The day 20 saw us riding some 850 kms from Darwin to Kununurra. We also entered the state of Western Australia from Northern Territory. We backtracked for around 300 kms from Darwin to Katherine before hitting the Victoria Highway from Katherine to Kununurra. The initial 100 kms on this highway were the most boring ride I’ve had in my life. And it was extremely hot and humid as well. But then it soon turned into one of the most memorable rides on this roadtrip so far with long sweeping curves inviting us to go full throttle. And then there were these familiar empty straight roads as well where you could ride at 100 kmph blindfolded.
fun time on the road!
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It was also a time travel sort of ride for us as we gained around 2 hours crossing from one time zone to another as we entered Western Australia. It was fun to watch the GPS clock go back in time, but it was also confusing at the same time because our body clock was still stuck in the old time zone and it would take some time before we adjust to it.
We also did sort of a fuel economy test on both the bikes and it turned out that the Ninja could go as far as 250 kms in one tankful, and the Panigale 1299 would add another 10-15 kms before asking for refill.
The day was a long one and took some time to come to an end. However, our tired souls were given a warm welcome at our hotel ‘The Kununurra Country Club Resort.’ Warm welcome would be an understatement for the pampering we and our bikes were subjected to. The bikes were given an exclusive parking spot and were locked away for added safety. The rooms that we were given were super cosy and comfortable. The entire staff was friendly. And the icing on the cake was the ambience and the food. A highly recommended place of stay if you are visiting Kununurra.
The first half of the day 21 was spent catching up with the pending blogging and photo processing. I then decided to pay a visit to the Lake Argyle, which is around 75 kms away from the town of Kununurra. As per Wikipedia, the Lake Argyle is Western Australia’s biggest and Australia’s second biggest man-made water reservoir by volume. It is also one of the most popular tourist destinations in this area. A boat cruise around sunset is highly recommended. The lake itself is very beautiful and is part of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. It is fed primarily by the Ord River and also receives water from the Bow River and several other smaller creeks.
While returning to Kununurra, I also witnessed forest fire from a very close distance. It was a scary sight to see trees burning in several square kilometres area. The otherwise black night sky had turned red and a thick layer of dark smoke was making this scene every scarier. The manager of our hotel told me that the fire had spread to around 60 kms area.
The bush fires are an unfortunate part of life in Australia. Every year, particularly during the summers, these bush fires claim thousands of square kilometres across the country, which eventually results in loss of life and property! However, I am also told that the authorities do controlled burns in the jungle by themselves to prevent bigger bush fire during the summers and that some Australian plants require fire to reproduce as the heat generated from the fire forces them to release their seeds, which ultimately leads to a new cycle of life.