Margaret’s Kimberley Trip: Days 9 and 10

Day nine was designed to be relaxing. We had most of the morning free for exploring Kununurra township, while the afternoon was devoted to a cruise down the Ord River from the Argyle Dam. At the end of the cruise we were to enjoy view the sunset from the cruise boat as we travelled slowly across Lake Kununurra to the township, where we would stay the night.
Beginning east of Halls Creek near Mount Wells, the Ord River snakes its way north and passes along the eastern periphery of the Purnululu National Park before turning north again to discharge into the Cambridge Gulf east of Wyndham. During the wet season, billions of litres of water flow seawards each day from the main stream and the 35 tributaries that join it.
In the middle of the 20^th Century, this abundance of water was seen as a resource that could be put to better use. Accordingly, the government of the day decided to establish an irrigation scheme and in the late 1950s created a new town of Kununurra to form the heart of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme (ORIS).
Work on the ORIS began in 1963 with the damming of the Ord River near the confluence of the Ord and Dunham rivers, approximately 72 km south of the town. At the same time, a diversion dam was created downstream of Kununurra. Currently, the ORIS provides irrigation water for approximately 117 square kilometres of land but there are plans to expand this to 440 square kilometres in the future.
The main dam created Lake Argyle, which was opened in 1972 and is Australia’s second largest artificial lake by volume. The dam is 335 metres long and 98 metres high with an earth-filled wall and has a surface area of approximately 1,000 square kilometres.
Initially, the scheme was dogged with failure. Experiments with growing rice and cotton failed because of constant problems with tropical diseases and birds. Difficulties in bringing produce to distant markets also plagued farmers in the area. Today the irrigated areas successfully grow a variety of fruits and vegetables, with the most successful being sugar cane, bananas and melons. Sandalwood is seen as having great future potential for the area.
En route to the dam we stopped briefly at the reconstructed Argyle Downs homestead, which was moved from the valley before it was flooded. Although not all of the homestead could be relocated, enough remains to provide a good idea of what life might have been like for the pioneering Durack family, who settled in the area in 1883.

The reconstructed Argyle Downs homestead, which was moved out of the valley just before the Argyle Dam was completed. (PowerShot G10, 6.1mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/150 second at f/8.)

An available-light shot of one of the rooms in the homestead, taken without flash. (PowerShot G10, 6.1mm focal length, ISO 400, 1/5 second at f/4.5.)

The old telephone on the verandah wall, showing the stonework used to construct the homestead. (PowerShot G10, 6.1mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/20 second at f/4.5.)

An available-light shot of the section of the house in which farm equipment is displayed. (PowerShot G10, 6.1mm focal length, ISO 400, 1/10 second at f/4.5.)
Leaving the homestead, we progressed to the lookout that overlooks the Argyle Dam. It’s a spectacular view, with the blue water contrasting with the red soils in the surrounding hillsides. However, since the scene was too wide for any of my lenses, I decided to record the view by shooting a panorama that took in the dam wall as well. The panorama, which was created from five shots, is shown below.

Panoramic view from the lookout overlooking Lake Argyle. The wall of the Argyle Dam cam be seen on the right side of the frame. (PowerShot G10, 6.1mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/251 second at f/7.1.)
The bus took us downhill and across the dam wall to the edge of the river, where we boarded the cruise boat.

Looking down on the Argyle Dam. You can see the road crossing the dam wall and the cruise boat waiting in the river below. (PowerShot G10, 6.1mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/202 second at f/7.1.)

The outlet at the base of the dam wall, which feeds water into the Ord River. A hydro-electric power station is located in the dam wall behind this pipe. (PowerShot G10, 10.8mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/318 second at f/7.1.)
The large, flat-bottomed boat was captained by Jeff, one of the three ‘Js’ that operate JJJ Tours, which runs the cruises. Equipped with a couple of powerful motors, it can race through the twists and turns of the river and cover the 55 km distance in less than two hours, However, Jeff alternated between high and low speeds. Where freshwater crocodiles were visible, we slowed down and came in close enough to see them, although they usually slid quietly into the water before we were within shooting range with a normal lens.

Captain Jeff outlining some of the things we would see on the Ord River cruise. (PowerShot G10, 8.1mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/25 second at f/6.3.)
In the less interesting places, the boat went at a cracking pace through shallow rapids and across fast-flowing waters. About a third of the way to Kununurra we made a small diversion to view a colony of flying foxes in a clump of melaleuca trees on the bank. According to Jeff, this colony was roughly a million strong. He regaled us with information about the lives of the bats and gave us plenty of time for picture-taking.

The flying fox colony. (PowerShot G10, 18.1mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/79 second at f/6.3.)
Some of the scenery along the riverbanks as we proceeded downstream was worth photographing – although I wasn’t tempted to haul out the EOS 5D II until we reached the calm waters of Lake Kununurra. The contrast between the red rocks (due to high iron content) and bright blue sky was particularly attractive. Fast shutter speeds were required to avoid blurring when the boat was moving quickly.

Rock formations on the bank of the Ord River. (PowerShot G10, 21.5mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/318 second at f/6.3.)
Roughly half way to Kununurra we stopped for afternoon tea at a private landing spot, hidden from the river by a fringe of melaleuca trees, which made attractive subjects for photography.

Melaleucas on the river bank. (PowerShot G10, 6.1mm focal length, ISO 1080, 1/10 second at f/6.3.)
After we boarded the cruise boat again, Jeff steered us into one of the tributaries of the Ord to experience the rainforest environment in the gullies. By this time, the sun was fairly low in the sky and the cool shade in the watercourse made a nice contrast to the sunny areas we had passed through. But lower light levels required sensitivity adjustments to compensate.

Inside one of the Ord River’s tributary creeks. (PowerShot G10, 21.5mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/79 second at f/6.3.)
Rejoining the main stream, we passed beneath some cliffs where a rock wallaby could be seen at the entrance to a cave, enjoying the dying rays of the sun. There was considerable discussion after the cruise as to whether it was real – or artificial. However, I have two shots in which the animal is looking in different directions, confirming the former.

The rock wallaby on the cliffs overlooking the Ord River. (PowerShot G10, 30.5mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/25 second at f/4.5.)
As the sun sank in the west, the light wind that had accompanied us dropped, and the surface of the river became completely glassy in places, providing some excellent photographic subjects. As the light declined, it was at last time to swap to the 5D II, which provided much better performance at high ISO settings.

One of the last shots taken with my compact camera on the cruise. (PowerShot G10, 8.9mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/159 second at f/5.61.)

Sunset over the Ord River. (EOS 5D Mark II with EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens; ISO 200, 88mm focal length, 1/160 second at f/11.)

Dusk on Lake Kununurra. (EOS 5D Mark II with EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens; ISO 800, 50mm focal length, 1/160 second at f/11.)

Approaching Kununurra in twilight. (EOS 5D Mark II with EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens; ISO 800, 105mm focal length, 1/60 second at f/9.)
An early start was called for day 10 as we had to drive into the Purnululu National Park and reach the Bungle Bungle Wilderness Lodge by nightfall. The first part of the trip was on sealed roads and after travelling almost 200 km we stopped for fuel at the Turkey Creek roadhouse, which is run by the Warmun community. Here we were able to photograph one of the huge road trains that use the Kimberley roads to transport a variety of good.

A road train prime over with four trailers, stopped for a rest at the Turkey Creek roadhouse. (PowerShot G10, 8.1mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/403 second at f/7.1.)
A further 52 km down the Great Northern Highway, we turned right, leaving the sealed road and followed the Spring Creek Track into the Purnululu National Park. This 4WD track passes through some spectacular hilly country. We would love to have been able to stop and take photos but, our schedule had us stopping for lunch at the visitors’ centre before continuing on to Echidna Chasm, where we would spend the afternoon.
At the visitors’ centre, we were able to pick up some information about the Purnululu National Park and also photograph some of the flora in the area. (In other respects, the scenery was unremarkable.) One of the most unusual plants we saw was a Wickham’s Grevillea, which has clusters of bright red flowers growing on short stems that may emerge from the trunk or branches. Wide lens aperture settings were used to isolate the subject from the background.

Wickham’s Grevillea (Grevillea wickhamii). (PowerShot G10, 6.1mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/636 second at f/4.5.)

Purple Mulla-Mulla (Ptilotus exaltatus) was another flowering plant widespread in the area. (PowerShot G10, 30.5mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/1002 second at f/4.5.)
It’s only 20 km from the visitors’ centre to the Echidna Chasm car park but, given the condition of the track, it took almost an hour for us to get there. On arrival, we joined other visitors on the track into the narrow gorge, stopping briefly before we reached the entrance to the gorge to examine the bower of a Great Bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) in the scrub beside the track.

A collection of grey pebbles around the bower of a Great Bowerbird. (PowerShot G10, 8.1mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/79 second at f/4.5.)

The entrance to Echidna Chasm. (PowerShot G10, 6.1mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/251 second at f/5.6.)

Livistona palms on the track into Echidna Chasm. (PowerShot G10, 6.1mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/50 second at f/6.3.)
Echidna Chasm’s key feature is its narrowness and the height of the rock walls, which extend to 200 metres above the pebbly floor. The chasm was created by the gradual widening by erosion of a joint in the sandstone and conglomerate rocks. You can walk in up to one kilometre from the car park but must climb a couple of ladders to access the innermost section.
The best time to visit Echidna Chasm is around midday, when the sun is close to vertical and the maximum amount of light can enter. Even then, it’s difficult to capture the wide brightness range in photographs and a fair bit of post-capture editing is required to bring out detail in highlights and shadows. If too much of the sky is included in a shot, it’s likely to blow out to totally white.
We arrived at the car park close to 2 pm, which was a little too late for optimum lighting. However, I did manage to get a few usable shots inside the chasm with the EOS 5d Mark II.

The walk into Echidna Chasm, showing the scale of its high rocky sides. (EOS 5D Mark II with EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens; ISO 400, 24mm focal length, 1/11 second at f/4.)

Further along the path. (EOS 5D Mark II with EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens; ISO 1600, 24mm focal length, 1/11 second at f/4.)

Looking up inside a very narrow stretch of the chasm. (Note how the blown-out highlights produce blooming flare along the most contrasty border.) (EOS 5D Mark II with EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens; ISO 2000, 24mm focal length, 1/15 second at f/4.5.)

One of the narrowest sections. (EOS 5D Mark II with EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens; ISO 1600, 24mm focal length, 1/6 second at f/4.)
On emerging from the Echidna Chasm path we had a little time to examine the surrounding area, which provided our first glimpses of the ‘beehive’ shaped peaks we would see on the following day in the southern section of the park. As darkness arrived, we were treated to yet another spectacular Kimberley sunset just before we arrived at our destination, the safari-style campsite at Bungle Bungle Wilderness Lodge.

Afternoon sunlight on the ridges near Echidna Chasm. (EOS 5D Mark II with EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens; ISO 200, 45mm focal length, 1/181 second at f/16.)

Sunset in the northern section of the Purnululu National Park. (EOS 5D Mark II with EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens; ISO 400, 24mm focal length, 1/160 second at f/9.5.)