Kununurra is a town in the east of Kimberley region of Western Australia, 45 km from the border with Northern Territory. It was created from 1958 when an ambitious irrigation project dammed the River Ord and created a large fertile area. A second dam created the huge Lake Argyle; both barrage lakes are recreational areas. In 2021 Kununurra had a population of 4500.

Understand

Kelly's Knob

"We are still 300 miles from the telegraph line and cannot, of course, tell what difficulties may not yet be in store for us, so I feel bound to push on, at the same time no one can regret more than I do that I am unable to follow this magnificent stream to its mouth . . . "

- journal of Alexander Forrest, who prudently named the river after WA Governor Sir Harry St George Ord

Kimberley was the first part of Australia to be settled by humans, maybe 65,000 years ago, and the Miriwoong are their descendants in the area they call Goonoonooram, "river". It was this River Ord, 651 km long, that grabbed the attention of the first European explorers, led by Alexander Forrest in 1879. Its fertile plains were crying out for farming, initially as cattle ranches - the patriarch of this Ponderosa was Patrick Durack, who in 1882 drove 7250 head of cattle and 200 horses overland from Queensland to establish the Lissadell, Argyle, Rosewood and Ivanhoe stations. They soon realised that fruit and veg would be even more profitable in these rich alluvial soils, and the more water (and more constant supply) they could get, the better. But Victorian technology could be no match for this forceful river.

A town only appeared from 1958, with "Goonoonooram" westernised as Kununurra, when the Ord Irrigation Scheme sought to harness and regulate the huge monsoon flow. The first stage was completed in 1963 with the construction of the Diversion Dam over the natural dam of Bandicoot Rock. This created Lake Kununurra, drowned the old highway to Darwin, and fed a network of canals to nearby farms. Rice, cotton and sugar were the intended crops, but these were ravaged by pests; still there was enough profitable agriculture to go for a second stage. The Ord River Dam further south upstream was completed in 1971 and created Lake Argyle, Australia's second largest artificial lake. Its initial capacity of 5641 gigalitre was doubled in the 1990s by raising the dam's earth wall, and a hydroelectric power station was installed. The new lakeside also became a resort area.

The other valuable crop was diamonds: these were long known in the river alluvium but only in 1979 was the source found, a volcanic pipe. Quality was low but there were lots, especially of otherwise-rare pink diamonds. Rio Tinto acquired the site and mined the pipe by open cast, down and down to 600 m, then converted in 2013 to block cave mining. By 2020 the operation was uneconomic and the mine closed.

Climate

Kununurra has a tropical monsoon climate with two distinct seasons, wet and dry. The dry from May to September is hot but not roasting, with 30°C highs, blue skies and the main influx of tourists.

October to April sees heavy rain, 40°C days and uncomfortable humid nights. Travel is difficult and some facilities close for the season; yet in many ways Kununurra is at its best. Electric storms rage from billowing pewter thunderclouds pierced by golden sunsets. Waterfalls gush from the rocks, and green new growth carpets the landscape. If you can endure the humidity and incessant rain, you'll experience a Kununurra that few will ever know.

1 Kununurra Visitor Centre, 75 Coolibah Drive, ☏ +61 8 9168 1177, info@visitkununurra.com. M-F 9AM-4PM, Sa 9AM-1PM. Friendly helpful source of info on local services and amenities, plus merchandise and booking tours. (updated Jul 2024)

Get in

Agriculture inspections: Western Australia has rules on what food and plant material may be brought in. This mostly affects arrivals from the nearby Northern Territory, with checks on air and (more visibly) road travellers. They're trying to keep pests at bay (though the battle against cane toads may be a lost cause, see below) and to re-assure export customers that WA produce is safe. See the official website for what is or is not allowed: there are stiff fines for failing to declare or dump (say) a stash of apples. Best eat any fresh produce beforehand, and it's too bad about the floral tributes you were bringing for your late aunt Gladys.

By plane

1 Kununurra airport (KNX  ^IATA East Kimberley Regional Airport) (4 km west of town). Airnorth fly daily from Broome, taking 90 min, and continue to Darwin, another hour plus a one-hour time switch. Once a week they fly direct from Perth, and Virgin fly three days a week, 3 hours non-stop. Qantas no longer fly here, change in Broome. KNX airport is small but modern and the runway has a scenic approach. There's car hire, which you'd best reserve as their fleets are small. (updated Jul 2024)

To town: taxis await incoming flights and cost around $12 to town. Several hotels offer a free transfer if you're staying with them. There isn’t a bus.

By road

Are you sure about this? Kununurra is only 30 km from the Northern Territory border, but a very long way from anywhere else.

From Perth by road the first objective is to reach Broome, a three-day journey of 2360 km by the North West Coastal Highway via Carnarvon, or 2050 km by the Great Northern Highway inland via Newman. These highways join at Port Hedland.

From Broome the only safe, all-weather onward route is the Great Northern Highway, 1044 km via Camballin, Fitzroy Crossing and Ord River. Reckon two days.

Gibb River Road is a scenic "short-cut", 650 km but it will take most of a week, lurching over lumps and stream beds and potholes. It's a dirt track for 4WD only, no caravans but a robust trailer should survive it. It's impassable in the wet season and may be blocked after unseasonal rains, check with the tourist bureau before setting out. It traverses great scenery across the northern Kimberleys, which the driver will be too pre-occupied to enjoy until a breakdown enforces its prolonged contemplation.

From Darwin take the sealed Stuart Highway 324 km south to Katherine. From here you turn west for 524 km on Victoria Highway.

Apart from the Gibb River Road, the long, straight highways let you put the foot down and eat up the distance, but travel takes long hours and you risk falling asleep. Watch out for oncoming road trains that can push you off the road with their draft, and kangaroos at sunset.

By bus

From Perth, Integrity Coaches run two days a week to Broome, taking 36 hours along the coast via Geraldton, Carnarvon, Exmouth and Port Hedland. A third bus goes inland via Mount Magnet and Newman to Port Hedland to connect onto the coastal bus.

From Broome you take the Greyhound, ideally having changed your socks. This leaves five days a week at 6AM, and takes 14 hours via Derby, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek and Durack. It takes a one-hour break in Kununurra then rumbles on overnight to Katherine, Hayes Creek, Palmerston and Darwin, another 10 hours.

From Darwin the westbound Greyhound leaves around 3PM to reach Kununurra towards 1AM and Broome at 3PM. Remember the one-hour time switch at the WA / NT border.

2 Ord River Roadhouse is the bus halt and rest stop in Kununurra, just off Victoria Highway on Messmate Way.

Get around

You can walk around town, but it's damned hot, and even reaching Elephant Rock needs a car.

Driving around town is laid-back, with few other cars, no traffic lights, and free parking. Other nations spurn "give way" and "stop" signs in a spirit of aggression, but here it's a languid view that braking would be sort-of nice but we can't be bothered right now.

Car hire is available from Avis, Budget, Kununurra and Thrifty, all based at the airport but you could probably negotiate a pick-up downtown. Hertz no longer operate here.

See

Sunset and sunrise are the best times to view natural features: it's cooler, the low slanting light fires the rocks into luminous orange, and there's more wildlife about. But at sunset think about the getting back, and don't be caught out on rough unfamiliar ground when darkness falls.

Near town

Drowned trees in Lake Kununurra

• Celebrity Tree Park is the triangle between Victoria Highway, Lily Creek Lagoon, and Kimberland on Old Darwin Rd. A park has existed since 1984, but filming of the 2008 film Australia brought a celebrity crowd to town and each celeb planted a different species of tree. The tourist agencies reckoned this would do for Kununurra what Lord of the Rings did for New Zealand, but several trees have died and plaques have dropped off others, so you may struggle to identify whether your dog is lifting its leg against one planted by Nicole Kidman or one by Baz Luhrmann. The film got mixed reviews but in 2023 was adapted as a six-part TV series. The park is free to access 24 hours.
• Lily Creek Lagoon is the small lake just south of the highway, a side-arm of the much larger Kununurra Lake.
• Kununurra Museum, 72 Coolibah Drive, ☏ +61 8 9169 3331. M-F 12:30-5:30PM. Local history museum with enthusiastic curator. Donation. (updated Jul 2024)
• Art galleries: see Buy for these, as the work is for sale, but they won't mind you just browsing.
• 1 Kelly's Knob at 191 m is the local landmark and highest point for miles. You get a fair view of the surrounding countryside from the car park at the head of Kelly Road (off Speargrass Road), but for the full panorama follow the well worn trail to the service stairs up to the TV tower at the peak.
• 2 Mirima National Park, Hidden Valley Rd, ☏ +61 8 9169 4200. 24 hours. The highlight is the "Hidden Valley" of striking sandstone formations, often described as a miniature Bungle Bungles, with walking trails of 0.5 to 4 km. The rest of the park is open bushland with unmarked trails winding around the rocks and boab trees. You can hike into it free from anywhere along the north side of Victoria Hwy, eg from the gated service road opposite Hibiscus Drive - walk up the gravel road past the water tank. You need a sense of direction to get out again, and don't venture out on ledges as the brittle rocks may break. $17 per vehicle. (updated Jul 2024)
• 3 Lake Kununurra is the long lake created in 1963. It stretches 55 km from the Diversion Dam up to the Lake Argyle Dam, but passes just south of town. The middle is a drowned forest of dead trees poking their limbs above the water, but the fringing wetlands support a huge range of plants, birds, fish and other animals, fostered by the stable water level. There are picnic, barbecue and swimming spots off Victoria Hwy, and a cruise boat does a tour.

Elephant Rock or Sleeping Buddha

• 4 Diversion Dam is 6 km west of town; it impounds the waters of Lake Kununurra and carries the Victoria Highway. No stopping on the dam, there's free parking either side. It's adorned by massive iron pulleys, levers and mechanical doodahs to send the water into irrigation channels north under gravity and south with pumping. White water surges through its 20 gates next to a shady picnic area and boat ramp - this is also a good fishing spot in the dry season, but may be submerged in the wet.
• 5 Elephant Rock or "Sleeping Buddha" is a long outcrop by the lake, with a protuberance that faintly resembles an elephant dipping its trunk. Actually a humongous petrified caterpillar might be more like it. It's possible to climb it - head for the racetrack and continue south, but the trail is rough and unmarked. And it looks even less like an elephant or Buddha from up there.

Further out

• 6 Ivanhoe Crossing 10 km from town is as far north as you can get all-weather and by 2WD, along the sealed Ivanhoe Road. Most folk stop at this point to fish for Barramundi, have a BBQ or relax along the water's edge. Swimming is unwise as the freshwater crocs got in first and don't like to share. The two-stage crossing of the River Ord is sealed but always submerged: it's okay by 4WD or on foot when water levels are low, but after rains the river is an impassable torrent. Beyond is the unsealed Parry Creek Road.
• 7 Black Rock Falls 32 km north of town is a deep waterhole at the base of a 30 m waterfall. If you got here by Ivanhoe Crossing and Parry Creek Road you wasted your time, because when the river is that low, the waterfall here is a trickle and the pool is stagnant cocoa. But during breaks in the rains, a 4WD can slither up unsealed Valentine Spring Road, reached off Victoria Highway 12 km west of town.
• Middle Springs or Mayiba is a smaller falls and pool in another gully 500 m south of Black Rock.
• Secret Springs it would be a crime to show on the map. Continue north on Valentine Spring Road for 5 km past the Black Rock turn-off, then take the next left (unsigned). Grind slowly and carefully up this track for 9 km to find the three main pools.
• 8 Lake Argyle is an enormous lake created by the upper dam. Reach it by driving 35 km southeast on Victoria Hwy almost to the NT border, then take Highway 256, the sealed Lake Argyle Road, for 35 km southwest. This brings you to the resort village (see Sleep), the dam, and then a picnic area at its final turnaround. The scenery is stark going-on surreal, with arid hills above the lake's aching blue. You can swim, hike or fish around the myriad of islands, bays and beaches. Cruise and fishing charter boats ply the waters and are a good way to explore the lake, which has no fringing track.
• Argyle Diamond Mine was about 50 km south of the lake, reached by a separate access road. It comprised a deep pit, a sprawl of industry, and a pre-fab village where "swing" workers rotated through on two week shifts. It's mostly all been cleared away and the site is fenced off, no point coming to try to grub through the dirt for diamonds.
• El Questro: see Wyndham for this wilderness park 100 km west of Kununurra.

Do

Sandstone formations in Hidden Valley

• What's going on? Read Kimberley Echo, published Thursdays. Or listen to Redwave Media Spirit on 102.5 FM.
• Leisure Centre, 115 Coolibah Drive (next to Visitor Centre), ☏ +61 8 9168 2120. M-Th 5AM-8PM, F 6AM-6PM, Sa Su 9AM-5PM. There's a gym, but the main draws are the outdoor 6-lane 25 m swimming pool and the children's water play areas. (updated Jul 2024)
• Footy: Ord River Magpies men and women play Australian rules football in the amateur leagues, at Ivanhoe Rd next to the KAS Showgrounds.
• 1 Lake Kununurra Golf Club, Lakeview Drive, ☏ +61 8 9169 1055, naga@westnet.com.au. Set on the banks of the lake 2 km west of town and striking through some fairly swampy areas, this 18-hole course makes avoiding water hazards a definite challenge. Greens are well maintained but fairways give little relief from the surrounding natural terrain. You'd be hard pressed to find a more isolated course of this standard. (updated Jul 2024)
• 2 Kununurra Race Club has flat horse-racing and rodeos during the dry season. Reach it by the unsealed Drovers Road, which branches off Victoria Highway east of town.
• Boat trips explore Lake Kununurra and the Ord River. Operators are Triple J Tours and Kununurra Cruises.

Events

• Ord Valley Muster is held over a week in May, with art, music, dance and cultural events. The main venue is Celebrity Tree Park.
• Kununurra Agricultural Show is over two days in mid July. The Showgrounds are at the corner of Ivanhoe Rd and Coolabah Drive, opposite Ivanhoe Caravan Resort.
• Kimberley Economic Forum is a business event in alternate years. The next is held at Kimberley Grande Resort 28-30 Aug 2024.

Work

Freshwater crocs seldom bite humans. Still . . .

See Australia#Work for the eligibility rules on who may work here. "Help wanted" jobs are advertised in the local paper and supermarket notice boards, or ask around.

For the unskilled, harvesting gigs are available between June and November.

Hospitality work at the hotels is available in the tourist season, but they'll want you to have some skills and experience, and to commit to the full season.

Buy

As elsewhere in the far north of Western Australia, prices are high because of the cost of transporting goods.

• Fuel: Ord River Roadhouse is open 24 hours and is the cheapest you'll find for a long way.
• 1 Coles, Konkerberry Drive, ☏ +61 8 9118 6100. Daily 6:30AM-7PM. The main supermarket, with a good range of products, including some camping and fishing equipment. Much stock is trucked in frozen and then defrosted on the shelf, so freshness of products like bread can be sub-par, and fruit & veg will perish quickly after purchase. (updated Jul 2024)
• 2 Tucker Box IGA, 1 White Gum St, ☏ +61 8 9169 1270. M-Sa 6AM-7PM, Su 7AM-7PM. Occasionally has fresh veg and bread, but mostly less range of goods and higher prices than Coles. (updated Jul 2024)
• Saturday market has local produce, crafts and knick-knacks. It's held on White Gum Park by the Visitor Centre, April-Sep Sa 8AM-noon.
• Artlandish Aboriginal Art Gallery, 10 Papuana St (next to Kimberley Cafe), ☏ +61 1300 362 551. M-F 9AM-4PM, Sa 9AM-noon. Aboriginal art from the Kimberley by established artists and unknowns. Great reviews for the range and quality on offer, and slick shipping service. (updated Jul 2024)
• 3 Waringarri Aboriginal Arts, 16 Speargrass Rd, ☏ +61 8 9168 2212. M-F 8:30AM-4:30PM, Sa 10AM-2PM. Displays art of the Miriwoong. Free. (updated Jul 2024)
• Kimberley Fine Diamonds, 93 Konkerberry Drive (north side of Coles), ☏ +61 8 9169 1133, info@kimberleyfinediamonds.com.au. M-F 9AM-4:30PM, Sa 9AM-12:30PM. Their signature gemstone is the pink diamond - Lake Argyle Mine was the world's main source until it closed in 2020. The colour is thought to arise from shearing stress during formation, not altered mineral content. (updated Jul 2024)

Eat

The Boab nut and tuber are edible

Hotel restaurants generally have the best fare. Among the offerings are dishes of crocodile, kangaroo and barramundi; if only someone would invent a culinary use for the cane toad.

Fresh local fruit and veg are abundant in season, such as Kensington Pride mangos September-December. Then all of a sudden they're gone, and what's on the supermarket shelf or in the restaurant meal has spent most of a week in a refrigerated truck.

Boab nut is worth a try. Boab trees start to fruit in October, and in January the mature nut drops to the ground. The nuts are too high to pick from a branch, so you need to search for an intact one among the litter of smashed shells left by birds. The flaky dry white flesh inside the thin-shelled nut is compared by some to citrus-flavoured powdered milk, and by others to sour Styrofoam. The tubers of baby boabs are also edible and resemble water chestnut. Bottles of spiced boab chutney may be on sale at the Saturday markets.

Budget

• Ord River Roadhouse, 5 Messmate Way (Bus stop), ☏ +61 8 9169 1188. 24 hours. Petrol station serving fast food. Usually uninspiring, and it's only as clean as the last troupe of visitors, but it's there when you need it. (updated Jul 2024)
• Kimberley Cafe, 4 Papuana St (opposite Visitor Centre), ☏ +61 8 9169 2574. M-F 6AM-2PM, Sa 7:30AM-noon. Bustling place with fresh coffee, tea, cakes and light bites. (updated Jul 2024)

Mid-range

• Kimberley, 75 Coolibah Drive (within Visitor Centre), ☏ +61 8 9169 3698. M-F 10AM-2PM, 4:30-9PM, Sa Su 4:30-9PM. Reliably good Chinese restaurant. (updated Jul 2024)
• Zebra Rock Restaurant within Kununurra Hotel serves food daily 7-10AM, noon-8PM.
• 1 Ivanhoe Cafe, Ivanhoe Rd, ☏ +61 427 692 775. M-F 8AM-4PM, Sa Su 8AM-2PM. Good eats under the mango trees, dog-friendly. (updated Jul 2024)
• Wild Mango Cafe, 20 Messmate Way (west side of Coles), ☏ +61 8 9169 2810. M-F 7AM-4PM, Sa 7AM-2PM, Su 7AM-noon. Bright modern cafe serving breakfast and lunch. (updated Jul 2024)
• Lily's Cafe is within Lily Lagoon Resort, open daily.

Splurge

• The Grande Bistro is within Kimberley Grande Resort, serving Australian fare M-Th 5:30-8PM, F-Su noon-2PM, 5:30-8PM.
• 2 Kelly's Bar and Grill, 47 Coolibah Drive (within Country Club Resort), ☏ +61 8 9168 1024. Daily 6:30-8:30AM, 5-8PM. Popular place, you're unlikely to get in without a reservation. Seating is cramped indoors, most diners choose to the spacious deck outside. The menu changes with the seasons, some veggie / GF choices, look for oddities such as the barramundi and crocodile risotto. They also have a decent selection of wine and beer. Quality of cooking and service erratic. (updated Jul 2024)
• 3 PumpHouse, Lakeview Drive (by golf club), ☏ +61 447 370 596. M-F 4-9PM, Sa Su 8AM-9PM. Stylish eatery in a former pumphouse for the Ord River irrigation scheme, serving modern Australian cuisine. Sit in the cavernous interior or on the riverside deck watching the crocs swim by. (updated Jul 2024)

Drink

If there is one thing that Kununurra residents do well, it's drink. As with food, the better drinking holes are in hotel restaurant bars, most of which are licensed to allow you to drink without purchasing a meal. Any establishment with the word bar in the name is a safe bet. Though the usual street drinking laws are still enforced, you are unlikely to be hassled by the local constabulary if you are having a quiet one while lounging on a rock with a good view.

Occasionally, bottle shops are prohibited to sell full strength beer, wine and spirits till after 7PM, whenever the local police deem that a community event will be marred by availability of booze during the day. Though it might feel like a ridiculous inconvenience, there's no point complaining to the bottle shop staff. Just come back after 7PM like everyone else.

The rest of the time there are plenty of ways to get something cold and numbing to slake your thirst.

• Aussie Sports Bar is within Hotel Kununurra at 37 Messmate Way, open daily noon-8PM.

Their Thirsty Camel Bottle Shop has a wide selection and is open M-Sa noon-6PM.

• Gulliver's Tavern, 196 Cottontree Ave (by Visitor Centre), ☏ +61 8 9168 1666. M-F noon–10PM. A nice place to hangout in the courtyard, decent meals. Their bottle shop Liquor Barons closes at :30PM. (updated Jul 2024)
• Sports Bar within Kimberley Grande Resort has six wide-screen TVs showing cable sport channels. It's open noon to midnight.
• 1 Hoochery Distillery, 300 Weaber Plain Rd (13 km north of town), ☏ +61 8 9168 2467, hoochery@hoochery.com.au. M-Sa 9AM-4PM. The oldest continuously-operating rum distillery in Western Australia, the Hoochery uses local cane sugar to make rum. They also make small batches of gin and whiskey. Tours daily at 2PM. (updated Jul 2024)
• Water: you're going to need lots, so get a 5-10 litre container at the supermarkets.

Sleep

Unwelcome visitors When will they ever learn? Sugar cane grows well in tropical Australia but the crop was being damaged by cane beetles, which quickly acquired resistance to pesticides. "I know, let's introduce an alien species to eat the beetles, that has no predator itself in Australia, and that damages the crop even more." Cane toads (Rhinella marina) were introduced from Hawaii into Queensland in 1935, where they didn't much inconvenience the beetles but drove the farmers spare. There are now over 200 million of the slimy blighters, and in spite of agricultural controls they reached the Kununurra irrigated area in 2011. Mmm, maybe develop a super-rabbit to curb them?

Rates quoted are for the April - Oct dry season. Rates drop in the wet, when travel here is misery.

Budget

• Kunurra Backpackers is mostly occupied by contract workers but may have short-term availability. It's at 24 Nutwood Cres north side of town.
• 1 Ivanhoe Village Caravan Resort, 214 Coolibah Drive, ☏ +61 8 9169 1995, reservations@ivanhoevillageresort.com. Northwest edge of town, this clean welcoming caravan park and campground expands across the football field to meet peak demand. The Barra cabins are simple but comfy, the two bedroom Ivanhoe Suites are great for families or groups. Powered site $60, cabin $200. (updated Jul 2024)

Mid-range

• The Cambridge (formerly Ibis Styles), 47 Victoria Hwy, ☏ +61 8 9168 4000. Under renovation from its former guise as an Ibis. (updated Jul 2024)
• 2 Town Caravan Park, 40 Bloodwood Drive, ☏ +61 8 9168 1763, managers@townpark.com.au. Clean, well-managed park with shady grassed caravan and tent sites, and air-conditioned studio or villa rooms. There's a swimming pool and campers' kitchen. Hook-up $45, villa $130. (updated Jul 2024)
• Hotel Kununurra, 37 Messmate Way (between Town Caravan Park and Croc Motel), ☏ +61 8 9168 0400. Simple decent place, but a lot of pub noise. Double (room only) $200. (updated Jul 2024)
• 3 Croc Motel, 20 River Fig Ave, ☏ +61 8 9168 1411. Clean friendly motel by the shops and cafes. Not to be confused with Croc YHA a few blocks north, which closed down. Double (room only) $200. (updated Jul 2024)
• Hidden Valley Caravan Park, 110 Weaber Plain Rd, ☏ +61 8 9168 1790. Clean friendly place in a quiet spot by Mirima Rocks, with cabins and pitches. (updated Jul 2024)
• Lakeview Apartments, 31 Victoria Hwy (next to Kimberley Grande Resort), ☏ +61 8 9168 0000, stay@lakeviewapartments.net. Spacious 1-3 bedroom self-contained apartments around a shaded swimming pool. Friendly helpful owners. Double room $300. (updated Jul 2024)
• 4 Kimberleyland, 1519 Victoria Hwy, ☏ +61 8 9168 1280. Clean well-run place by the lagoon, with villas, cabins, and caravan and camping sites. Double cabin $250. (updated Jul 2024)

Lake Argyle from the air

• 5 Lily Lagoon Resort, 50 Casuarina Way, ☏ +61 8 9169 1092, bookings@lilylagoonresort.org.au. Scenic site on lakeside 2 km from town centre, with 24 cabin-style rooms and 25 camping / caravan pitches. Double room $300. (updated Jul 2024)
• 6 Discovery Parks, Lakeview Drive, ☏ +61 8 9168 1031. Decent chain park with cabins west edge of town. Cabin $220, hook-up $70. (updated Jul 2024)

Splurge

• 7 Kununurra Country Club Resort, 47 Coolibah Drive, ☏ +61 8 9168 1024, stay@kccr.com.au. Modern rooms scattered through a tropical garden with a pool and popular but overrated restaurant. Double (room only) $250. (updated Jul 2024)
• 8 Kimberley Grande Resort, 20 Victoria Hwy, ☏ +61 8 7918 7885, reception@kimberleygrande.com.au. This is about the best Kununurra can offer, with 73 large modern rooms. Food offerings are hit-and-miss. Double (room only) $300. (updated Jul 2024)
• Houseboats are available for rent on Lily Creek Lagoon and elsewhere in Kimberley.
• Lake Argyle Holiday Park, 520 Lake Argyle Rd, ☏ +61 8 9168 7777. Small tourist village where the Lake Argyle Road ends at the dam, run by the Discovery Parks chain. Decent comfy facilities, with a small shop, restaurant, laundry and kitchen. Double cabin $350, pitch $65, hook-up $75. (updated Jul 2024)

Connect

Pink diamonds were mined here to 2020

• Kununurra Community Library, Mangaloo St (corner of Coolibar Drive), ☏ +61 8 9169 1227. M, F 8AM-4PM, Tu, Th 8AM-5:30PM, Sa 9AM-1PM. Shared with the High School, the library stocks a good collection of Kimberley and Aboriginal culture books, plus local and interstate newspapers. Borrowing or using the internet is free but requires a WA State Library card: holders can book a maximum one hour internet slot, or hope for a 20 min "express" slot. (updated Jul 2024)
• Mobile: as of March 2024, town has 4G from Telstra and a scratchy mobile signal from Optus and Vodafone. There's no signal on the approach highways.

Go next

• Purnululu National Park is better known as the Bungle Bungles, a must-see jumble of striped sandstone domes. Air tours visit, but Purnululu is best appreciated from ground level.
• Darwin is 800 km east on Route 1, entering Northern Territory and passing through Judbarra / Gregory National Park and Katherine.
• Warmun or Turkey Creek is an Aboriginal community 200 km south of Kununurra. It's an entry point to the Purnululu National Park, and has a long standing Aboriginal arts scene.
• Wyndham is the oldest and most northerly town in Kimberley, 100 km from Kununurra on the Cambridge Gulf.
• Derby is the first stopover heading west. Then comes Broome and the dusty expanses of Pilbara.

Routes through Kununurra

Port Hedland ← Broome ←

W  NE

→ Katherine → Darwin