Broome & Beyond: last full day in Kununurra

I start the day with a Hotel Kununurra continental breakfast. Cereal, toast, fruit. There's salmon and cold meats and cheese but I'm not ready for that. The breakfast is either excellent value for money or an absolute rip-off. I wasn't listening when I was told the price, it's either $13 or $30.

Off to the farm, to catch up with my brother and his wife.

From the front room of their farmhouse there's a view, across to the creek in one direction, across the plains to the hills in another. I hadn't realised that this was deliberate, overgrown trees have been chopped to allow the view. It's a beautiful view!

Then off for an hour or so visiting their younger daughter and her live-in lover. (Come on, it's been more years than I can count! I should be able to think of a better term :-)

These two run trail rides and practical courses for school children who do not want to sit still indoors. Lots of horse work and farm work, it seems to be going very well. Their house is very nice, with large, spacious rooms -- though very few of them. Not bad for a kit home which, I'm told, was delivered as pieces which did not fit together.

I watch horses being fed. Then we sit and chat. They are a very nice couple.

Back to the homestead for lunch. Then into town, to the library, to meet with older niece. I've been given a book to return, it's overdue, I drop it in the returns slot and hide amongst the shelves.

Neice arrives and we walk to the lower lookout on Kellys Knob. Phew! Niece sets a fast pace, temperature in the low 30s, reasonably dry but I manage to build up a sweat. Great view, though :-)

We walk back via an aboriginal art gallery. Interesting work but my taste in art is very subjective, there are only one or two paintings that I like.

Back at the library... it's both public and school library... I'm parked next to the kiss-and-tell parking -- and school is just out. I wait through what seems like five minutes, a hundred cars, hundreds of kids... and I can drive away.

Out along Weaber Plains Road. To check out local attractions: the Hoochery and the Sandalwood Factory. There are tea towels, my need for presents is satisfied!

It's an interesting drive, through the irrigation area. There are broad paddocks of ploughed soil, broad acres of monoculture. Far more trees than when I last visited. Some trees are mango (starting to flower), most are sandalwood. Which explains the enormous swathes of trees on the drive towards Kununurra: sandalwood plantations.

When I first visited Kna (50 years ago?!) the irrigation area was new. My brother and I stepped through the thick mud of irrigation channels to look at the high tech system: lengths of poly pipe acting as siphons to draw water out of the channel into the paddock. Each length of poly pipe -- one or two every metre -- was started flowing by hand, to water a paddock.

Today as I drive next to a channel I see... the same poly pipe system. It obviously works well.

Back towards the farm... Passing by town I stop and try the hotspot. It doesn't work. No signal, it says. On the edge of town?!

At the farm for dinner with "the adults". More chat at a relaxed pace. Back to the hotel -- stand outside and test the hotspot, it still doesn't work.

The farm and farmhouse look good. The weather is fine, warm and very pleasant. The old people :-) are doing ... okay ... for people who are older than me. The daughters -- and husbands, partners, children -- are doing brilliantly well for themselves. Showing all the signs of succeeding despite an excellent upbringing...

Tomorrow, I hit the road for home.

Time to relax (yet again), read a bit... and sleep.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"If it's green, it's biology; if it stinks, it's chemistry; if it has numbers, it's maths; if it doesn't work, it's technology" – Author unknown.