WA-Kununurra

Kununurra was established as a town in 1960 to service the Ord River Scheme. The Ord River was dammed in 1971 to form a storage reservoir supplying water to the many farms by gravity fed irrigation channels. This area is now very lush with mangoes, sandalwood forests, cotton, sugar cane, melons and countless other fruits and vegetables.

Ivanhoe crossing is a delightful picnic and fishing spot on the Ord River. We watched people drive their vehicles back and forth just to see if they could manage the low lying crossing. The most entertaining was a ute with children in the back, watching the crocodile lying on the rocks in the middle of the river. This is apparently a good spot to catch barramundi but nobody had any luck the two days that we were here.

Another attraction is the local Argyle Diamond mine which produces approx. 38 million carots of diamonds a year - one third of the world’s production, making Argyle the largest diamond mine in the world. The diamonds are stunning with clear, champagne and pinks. I found one that I liked but we would have had to sell the car- not a good move! The mine will run out of diamonds in the near future so now would be a good time to buy one.