Betten On Bike: DAY 31 - 9TH MAY 2013 - KUNUNURRA

Day 30 - 9th May 2013 Kununurra – Rest Day

Up at 6am as we want to drop the Trusty Campervan in as early as possible for its booked service. The garage wasn’t very far from the caravan park we are staying so we refused the offer of a lift from the garage and enjoyed the pleasant 15 minute walk back to Eden Valley. Whilst walking we could see the bright red strata layered rocky mountain outcrops towering above us on both sides.

I used the waiting time to catch up on emails, blogs etc. The service was completed within a few hours so we picked up the campervan and decided to make our way into Kununuura for a look around and to catch up with Marian whom we had met at Daly Waters. Marian & her husband Trevor run the Kimberley Café and we were very amazed and excited when Marian rang me last week to tell me that she was going to make cupcakes all weekend and then sell them in her café for a week and all the money raised would be going to our fundraising campaign for Alzheimer’s Australia Dementia Research Foundation so we were keen to renew her acquaintance and so we dropped into her café. The décor of Kimberley Café is very interesting with each of the tables being inlaid with historical and tourist information about various local regions and many historical photos of the area decorate the walls as well as a rescued piano from The Durack station. We enjoyed a coffee with Marian & Trevor and a big chat.

We were on the hunt for an extra camping light and we found a suitable one in the local camping shop. Visited the Aboriginal Art Gallery and then headed to The El Questro Information Centre to find out a little more about The Gibb River Road and the current access – Walter has long regarded this as a must-see part of our trip and he was keen to cycle the famous Gibb River Road which he had heard & read so much about. We decided to leave early the next morning to head off to Emma Gorge located in The Emma Gorge Resort which is part of The El Questro consortium of resorts which was situated only 2 km off The Gibb River Road and accessible for us. We decided to splash out and actually stay in one of the cabins – the first time that we haven’t slept in the van since the beginning of our journey on 8^th April.

Marian also contacted the local newspaper and at 2pm we met with one of their journalists Rourke for an interview & photo.

After the interview we met 2 dutch girls who were travelling around Australia for 1 year and they told us that they were looking for work either fruit picking or bar work and they were waiting for a phone call that evening to hopefully offer them work and as they were running out of money & they were really hoping for good news. In the caravan park we are staying there are many groups of back packers from many different countries so this is indeed a popular destination for young people from overseas to visit.

Late afternoon Walter & I made a hasty trip up to The Kununurra Look-out to see the sunset and although arriving a little later than ideal it was still quite an amazing spectacle.

Early to bed as tomorrow is a very very early start !!