As soon as the Friday afternoon school bell had rung, I did a quick lap around community to pick up our students luggage and off we went, first stop; the Victoria River Roadhouse. We enjoyed great service from the new managers and after a filling dinner it was off to bed; we had an early start in the morning – we were off to cross the WA border!
After wraps for lunch at the Go Wild Adventures, Maxwell Camp, we met our host, Maka and got our abseiling gear on. We walked up the steep bushy trail to the top of the cliff to enjoy great views over the Ord River before connecting to the abseil rope. We snacked on muesli bars and apples while Maka set up the abseil site for us. I was the first to abseil to show the students how it’s done. All eight students faced the challenge of height and exposure, yet were able to overcome their fear. Well done to everyone!! Both Maka and myself were very impressed and proud of all the students! We then cooled off at Swim Beach close to Kununurra, before the students cooked sausages for dinner.
Another early start (the sun rises early in Kununurra!), breakfast, then into our life jackets and canoes for a paddle up the river to an aboriginal rock art site in some caves tucked into the hillside. Some of this art was very, very old and you could also see the scratch marks in the rock from where ancestors had sharpened their spears. The students paddling skills improved and boats went in straighter lines as the trip went on. After that, we went back to camp, had wraps for lunch and hopped onto the bus for another swim at Swim Beach. Clare & Matt Smith (Wanta founders) met us at Swim Beach with some tasty snacks.
After this, Shannon from “Else Where Wake” met us a few hundred meters up the Ord River at ‘Ski Beach’ with his beautiful wake boat, wake boards and biscuits. We all jumped on the boat and Karl cranked up the tunes. Shannon, who has years of experience and has competed overseas in Wake Boarding competitions showed us all how it’s done. He was able to give simple, clear, effective instructions to those who wanted to try Wake Boarding for the first time. If you listened to his instructions – you were up and wakeboarding before you knew it! Wow. The rest of the group waited until the two biscuits where tied behind the boat. Again, the students were all nervous to try something new but were able to overcome those feelings and have a go. Watching the facial expressions go from nervous to ear to ear smiles and laughter while having huge amounts of fun made for a very special afternoon. A really big thank you to Shannon and Karl from ‘Else Where Wake’ for making it possible!!!
Kununurra has lots to offer for some great Wanta trips in the future, we expect to make the journey West again for some great fun outdoor adventures!
Written by Simon Blake, Director Lajamanu Sports Academy.
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