Day 28: Mirima National Park and other sightseeing
It is a cooler day today, in the high 20's C. The locals are complaining how bitterly cold it is. For us, it is perfect. It is good weather to do a bit of bushwalking, so this morning's plan is to visit Mirima National Park, only a few km from us and known as the mini bungle bungles.
Arriving at the car park we can see why this park is compared to the Bungle Bungles, with great similarity in the geological structures.There are a number of walking trails and we opt for a medium length loop trail, with a branch off to a lookout.
The loop trail starts out well and remains a relatively easy walk until the branch to the lookout
Reaching the turn off to the lookout, we could see that the path was no longer as well defined requiring a fair bit of scrambling over rocks with rough steps cut in where possible. Stairs were provided in the more difficult areas, and it was a fair climb up.
The lookout track
Once at the top, the view was spectacular.
Going back down the track was slow work, as step heights were often higher than normal, and sometimes sloping and slippery. Eventually we are back on the well defined loop track to complete our walk.
A Boab with a birds nest right at the top
Finally back at the carpark
The facilities at the car park are excellent and look relatively new. There are seats in shaded areas, toilets and even picnic tables and electric BBQ's
Next on our plan for the day is to head back out towards Ivanhoe Crossing where there are a couple of handicraft operations that we were told is well worth visiting.
First, it is time for morning tea and conveniently we come across the Ivanhoe Cafe, so pull in to get our coffee fix.
Outdoor seating under the mango trees looked very inviting as we ordered our coffee and a savoury muffin (which was delicious), and had it delivered to our table.
Morning tea completed, we move on. The first place we visit is Kimberley Ornamental Stone Craft, who specialise in making items from locally sourced Zebra Stone. It is rare rock found exclusively in the East Kimberly region of WA, concentrated around Lake Argyle and the Ord River area near Kununurra. There are no other known Global deposits.
The modest entrance belies what is inside
The lady who owns the business, with her husband, originally came from Forbes in NSW. Like so many of the business people we have spoken to here, they passed through as caravaners years ago and vowed to come back to live here. In contrast to Kununurra's reputation, it is a very attractive place.
This photo, borrowed from their facebook page, shows one of the many products they make
We ended up buying a small vase.
Next door is a metal artist , Ord Metal Art, which we decided to visit whilst we are here. It was not what we were expecting, largely ornaments plasma cut from flat mild steel sheet and very innovatively dyed and lacquered giving a striking finish. Popular items were boab trees, dragon flies, geckos, jewellery etc Striking pieces of work, but you would need the right place to show them.
This photo from their facebook page shows a few examples
Back on the road, we are so close to Ivanhoe Crossing that we decide to have another look when the sun is not shining directly into our eyes as it was yesterday. It is obviously still closed, the water level is almost up the the fishermen's knees and the current further out far to strong for safe crossing.
Lunch time is approaching and our plan was to enjoy a drive through some of the irrigated farmland and end up at The Hoochery, Kununurra's only distillery.
Corn
We think Chickpeas
Papaya
Just in time for lunch we arrive at the Hoochery.
It is a big place with plenty of room to display merchandise and cater for the needs of eaters and drinkers. There is ample indoor and outdoor seating.
Lunch is served
We ordered crispy chicken banh mi for lunch and a tasting paddle of their gin, which comprised 3 varieties, Argyle Pink Gin, Out of the Ord Australian Tropical Gin and Kimberly Time -Barrel rested Gin. The first two were quite drinkable, but the barrel resting didn't improve the 3rd one in my view. At $96 per bottle, we declined to take a bottle with us. However, lunch was good as was the experience.
Rum is their real specialty, and they claim to make some of Australia's best rum. I asked the barman if this venture all got started when Sugar cane was planted at the Ord, an initiative that CSR was deeply involved in. The answer was yes, and since the sugar mill closed many years ago now, they source their molasses fron Sarina in QLD, owned by CSR until taken over by the Wilmar Group a few years ago.
We have packed a lot into today, and it is time to retreat to our caravan for a rest.
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