So after deciding to wait in Wyndham for Ella's arrival in Kununurra, Julie and I looked around at places we had visited last year, but also checked out some new gorges that last year had no water in them, these were Molly Spring, Valentine Pool, Middle Pool and Black Rock Pool. Only Molly Spring had enough water in it to make it a nice swimming spot to show Ella.

Ella was very keen to see a crocodile so we checked out the Wyndham port and Marglu Billabong several times as they are well known for crocs, but we didn't see any. We also used the time to do washing and other things that get neglected when you are traveling.

On the Sunday before Ella's arrival on Monday, we drove to Kununurra to stock up on supplies, Western Australia was opening its border to Northern Territory on Monday too and from the grape vine we had heard of queues 5K long at the border of people waiting to come in and that Katherine in the NT was overwhelmed and cleaned out by thousands off travellers waiting to come in, so we shopped early.

On our way back we caught up to and passed a familiar looking van, it was friends Bryan and Libby heading to Wyndham to join us for a few days, a great surprise.

As Ella wasn't due into Kununurra until the afternoon on Monday, and we had shopped on Sunday, we didn't make the 1 hour drive to Kununurra until after lunch, then we drove straight back with Ella to beat the darkness. You don't really want to drive at nights on these roads because of animals like kangaroos and cows crossing the road.

That night Michael cooked pizza for us all in our camp oven, they came out great.

Tuesday, Bryan and Libby joined us for the Ella tour, first stop, a prison Boab tree where they held aboriginal prisoners as they were walked into Wyndham. Next, not far away were some aboriginal rock paintings that everyone found very interesting and right next to the rock art is the dam that supplies water to Wyndham, so we looked at that too.

While traveling this very rough dirt road, Bryan spotted a Boab with an exceptional number of nuts on the ground under it, so we pulled over and everyone collected their fill of nuts.

Back on the bitumen it was an easy run to The Grotto gorge. Here there were a lot of people swimming in the cool waters to beat the heat. We took our lunch into the gorge with us so we could enjoy the cool while eating our lunch. Ella and Michael put their feet in, but it was too cold for them to swim. It didn't stop all the other people that were there though.

After lunch and the break from the heat we headed to Marglu Billabong in the Parry Lagoons Nature Reserve via the old Halls Creek road. This road was originally made in the 1800s, in 1930 it was made better by laying stones for kerbing and laying of gravel and stone between the kerbs to make it better for cars and trucks. We stopped a couple of times along this road to admire the billabongs and Boabs.

At Marglu Billabong we saw lots of birds from the hide, but no crocodile!

After getting back to Wyndham we had just enough time to get up to the Five Rivers Lookout to watch the sunset. At the lookout you can see where the Ord, Forrest, Pentecost, Durack and King rivers flow into the Cambridge Gulf. After the sun goes down, if you are patient and quite (which some people just can do either!) you will see the Black Faced Rock Wallaby come out to drink water from the tub left for them.

The next morning we said goodbye to Bryan and Libby, then headed into Wyndham Port to look at the amazing museum and to see if we could find a croc. No luck with the croc, but we met up with the chap that was playing didgeridoo in Echidna Chasm, which was fun. We spent a lot of time in the museum before we headed around to the old meat works site where they have some old trains and bits and pieces.

Back at camp we had lunch before packing up and headed to Kununurra.

The next morning we headed out a bit earlier then usual to beat the heat.

First stop was a walk up the hill to the top of Kelly's k*** where we had a great 360º view over Kununurra. Next was an educational walk around Mirima National Park (Hidden Valley). Here you can do a walk and read about the different plants and how they are used by the aboriginals. Ella particularly liked the Fig Tree that has rough leaves used as sandpaper.

We then went for a drive across Ivanhoe Crossing, a ford over the Ord River. Then it was on to Molly Spring where Ella went in to cool off.

Then back at camp we went to see if the local crocs had come into the park, last year we saw one. But no, no crocs.

The following day we headed to Lake Argyle, first stop was the old Durack Homestead, now the Argyle Museum. Ella was very impressed by how life would have been in the 1800s. Out at the lake we checked out the hire of a stand up paddle board or kayak. But they suggested it was a bit too windy to go out, but we had a look at the launching place and decided it was too windy. So we went down to the lovely park below the wall, where Ella spotted a black snake under a tree.

We then headed up for lunch at the resort where they had a musician playing some live music, stuff Julie and I knew, so it was good.

Because of the wind we decided then to head back to Kununurra, to the swim beach on Lake Kununurra, with the hope of seeing a croc, but no. We did see 5 caravans set up in an area clearly marked "No Camping", but things are so bad and packed out, the rangers wont care.

So, back to camp to see if the local crocs were in, no.

That night we went out for dinner at the Kununurra Country Club, which was nice. We didn't think we would get in as it said 'Bookings essential' on the door, but I asked anyway and they found us a spot.

In the morning we packed up camp before heading back to Mirima NP, Ella wanted more sandpaper and to take some photos. Then we stopped back at the caravan park for one last look for a croc, but no again. Then it was to the airport to put Ella on the plane before we headed for the Northern Territory.