We had a great day out visiting Wyndham which we really enjoyed. It is 100km North West of Kununarra and a nice drive, not too far. You pass the Gibb River on the way and we visited the 'Grotto' which is a swimming hole about 2km off the highway and a natural amphitheatre. The Grotto has 140 steps and is more than 175m at its deepest and has a tall waterfall in the wet season which of course was none existent when we were there as it was the end of the dry season. Wyndham use to be the main town before Kununarra and we thought it quite pretty, very tidy and friendly. It had a meat works in 1913 but that was closed down a long time ago but the area has a rich Aboriginal history with rock art and cultural sites. The town is surrounded on one side by the spectacular Cockburn ranges and has a big croc model in the main street. It also has some Aboriginal dreamtime statues depicting an Aboriginal family with native animals, the statues were quite big and awesome to look at. We also visited Anthon's Landing which was the site of the original wharf built in the 1880's and just off from the wharf lies the remains of the State ship 'Koolama' which was bombed by Japanese air raids in 1942. We drove up to the 5 river lookout which was amazing to see, it is where the King, Ord, Durack, Forrest and Pantacost Rivers flow into the Cambridge Gulf and we were blown away by the view which really our camera could just not capture. It has been one of our favourite places to visit and I'm sure Wyndam has more to offer for those that like to tramp and birdwatch. We also visited the pioneer cemetery and looked at the graves of 5 pioneers that died of heat stroke whilst building the meatworks. It is a reminder of the harsh conditions found in the remote areas and the determined, intrepid people who pioneered the region.
No comments:
Post a Comment