info.

Photo Courtesy Aviair

Kunannura is the a door to the Kimberly.
The best look is from the air, so took the tourist fight, a 2 hour flight over Lake Argyle, and he Bungle Bungles, with Aviair, good tour worth the money.
You leave just after daylight, and get back before it gets hot, so ride is nice and smooth before any thermal activity.

The distances here are vast, with many hundreds of Km between Cattle stations, the early settlers must have been resilient, even now the homesteads are a long way out, without helicopters and light aircraft, management would be impossible.