{"id":368,"date":"2026-07-25T11:50:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T01:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arnobrok.com\/blog\/top-end\/?p=368"},"modified":"2026-08-02T13:30:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T03:30:07","slug":"day-8-kununurra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arnobrok.com\/blog\/top-end\/2026\/07\/25\/day-8-kununurra\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 8 – Kununurra"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

17 July<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today was a relaxing day, giving us time to explore Kununurra and visit the Durack Homestead Museum and the Zebra Rock factory. Our first stop was the Ivanhoe Crossing, it was great to see so many cars and their caravans plowing through the water. A great way to clean all the dust from the underside. There was a pelican patiently waiting for a fish to jump up so he could have his breakfast sorted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Zebra Rock factory, they created the most amazing objects, ranging from one-metre-long crocodiles to eagles and all kinds of jewelry. Zebra Rock (or Zebra Stone) is an exceptionally rare siltstone featuring distinctive alternating bands of reddish-brown hematite and creamy white clay. Found exclusively in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia, particularly around the Lake Argyle and Kununurra areas, this 600-million-year-old natural wonder is highly prized for jewelry and ornamental carvings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usable deposits of this stone are extremely limited. Outside a few isolated pockets in the neighbouring Northern Territory, the Kimberley is the only place in the world where it naturally occurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Argyle Homestead tells the story of the pioneering Durack family, who arrived from western Queensland in the 1880s after completing one of Australia’s longest cattle drives. Their goal was to establish cattle stations along the fertile Ord River, something they achieved with the cooperation and support of the Miriuwung Gajerrong people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Built in 1895 on the banks of the Behn River, the homestead became the centre of the Durack family’s vast pastoral empire, which eventually covered an area the size of Belgium. Despite the harsh conditions of the Kimberley, it was considered a spacious and comfortable home for its time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Lake Argyle began filling after the completion of the Ord River Dam in 1971, the original homestead was threatened by rising water. Rather than lose this important piece of history, it was carefully dismantled, stone by stone, moved to its current location near Kununurra, and rebuilt. Today it operates as a museum, preserving the remarkable story of the Durack family and the early pastoral history of the East Kimberley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We all had time to do some shopping in town. I needed a new pair of slippers, as the ones I had brought with me had seen better days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the afternoon, we all enjoyed the Lake Argyle and Ord River Cruise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lake Argyle is not only Western Australia’s largest freshwater reservoir, but also Australia’s second-largest man-made lake by volume. And our guide told us that when they send the water from the lake in for testing, the lab came back and accused them of sending in bottled water as the quality was that good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its sheer size is astonishing. Lake Argyle is roughly 21 times larger than Sydney Harbour. Beyond its natural beauty, the lake fuels the region’s impressive irrigation network, helping to drive the thriving agricultural industry that Kununurra is known for today. However, it was not always there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dream of harnessing the Ord River stretches back decades. Visionaries first explored the idea in the early 20th century, but it was not until 1963 that Stage One, the Diversion Dam, was completed, launching the Ord Irrigation Scheme. Stage Two followed with the construction of the Ord River Dam, officially creating Lake Argyle in 1972. Stage Three added a hydroelectric power station, which now supplies clean, renewable energy to Kununurra and Wyndham while also enhancing the area’s tourism appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few photos of the day. (all the animals spotted on the water will be at the end of this blog)<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04101\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04089\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04096\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04094\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04102\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04128\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04123\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Brolga\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04089\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"White-bellied\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04225\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04194\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04191\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Snakebird\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Fresh\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Black\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04128\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04123\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"DSC04142\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t<\/div> \n\t<\/span>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

17 July Today was a relaxing day, giving us time to explore Kununurra and visit the Durack Homestead Museum and the Zebra Rock factory. Our first stop was the Ivanhoe Crossing, it was great to see so many cars and their caravans plowing through the water. A great way to Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"traveledmap_user_id":[""],"traveledmap_trip_id":[""],"traveledmap_trip_base_url":["https:\/\/www.traveledmap.com\/trip\/\/?isWP=true"],"traveledmap_disable_widget":[false],"traveledmap_show_markers_customization":[false],"traveledmap_trip_steps":[""],"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-end"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arnobrok.com\/blog\/top-end\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arnobrok.com\/blog\/top-end\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arnobrok.com\/blog\/top-end\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arnobrok.com\/blog\/top-end\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arnobrok.com\/blog\/top-end\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/arnobrok.com\/blog\/top-end\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":727,"href":"https:\/\/arnobrok.com\/blog\/top-end\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368\/revisions\/727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arnobrok.com\/blog\/top-end\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arnobrok.com\/blog\/top-end\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arnobrok.com\/blog\/top-end\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}