Hello again Just spent a nice few days in Kununurra at a lovely motor camp by the lake and as luck would have it again secured the last powered site available. It's a small town but well laid out and like all towns up here very hot!
Went for a flight to see the Bungle Bungles which are a world famous wonder of nature ( photo above ) and then over the diamond mine which supplies 98% of the worlds rare pink diamonds.We were shown a very small pair of 3mm diameter diamonds in a jeweller shop valued at $58,000 !!!!
so instead I bought Stephanie a very nice ice block tray so she can have a cube in her wine at happy hour, much better value! Next day we visited the sandalwood factory, sandalwood oil is the latest thing over here with massive plantations being planted thanks to the availability of irrigation from the Ord river scheme . Fully grown trees are sold for about $100,000 a tonne !
The oil is used as a base for perfume etc. by the worlds most expensive brands.The next call was to a Zebra rock factory where they carve the most amazing things from this very hard layered rock with different colours .
While shopping in town we bumped into some new friends from a couple of weeks ago in Darwin so as you do a happy hour meeting was arranged as they were staying in the same camp as us.
It's hard to believe that it's freezing cold back in New Zealand but here the weather does not seem to change much with hot days with blue skies and warm nights. I can not imagine going back to cold climate again! Everywhere you travel over here there has been or is massive burn offs along the roadsides and we have probably driven hundred of k/m past very black and some times still smouldering bush and scrub but this has to happen to contain any large wild fires. Leaving Kununurra the van had its first road kill which was a whistling kite, quite a large bird that thankfully missed the windscreen and hit the L/ H guard doing no damage to the van but sadly killing it. These birds are amazing and cause problems when they pick up still burning sticks and drop them to start another fire so they can catch the insects that fly away,hard to believe but true! Last night,Friday, was another freedom campsite at Spring Creek in the middle of nowhere and a catch up with a few people around a campfire learning more all the time. Amazingly there is cellphone coverage hence being able to send this. We are now on our way to Fitzroy and Derby and the coast after that around Broome. Catch ya soon
Xxx Chris & Stephanie