Sun. 5th Aug., 2012 - Kununurra to Parry Creek Farm

As we drove out of Kununurra, just after 8.30am, there were hills all around us in a variety of lovely colours.  A lot of burning off had taken place & was still going on.  Rejuvenation occurs quickly after burning & we could see green shoots amongst the black.  Boabs were becoming familiar friends - they dotted the landscape in a variety of wierd & wonderful shapes.

Well before 10am, the temperature was already 30C, so we guessed that it was going to be a HOT day!

Along the whole route, from Kununurra to Parry Creek Farm, the scenery continued to be beautiful & we enjoyed the shapes & colours that we could see all around us.  We felt that the Kimberleys were going to live up to their reputation.

As we turned into Parry Creek Road, we left the comfort of the highway behind.  We crawled along for 8km on an unmade track, which left us feeling as though we were operating pneumatic drills!  The dust, as we followed Charlie, was horrendous & I dared not think about what might be happening behind us, in the caravan!

We saw two large birds walking in the long grass - brolgas, we guessed.  We'd been told that the bird life at Parry's Lagoon would be spectacular.  This seemed like the longest 8km we'd ever experienced & so we hoped that the birds would compensate!

At last, we turned off to Parry Creek Farm - never had we been so pleased to see a sign.  The instruction, "Drive Slowly", was hardly necessary!  Surprisingly, all was well in the caravan when we opened it up, which was a blessing.

It was quiet & peaceful at the Farm & the caravans were well spaced out.  However, everyone was looking for shade & so positions beneath trees were all taken first.  It was HOT, dry & not a cloud in the sky!  At midday, there were very few people about - they tended to stay out of the sun.  A woman near to us was painting, Bob decided to read & I made notes for this blog.  By about 3pm, I was so hot that I persuaded Bob to walk over to the swimming pool with me, where we joined Judy & Charlie.  It was a lovely pool, surrounded by trees, but the water was FREEZING!  Apparently, Charlie had been in but Judy wasn't wet much above her knees.  I did manage to swim across the pool a couple of times but couldn't stay in for long.

Our hot spot

At 6.30pm, we gathered around a campfire where they were cooking Stockman's Stew & Damper with Golden Syrup.  Quite a crowd had gathered & we all enjoyed a good evening.  We were entertained with poetry & jokes & it turned out to be a very sociable get-together.