The Kimberley and Broome
The Kimberley and Broome
Kununurra
Kununurra is the Kimberley's gateway from the east. It offers access to an enormous variety of unique and colourful Kimberley adventures. It is a pleasant modern town, established in 1960 as the centre of the Ord River Irrigation Project and has become the major administrative centre for the East Kimberleys, servicing farmers, pastoralists and the tourism and minig industries. With a resident population of around 2,000, it is one of the two biggest towns in the Kimberley.
Although Kununurra is young, it is situated in an area rich in history, on land which was once part of the Ivanhoe Station. The history of the area is well documented in books by Dame Mary Durack. Kununurra is friendly and welcoming and the locals are relaxed and pleased to show visitors the local sights. It is also ideally located as a base from which to explore the Kimberley's major attractions and tour operators offer a wide range of exciting and creative adventure and activity packages.
Kununurra offers a good range of dining and shopping experiences and forays out into Kununurra's environs can offer a real variety of Kimberley attractions. Some highlights of the town include Kelly's Knob which offers excellent views of the Ord Valley, Kununurra, its lake and extraordinary sunsets; Lake Kununurra and Bandicoot Beach. The 300 million year old sandstone cliffs of the Hidden Valley National Park are ften referred to as the Mini Bungles and are well worth a visit. The Ivanhoe Crossing is a popular fishing spot and the City of Ruins offers natural sandstone formations resembling an ancient city.
During and just after the rains, the area teems with lovely waterfalls. Lake Argyle is really a vast inland sea and has developed its own ecosystems based around native flora and fauna. Cruises on the lake highlight its magnificent scenery and features. Tours are available to the Argyle Diamond Mine which produces over one third of the world's production and includes rare Argyle pink diamonds. Bookings, however, are essential. Many other tours also operate from Kununurra including tours to places as remote as Mt Elizabeth Station, Chamberlain Gorge, Mitchell Falls, Prince Fredrick Harbour and Kalumburu.
