I have to admit, Kununurra is a little rough around the edges, but very interesting. One of the bigger towns in the Kimberley Region, it is the first stop to reload on fruits and veggies that have been so cruelly confiscated by the boarder customs officers at the NT border.
It is a great base to explore, the Bungle Bungles, Lake Argyle, Wyndam, the ORD River irrigation Scheme , Lake Kununurra and all that is in between those areas.
I have to vent my frustration, for being the heart of the massive irrigation scheme there was not much on offer to please the culinary hankerings of a few Sydney-siders. Granted there were reasonable pub style meals with generous portions to be had, but they were on the expensive side.
The Boab Bookshop Café is a glimmering beacon of culinary beauty hidden in amongst the side streets of Kununurra. In between bush walking, fishing, croc catching, and general rough and tumble of the week, I fully admit- the city slicker in me was absolutely thrilled to walk in and see a gorgeous cup of coffee, baked goods to make you cry, a breakfast menu with the very imaginative, substantial, and mouth watering Boab Eggs Benedict that incorporated the leaves and nut of its namesake into the dish, and…gasp…internet! All of this in an extremely pleasant bookshop type environment. (They even had Gluten Free bread for the eggs benni!)
Chatting to the owners, he has like most everyone in Kununurra come from somewhere else, as he so bluntly put it, no one is from Kununurra, the town was only founded in 1962. I had been quite happy to rough it for quite awhile, but sometimes, just sometimes, a moment of civilization is worth it’s weight in Boab.
