Bungle Bungles to Kununurra

Drama on the road to Kununurra: sudden tyre blowout! We were going along nicely just past the Wyndham turnoff when there was a Big Bang from under the bus and we came to an abrupt halt. Just after 11.00 am, with only a small amount of roadside shade to be had. Tommo jumped out and was quickly onto it.15 minutes and we were back on the road!

We were soon in Kununurra and checked into the Kimberleyland Waterfront Holiday Park, the best camping site we’ve stayed in so far: a lovely shaded site overlooking the lake.

We also stopped for a quick look at Ivanhoe Crossing, which used to be the only place to cross the Ord River. It is often closed if the water level gets too high:

There were a couple of intrepid (or mad) fishermen risking becoming a tasty meal for crocs, as salties come up to this spot easily.

In the afternoon we visited the Quintis Sandalwood Shop. We had seen the plantations on both sides of the road for miles. Indian Sandalwood trees take 15 years to mature and strangely enough we were here about 15 years ago, watching Asian girls with nimble fingers planting out the tiny seedlings. They had to choose perfectly straight plants and discard any with wiggles.

The sandalwood plants are parasites, so host plants (yellow cassias) are planted alongside. Eventually they strangle the hosts and both are harvested at the same time. The cassias become wood chips for mulch, while the sandalwood chips are sent to Albany on the south coast for distilling. We were shown a video of the process (which is actually available on line). The Albany plant is called Mt Romance and has been distilling Australian sandalwood for many years, but it is now felt that the future is probably with the Indian sandalwood product. In India, sandalwood has been over harvested, since it is the preferred wood for funeral pyres.

Quintis has now been sold to the American investment company Black Rock, after a somewhat chequered history. They have poached the Chief Marketing Officer from the now closed Argyle Diamond Mine and he has developed a huge range of Sandalwood beauty products.