Australia 2014: Diggers Rest to Kununurra

Day 27 – August 15, 2014 – Diggers Rest to Kununurra - distance travelled: 201 kms - 27^oC high; 12^oC low. The 4x4 tour group was going to take the Karunjie Track, a non-maintained stock track leading from Diggers Rest back to the Gibb River Road just past the Pentecost River crossing. Don had been eyeing the track on the map but as we didn’t know much about it plus didn’t even see it go off from the Gibb River Road we didn’t take it. Now that this convoy was taking it and the trail rides were looking very unlikely to happen that day we decided to take the track as well. We were on the road just before 8am, and just before the group. Drove back to the boab prison tree – where they held prisoners at one time – for a look and some pictures and then entered the track, ahead of the convoy with the exception of one 4x4 and trailer but they let us overtake them when we caught up to them. The track was 50 kms and led us around the Cockburn Ranges where it crossed salt for about 20 kms – very smooth going – and after that it crisscrossed through the country side, very rocky in places, through many dried up small creek beds. Gwen opened and closed about half a dozen gates between different (parts of) stations and we stopped here and there for pictures. We could often see the dust of the next 4x4 behind us, sometimes catching up to us when we went through a gate (in which case they got to close it). Near waterholes we came across herds of cattle and various birds; small oases in a rather dry countryside. It took us more than three hours to cover the 50 kms and reach the end of the track. Rugged but doable track; very nice experience, we were happy to have taken the track after all. Just outside Kununurra we found a place for trail rides and Claire and Shannon were able to join two other riders on a two hour trail ride that afternoon, much to their delight. After the ride – which they thoroughly enjoyed – we found a campground and set up camp, ate and worked on and updated the blog.