Darwin to Halls Creek

July 16 to July 22

Victoria River Escarpment

We stopped overnight about 15km north of Katherine on Friday night, in a large open free-camp spot which many people knew about but was big enough so it wasn’t crowded. Heading south-west towards Western Australia we drove to the Victoria River in the Gregory National Park, another area of really interesting geology and impressive rock escarpments and formations. A deeper red/purple (burgundy?) than the typical iron oxide, this relatively small area was a delight to drive through with the towering cliffs either side of the road.

Boab Tree and typical rock plateau for the area

The Boab tree also becomes more prolific as you approach WA, interesting in the dry season as it loses its leaves and offers fantastic silhouettes. We stopped at Timber Creek, a small town 200kms from the WA border. We camped at the lookout and had the area to ourselves overnight, however at sunset a number of visitors joined us as it is popular for the spectacular view over the Victoria River.

Lake Argyle

On Sunday we headed for the border, and after being searched at the quarantine stop for fruit and vegies we were finally in Western Australia. Although we had been driving for 2½ hours (+½ hour for obligatory coffee) and it was 11am in NT, and when we entered WA it was only 9:30am!

We drove to Lake Argyle, the second largest man-made lake in the world, to check out the Ord River Dam. The dam was completed in 1973, part of the planned massive Ord River agriculture irrigation scheme. After lunch (longest break between breakfast and lunch EVER) we drove to Kununurra. We planned to stay two nights at the Showground but for some unexplained reason it isn’t open, so fortunately got a site at the heavily booked caravan park across the road (the place is full of tourists!). With the change in time zone the sun now sets at around 5:15pm and rises around 6am, we struggled to acclimatise for days.

Bungle Bungles from the sightseeing flight

We had a chores day on Monday and explored Kununurra, interestingly only established in 1969 as part of the Ord River scheme. It is now the largest town in the north-east Kimberley and a key service centre for farming, mining and tourism.

Tuesday morning we were booked on a light plane flight over Lake Argyle, the Argyle Diamond Mine, and the Bungle Bungles. The two hour flight was outstanding. A clear cloudless day and not too hot (we did a 9am flight). You get a great appreciation of the size of Lake Argyle from the air, but the real impressing was done when you reach the Bungle Bungles in the Purnululu National Park. For a rock formation which was largely unknown before 1983, it is now one of Australia’s best known natural attractions after Uluru and attained World Heritage status in 2003. 

The rock domes are formed from the wind and sand blasting from the Tanami Desert to the south, and the colour banding is from bacterial layers (the grey colour) and oxidised iron (red). There is the typical dome shapes and also amazing gorges and rivers.

Massive gorge in the Bungles

The Argyle Diamond Mine, although impressive in its size and output (especially the rare pink diamonds), is coming to the end of its reserves and the underground mine (the open cut is already closed) will close in 2020.

In the afternoon we visited other local sites around Kununurra before driving 80km towards Wyndham and staying at the Maggie Creek free-camp.

Dreamtime Statues, Wyndham

Wednesday we explored Wyndham, the first settlement in the north-east Kimberley (1886, a bit older than Kununurra, huh) to service the Halls Creek gold rush. It is now a port for live beef exports and Ord River agriculture. It is also where five rivers converge to form the Cambridge Gulf. The Five Rivers Lookout is a fantastic vantage point to overlook the river junction, port and town, and another great spot for coffee! Also interesting was the Dreamtime Statues, an art installation for the bi-centenary in 1988 (erected in 1989!!??).

Emma Gorge, El Questro

China Wall, Halls Creek

We returned to Maggie Creek for the night (just 28km out of Wyndham). Thursday morning we drove to El Questro Station, a privately owned cattle station which covers a number of rock ranges and gorges which is open (for a fee) to the public to enjoy. We had thought we would stay for two days and hike a couple of the gorges, but after the dry, wet season most of the gorges are just “stagnant pools” (the El Questro’s desk guy’s words). He suggested Emma Gorge as the only worthwhile hike, which was certainly worthwhile. It was a two hour, grade four hike with the gorge walls closing in as you reached the top pool. As you can see from the photos there is barely any water entering the gorge, a real pity.

We headed out of El Questro and drove 100km to Dunham River to camp overnight.

Friday we were back into the “drive lots, see little” country. 300km south to Halls Creek and you pass through one small town, Warmun, an indigenous settlement between the access roads to the Bungles and the Argyle Diamond Mine.

Halls Creek wasn’t too exciting either to be honest, although the annual Rodeo and Camp Draft started the day we arrived. Deciding not to stay the night and catch the local horse-persons, we visited the China Wall, a quartz rock vein that is left protruding after the surrounding rock has eroded. A bit of fuel and food and we were off 100km south-west to Mary Pools camp for Friday night.

Emma Gorge hike at El Questro

Ivanhoe Crossing, Kununurra

Argyle Diamond Mine