Moving on
from The Bungle Bungle Ranges we headed
off for a caravan park called Parrys Creek Farm, about 20km out of Wyndham
recommended by many a traveller. Parry Creek Farm is a small bush
retreat/Caravan Park situated on 120 acres of freehold land in the middle of
Parry Lagoon. Parry Lagoon is an ideal place to watch and listen to the many
calls of the birds here. A beautiful little spot where stunning sunsets are a
must see as you sit amongst the purposely built bird watching area.
 |
| sipping on Moet beneath the Boab Tree |
 |
| Jazz, Mark and Crowey, Cheers! |
Our first
thoughts were to stay here for about 2 nights, however we met a couple parked
next to us by the name of Mark and Jazz and ended up having a great time with
them and hence stayed for 4 nights. Mark and Jazz come from Stroud (about one
hour north of Newcastle) NSW and are currently on holiday for a couple of
months. There was many a beer, champagne and strongbow drunk with this lovely
couple. Jazz and I even got the chance to have a girlie day by travelling into
Kununurra where we went to the local markets, ventured into the Kimberley
diamond shop, where we quickly realised there was no way we would be purchasing
a pink diamond anytime soon, with a 0.25 carat pink diamond costing you around
$26K. We had a great day whilst the boys went out to get some mud crabs and
have a fish. Needless to say we ended up having hamburgers that night. We will definately catch up with Mark and Jazz when we get to Northern NSW, a great couple we shared many a laugh and story with.
Venturing
into Wyndham proved to be an interesting experience. Wyndham is geographically the top town of the
west and the last port northward before Darwin. The port here services the huge
cattle industry, the Ord River Irrigation Project and many mining companies.
The Campbridge Gulf is home to some of the largest saltwater crocodiles in the
world. It was here that we first
learned no full strength alcohol could be purchased before 2pm and presentation
of your driver’s licence required. Looking around Wyndham it is not much of a
town, with a lot of buildings closed or run down. It does have a crocodile farm which once
again was recommended to us to see so we thought we would check it out. Woodsy
is the owner’s name and quite a bit of a character and definitely calls a spade
a spade. The crocodiles held in the farm are what they call the rogue
crocodiles. Taken from the wild and given to Woodsy to look after and they are
never to be released as they are killers, not just for food but for the sake of
killing. Quite a few cattle, dogs and a couple of humans have gone missing with
these crocs and oh boy I can only describe them as monsters. I reckon they have
survived the dinosaurs (should be called crocosauraus) and will outlive us all,
these huge, ugly and scary creatures.
Woodsy takes you around his croc farm (which was a little run down)
and tells a story about each and every croc while giving them a little bit of
food along the way. The crocs were fairly docile due to it being winter and
they slow down during this time. Some of them still had a bit of go in them and
they way they leap out of that water to grab that food and watching this is absolutely petrifying.
That night crocs were in my dreams (nightmares) all night so they definitely
made an impact on me. At the farm they also breed crocs and when they get to about two years old he takes them up to Darwin, yes to be made into shoes and handbags.
 |
| Crowey gives the Wyndham Croc a tickle under the throat |
 |
| a face only a mother could love |
 |
| Smiling for the camera? |
 |
| Glad I was on the other side of this fence |
Another
attraction in the town of Wyndham is the Five Rivers lookout, so named because this
is where you can see where the Ord, Forrest, King, Durack and Pentecost Rivers
enter the Campbridge Gulf. Sitting up top at sunset, sipping a strongbow or
beer is also a great way to see the end of the day. We enjoyed our stay in this area and really showed us another part of Australia neither of us has seen before. Next stop for us, Kununurra and Lake Argyle.
