The
town of Kununurra is located nine hundred and seventy seven kilometres
north-east of Broome and 3,300 kilometres from Perth via the North West
Coastal and the Great Northern Highways.
The town is positioned on the main jet route between Darwin and Perth.
Kununurra's location within the Kimberley makes it an ideal base for
exploring the region, and several hotels, motels and caravan parks
located within the region provide services to travelers.
You can take a conventional plane, float plane, or helicopter from
Kununurra to fly over the sensational scenery of the Diamond Coast,
including the magnificient King George Falls which are located close to
the exclusive wilderness retreat at Faraway Bay. Alternatively, you
could take a 4WD trip down to the Bungle Bungle Range and visit Lake
Argyle.
Visit the top of Kelly's Knob, the highest point in Kununurra to view
the town, Lake Kununurra, The Ord Valley and some extraordinary
sunsets. Visit Bandicoot Beach, Hidden Valley National Park, picnic at
Ivanhoe Crossing, visit the City of Ruins, Lake Argyle, the Argyle
Diamond Mine, Mt Elisabeth Station, Chamberlain Gorge, Mitchell's
Falls, Prince Frederick Harbour, Kalumburu and the hauntingly strange
and beautiful Bungle Bungles.
The Argyle Diamond Mine produces over one third of the world's
diamonds, including the rare and beautiful Argyle pink diamonds, tours
of the mine are available, although advanced booking is essential.
Kununurra is located 825km from Darwin, 365km from Halls Creek and
100km from Wyndham.
The Backpackers Guide to WA says:-
This modern East Kimberley town has a population of some 5,000 people
with the youngest average age of any town in Australia, and is the
support centre for the Ord River Irrigation Scheme created by the
completion of Lake Argyle in 1972.
The choice of available eateries is excellent with a wide selection of
eat-in or take-away meals available, plus the usual counter meals are
available at the pub and tavern. Don’t miss having a meal of
barramundi, the local game fish, it is delicious!
Kununurra is a tourist paradise with well established aerial, water and
land-based tours and activities available, including fishing safaris
and crocodile sighting tours to cater for everyone’s taste.
Three 4WD tour operators and four air charter companies specialise in
trips to the amazing Bungle Bungles Ranges. Among the more popular
tours available are the river cruises from Lake Kununurra to Lake
Argyle and the daily cruise on Lake Argyle itself. Either tour will
enable tourists to not only appreciate the beauty of the Kimberleys,
but also appreciate the enormity of the tasks involved in constructing
the dam and the irrigation system in this very remote location.
A short distance off the bitumen road is the picturesque Ivanhoe
Crossing, which is one of the features of the Ord River and a very
popular fishing spot. Returning to town, travellers will pass the “City
of Ruins”, sandstone formations that resemble an ancient city.
The East Kimberley landscape is amongst the most magnificent in the
world, with unbelievable sunrises and sunsets that create the most
striking hues on the ranges. To see the golden webs of the Kimberley
spiders strung between trees and shrubs at these times of day is
something that visitors will remember for a lifetime.
Originally settled as cattle country, the Kununurra area of the East
Kimberley is now predominantly under irrigation, and growers have had
great success with crops of maize, forge sorghum, grain sorghum, chick
peas, sugar cane, rockmelons, watermelons, bananas, sunflower and
various other fruits and vegetables.
With the construction of Australia’s largest inland man-made dam,
seventy-five thousand hectares of land was made available for
irrigation. Covering an area of 740 square kilometres at normal full
supply level and 2072 square kilometres at maximum flood level, the
lake is nine times the size of Sydney Harbour.
A good selection of accommodation is available in Kununurra, including
five caravan parks, a hotel, motel, guest house and two backpacker
accommodation establishments.
Within easy walking distance of town and well worth a visit is Hidden
Valley National Park, which comprises a series of scenic gorges
containing fascinating rock formations created millions of years ago.
Also an abundance of bird life is to be found in the area.
A short distance away is “Kelly’s Knob”, from where excellent views can
be enjoyed over the town, the Diversion Dam and the irrigated
farmlands.
When the dam was being constructed it was realised that the area would
soon lose one of its most historical buildings – the Argyle Downs
Homestead – which is famous as the home of the pioneering Durack
family. The building was dismantled and reconstructed close to the dam
wall and today it serves as a museum for all to see. It’s original site
is now part of the dam’s floor, far below the lake's waters.
With the abundance of water close to town it is no surprise that water
sports are a popular pass-time. Good conditions exist for swimming in
Lake Kununurra where yachting, kayaking and canoeing are also popular.
There is also a public swimming pool available in town.
A note of warning – this is crocodile
country, and you should only swim where it is known to be safe to do
so.
Accommodation in Kununrura
Return to the Kimberley
Region
