The Mirima Hidden Valley National Park

Kununurra
Kimberley township servicing the surrounding area.
Kununurra is a very long way from just about everywhere. If you take the short route from Perth, via the Great Northern Highway, it is 3184 km and if you take the long route it is 3336 km. It is also 1057 km from Broome (the nearest major town in Western Australia) and 1057 km from Darwin. And if you want to drive from Sydney it is about 4300 km.

In spite of all this apparent isolation Kununurra (the word means 'big water' in the language of the local Aborigines) is an interesting, modern town which came into existence in the early 1960s as a construction centre for the Ord River Scheme. This modernity is something of a mixed blessing. Even today the residential houses, most of which are made out fibro and surrounded by those hastily constructed gardens that are so common in places where people are not planning to stay too long, have a temporary feel about them. The abundance of wild, tropical plants and the obvious casualness of the community gives it a very transient feel.

The public section of town contrasts with the residential areas. The construction companies and local council have created a modern town centre which boasts an excellent swimming pool–leisure centre complex, a substantial Commonwealth Bank, a delightful 'traditional Australian' broad verandahed Post Office and a number of large supermarkets.

The area was first explored by Alexander Forrest (the older brother of Sir John Forrest, Western Australia's first Premier) in 1879. Forrest was the first white man to discover and name the Kimberley district, the Margaret and Ord Rivers, the King Leopold Ranges, and the fertile area between the Fitzroy and Ord Rivers. He subsequently set himself up as a land agent specialising in the Kimberleys and was thus instrumental in the leasing of over 51 million acres (21 million hectares) in the region during 1883. In 1887 he became the first Member for Kimberley in the WA Legislative Council.

A baobab tree in the Kimberley near Kununurra

Of all the people who sought Forrest's advice the Durack family were the most famous. They went on to establish the Lissadell, Argyle, Rosewood and Ivanhoe cattle stations in the Kimberleys. It was at the Ivanhoe Station, to the north of Kununurra, that Kimberley Durack (an appropriately named person to live in the area) first began experimenting with the possibility of growing cash crops on the rich black alluvial soils of the Ord River valley. This was to later grow into the Ord River Scheme.

The Ord River Scheme is one of those dreams that politicians have which looks good on paper but doesn't quite match up when it is executed. The original aim were simple: to harness the water and growing potential of Australia's tropical north.

The plan went like this: dam the Ord River in the Carr-Boyd Ranges southeast of Wyndham, build a diversion dam 50 km downstream so that the waters can be directed to irrigable land, irrigate about 75 000 hectares of land which was previously used for cattle grazing, use the movement of the water to generate hydroelectricity for local consumption, and build towns to cater for the developing economy of the area.

In 1941 a small experimental farm was established on the Ord River by the Western Australian Government. It was closed down in 1945 when a joint Commonwealth-State Research Station was established at Ivanhoe Plain to the north of Kununurra. For the next 12 years the Research Station experimented with crops such as rice, safflower, linseed and sugar cane.

In 1958 the construction of the irrigation scheme started and by 1963 the first stage had been completed. It was during this time that Kununurra was established as the main construction town associated with the irrigation scheme. By 1966 there were 31 farms on the Ord River plains but the results were less than satisfactory. Cotton, which was grown in the area in the early days, has now been totally abandoned.

In 1972 the second stage of the scheme was completed with the opening of the huge Lake Argyle Dam. Since then the agriculture of the area has been a constant battle against the very really tyranny of distance (markets are just too far away) and the constant problems of tropical diseases and birds. Some crops, such as watermelons and bananas, have proved hugely successful and have been sold directly to the nearby southeast Asian markets. It is possible to see the developments which have taken place in the area either by driving through the irrigation area (head north on the Ivanhoe or Weaber Plains Roads - the round trip is 42 km) on your own or by booking a tour through the Visitors Centre. The round trip also offers the opportunity to see the old Ivanhoe Crossing (now a popular fishing spot) near where the Duracks established the original Ivanhoe Station Homestead and the strange City of Ruins, an unusual sandstone formation.

Things to see:  

Mirima National Park
Kununurra's greatest attraction is undoubtedly the Mirima Hidden Valley National Park which is located just 2 km from the town centre.

Mirima is a real wonderland. A kind of mini-Bungle Bungles with horizontal bedding forming strange birthday cake-like shapes. Mirima has been formed by the erosion of the quartz sandstone by the waters of nearby Lily Creek. The result is dramatic and unusual.

The area abounds in wildlife with lizards and birds (particularly the white-quilled rock pigeon) predominating. If you arrive at the right time you may see some of the rock wallabies which inhabit the area. Another striking feature of the park is the boab trees which grow on the rock faces. The seeds of the boab are carried to these inaccessible places by rock wallabies and left in their dung - a natural and extremely successful fertiliser.

There are three walks in the park. The first is the Demboong Banan Gap Trail, a short, easy 500 metre return walk through a narrow valley, ending with a view of Kununurra through a gap in the range. The second walk is the Looking at Plants Nature Trail. This walk has trailside signs which help you to get to know some of the plants in Mirima and their use by Aboriginal people. The final walk is a 800 metre return walk of moderate difficulty. The Derbe-gerring Banan Lookout Trail climbs up steep slopes to a lookout providing views back to the sandstone range of Mirima and over the Ord Valley. From May to August Department of Conservation and Land Management staff conduct guided walks in Mirima National Park on Bush Tucker and Boab Trees.

A boab tree, Celebrity Tree Park

Celebrity Tree Park
The Celebrity Tree Park is a delightful arboretum on the shores of Lake Kununurra on the Duncan Highway just west of the town centre. Various celebrities who have passed through the town (none of them seem to have been important enough to have had their names emblazoned on plaques) have planted trees in this park. The park boasts a rich variety of native species including a huge baobab tree and, next to the baobab, a paperbark gum which was so disgusted with the sign nailed to its trunk that it actually grew over it like a melting Salvador Dali watch.

From Kurunurra to Wyndham
The road from Kununurra to Wyndham is a series of spectacular delights. Just to the west of the town the road crosses the wall of the Lake Kununurra Diversion Dam before moving into the East Kimberley region where the mountains, with their huge craggy peaks which have been worn bare by time and erosion, rise dramatically against the hazy blue skies of the tropics.

	Tourist Information
	Kununurra Tourist Bureau Lot 75 Coolibah Dve P.O. Box 446 Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 2598
	Motels
	Lake Argyle Tourist Village Motel/Hotel P.O. Box 302 Ord Dam Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 7360 Rating: **
	Hotels
	All Seasons Kununurra Victoria Hwy Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 4000 Facsimile: (08) 9168 2622 Rating: ***1/2
	Country Club Plaza Resort 47 Coolibah Dve Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 1024, 1800 808 999 Facsimile: (08) 9168 1189 Rating: ****
	Kimberley Court Private Hotel Cnr Riverfig Ave & Erythrina St Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 1411
	Resorts
	The Bush Camp at Faraway Bay P.O. Box 901 Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9169 1214 Facsimile: (08) 9168 2224 Email: farawaybay@bigpond.com Rating: ****1/2
	The Kimberely Grand Resort 20 Victoria Hwy Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9166 5600 Facsimile: (08) 9169 1172 Email: info@thekimberelygrand.com.au
	All Seasons El Questro Station Guesthouse P.O. Box 909 Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9169 1777 Rating: ***1/2
	Farm & Eco Holidays
	Home Valley Station Bungalows Gibb River Rd 125km west Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9161 4322
	Caravan Parks
	Lake Argyle Tourist Village Ord Dam Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 7360
	Hidden Valley Caravan Park Weaber Plains Rd Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 1790 Facsimile: (08) 9169 1261 Rating: ***1/2
	Ivanhoe Village Tourist Park Ivanhoe Rd Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9169 1995 Facsimile: (08) 9169 1985 Rating: *****
	Kimberley Land Caravan Park Duncan Hwy Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 1280 Rating: ****
	Kona Lakeside Tourist Park Lakeview Dve Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 1031 Rating: ****
	Kununurra Lakeside Resort Caravan Park Lot 2263 Casuarina Way Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9169 1092, 1800 786 692 Facsimile: (08) 9168 2741 Rating: ***1/2
	Town Caravan Park Bloodwood Dve Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 1763 Rating: ****
	Backpackers
	Kimberley Croc Youth Hostel 120 Konkerberry Dve Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 2708
	Kununurra Backpackers Lodge 111 Nutwood Cres. Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9169 1998 Facsimile: (08) 9169 3998
	Restaurants
	All Seasons Kununurra Victoria Hwy Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 1455, 1800 642 244 Facsimile: (08) 9168 1946
	Country Club (Chopsticks Chinese Restaurant) 47 Coolibah Dve Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 1024 Facsimile: (08) 9168 1189
	Country Club (Kelly's Bar & Grill) 47 Coolibah Dve Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 1024 Facsimile: (08) 9168 1189
	Gulliver's Tavern 196 Cottontree Ave Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 1435
	Kununurra Mercure Inn Cnr Duncan Hwy & Messmate Way Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9168 1455, 1800 642 244 Facsimile: (08) 9168 1946
	Patsy's Fiddle (The Kimberely Grand Resort) 20 Victoria Hwy Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9166 5600 Facsimile: (08) 9169 1172 Email: info@thekimberelygrand.com.au
	The Argyle Room (The Kimberely Grand Resort) 20 Victoria Hwy Kununurra WA 6743 Telephone: (08) 9166 5600 Facsimile: (08) 9169 1172 Email: info@thekimberelygrand.com.au