We rocked up at Kingfisher Tours and went in - the place was a hive of a activity with a tour group in to pay for their flights they are going on tomorrow . We were greeted by Vanessa - 5ft nothing , 45 kg ringing wet - who was also our pilot !! There were 2 others going on this flight - a farming couple from Newdegate - northwest of Esperance .
Without any further bother we were ushered out the front door and around the side to the tarmac behind the office , and introduced to our plane and a brief safety chat . That done we were in and taxiing down the taxiway , onto the runway and up and away .
Up & over town gave us views of Kununurra and Lilly Lagoon , before we flew over Lake Kununurra and headed toward Packsaddle Rd - where we drove the other day .
The irrigation area came into view next - they grow 60% of Australia's Chia seeds here , as well as most of the melon crops !!!
Crossing over the Ord river a few times , we then followed beside Causeway creek ( the overflow for Lake Argyle ) and up to Lake Argyle for our first views of the inland sea .
In the next photo you can see the resort / caravan park as the little green space in the centre of the photo . To the left of it in the water is the inlet for the hydro system - it's right beside the dam wall .
You can also see the tail of the Ord River snaking between the ranges .
Further out into the lake we see some of the many islands , using your imagination in the 2nd photo , you can make out the look of a crocodile in the islands top right . It looks better from water level .
Continuing on we eventually get to the southern end of the lake where the Ord River flows in .
The Bow River also flows into the Ord River before flowing into the lake . It is mainly a dry river till the wet season rains .
Flying past the Carr Boyd Range all the way down , we also fly over the old Bow River Diamond Mine - not very much visible there though . next we are going over the wave like formations of the Osmand Ranges .
This is just one of the gorges cutting it's way through the range .
The northern boundary of Purnululu Np is here also , and we fly along the eastern side of the massif that forms the Bungle Bungles .
The fires that have had the Bungles closed to tourists for the last week are still evident , and still burning .
It's starting to get a bit exciting now , we are close , the orange & grey striped beehives rocks are approaching - it's hard to pick which side to look from , there's quite a bit to look at .
Piccaninny Gorge is one of the larger gorges here and seems to cut right across the rock massif .
The sandy track is actually a creek bed - it also doubles as a walking track .
More beehives appear and we see where we walked last year to Cathedral Gorge and the domes walk.
The rocks appear to be red & grey ribbons bending and curving their way through the landscape .
We flew beside another section of beehive rocks a little further south .
Back to our circuit over and around the rocks , there are several pictures of Piccaninny Gorge . The 2nd photo also has a white spot on the top of the cliffs - this was caused by a lightning strike , it reveals the white sandstone below the orange & grey colouring !!
Back to the fires that have been burning here , the next photo shows the northern rd to Echidna Chasm - to the west of the road ( the right hand side ) you can see it has all been burnt out - back burning as well as wildfire .
We were fortunate enough o see some of the fire burning up a ridge - we only watched for a couple of minutes , but it went from the bottom to the top of the ridge in a few minutes with a wall of flame visible to us !!!
That reinforced to us why the park is closed at the moment !!!
Continuing on , our next major focal point was the Argyle Diamond Mine that creates it's own little piece of landscaping .
It is a fly in fly out mining operation with accomodation village for the workers , and it's own airstrip. The airstrip was built up with tailings from the mine - apparently the screening process wasn't the best then , so who knows how expensive that airstrip may be ???? The lease runs out in 2020 , it will be interesting to see whether they dig up and reprocess the airstrip base !!
Continuing on , we head for El Questro and the Coburn Ranges and Gibb River Rd . The Coburn Range is the flat topped mountains in the top of the photo , the dirt road is the access road into El Questro and the camping area is at the bottom left of the photo - the bare area .
El Quetsro Lodge is perched on top of a gorge overlooking the Chamberlain River . You can stay in one of the lodges for about $3500 a night !!!
The next photo shows the Coburn Range , with the Gibb River Rd snaking its way across the photo .
The Coburn Range is beautiful , and up to over 350m high !!
Next we come over Home Valley Station - an aboriginal owned station that does a lot of training and educating of younger aboriginals in farming & grazing cattle . The station is middle left of the photo and the river on the left is the Pentecost , with the other river joining being the Durack , before it flows into the Gut - a 150m wide section of the Cambridge Gulf just south of Wyndham .
This is the Gut !!
Flying toward Cambridge Gulf took us over some mudflats and mangroves forming intricate patterns.
The water in the gulf being very muddy due to the huge tidal movements .
The King River also flows into the gulf and also has a lot of tidal mudflats .
The flight from the Bungles was all done at about 6,500 ft above the ground due to the farmer in the front seat getting a bit sick , so everything we've seen has been from well above normal heights !!
Flying back in toward Kununurra , we crossed over the Lower Ord River a few times - even found where we had lunch the day before when we drove out Parry Creek Rd .
Before too much longer we;d reached the irrigation area to the north of town - it also looking spectacular from the air !!
I mentioned Ivanhoe Crossing yesterday , well here it is from above - nice "s" shaped causeway . Apparently it is very fishing for barramundi there - just got to watch out for the salties !!
The flight was rapidly drawing to a close and after losing height we flew over Parry Creek Rd again and onto final approach . The Diversion Dam stands out prominently , the flood gates are hard to miss!!!
The Diversion Dam creates Lake Kununurra , but can be opened , might cause a bit of concern for those downstream if they did !!
We landed and headed back to the van for lunch , the afternoon spent reading and having a swim in the pool .
Here's a map link - best viewed on the satellite map :-https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NKVSnIFnfQ_GdsFcWMUmQqh_spo&usp=sharing
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