Kununurra

Climate

Kununurra has a tropical climate with two distinct seasons; the monsoonal ‘wet’ season and the touristy ‘dry’ season. The wet season starts around October, typified by heavy rain, 40°C days and uncomfortable humid nights, and ends in April. The rest of the year is the milder, dry season, bringing 30°C highs, blue skies and the bulk of tourists.

History

As early as 1882, fortune seeking pastoralists and farmers have been drawn to pin their hopes on the Ord River and the wide open plains around it. The Ords potential was first identified by explorer Alexander Forrest in 1879. He encouraged graziers in search of new land to the area and subsequently built his empire on leases of 51 million acres. The most well known of these pastoralists was the Durack family, who in 1882 drove 7,250 head of cattle and 200 horses overland from Queensland to establish the Lissadell, Argyle, Rosewood and Ivanhoe stations. At Ivanhoe station, north of the present Kununurra townsite, the potential of growing crops on the rich alluvial soils of the Ord Valley became apparent and after early experiments literally bore fruit, many acres of cattle country were turned over to agriculture. It was soon realised that the full potential of the Ord to grow thirsty crops could only be achieved with more water.

Begun in 1958, the Ord Irrigation Scheme was an ambitious idea to capture the huge volume of water flowing down the Ord during the monsoon for irrigation of the fertile plains along the river's lower reaches and to develop a productive agriculture industry and create a food bowl for Western Australia.

The first stage was completed in 1963 with the construction of the Diversion Dam, creating Lake Kununurra and feeding a network of canals that supported 31 farms by 1966. Spurred on by this success, the second stage saw the building of the Ord River Dam further upstream, subsequently creating Lake Argyle, Australia's second largest artificial Lake. Construction of the 335 metres long, earth wall dam was completed in 1971 and ceremoniously opened a year later. The reservoir's initial capacity of a hefty 5,641 gigilitres equivalent to 11 Sydney Harbours by some peoples estimate was increased in the early 1990s, when the wall was raised by 6 metres to double its current capacity to an oceanic 10,763 giglitres. The extra capacity enabled a hydroelectric power station to keep spinning and provide the towns power.

In the early days, farmers experimented with a range of crops and had variable results. Crops such as cotton and rice were dismal failures as pests and birds ate it quicker than it could grow. But sugar cane, bananas, melons and mangos became a very successful cash crop. In recent years, sandalwood plantations became more abundant. A trial of commercial hemp proved to be viable and production is tipped to be expanded once the states draconian laws can be modernised.

Understand

Kununurra's existence is due entirely to a grand engineering scheme to harness the Ord River, and establish an agriculture industry in the area. The town itself came into existence in the late 1950's as a support centre for the Ord Irrigation scheme. A few vanguard families slowly spread their multi-thousand acre properties across the fertile plain. In recent years, it has unceasingly shaken off its pragmatic origins to develop infrastructure for the growing number of visitors to this previously difficult-to-visit part of the Kimberley. From the initial handful of pioneering farmers, the permanent population has now grown to around 7,000. The town was officially gazetted as recently as 1961.

 

Though the dry is typically the peak tourist season, the wet is arguably the best time to see Kununurra. The monsoonal weather brews up billowing thunderclouds flashing with electrical storms that make for some beautiful sunsets. The ensuing downpours create rushing cascades to usually dry waterholes and bring a flush of new green growth to the landscape. If you can endure the humidity and incessant rain, you will see a Kununurra that many miss.

Kununurra Visitor Centre

Your best source for free pamphlets about services in Kununurra, maps and Kimberley themed knick-knacks. Staff can be quite helpful in answering your questions, even more so if you look interested in booking a tour.