Around Oz with the Munchkins: Canoeing the Ord River - a baby crocs, massive spiders and sunset on the Crocodilly

We had decided to do an overnight canoeing trip down the Ord River and were thrilled when Hannah and Michael decided to join us. We were all picked up very early one morning by Macca - a relaxed and friendly guy who owns the Eco-canoeing business. Macca helped us stow all our belongings in waterproof tubs and dry bags and talked us through the camping equipment for our night on the river. We then drove for a while until we reached a lookout over Lake Argyle (well a teeny tiny part of it) which was pretty spectacular - it's massive. We sat in the shade in a park and Macca showed us a map of where we would be paddling, talked us through the difficult spots and pointed out our camping spot. Then it was time to jump into the canoes and prove to Macca that we could steer ourselves away from danger. When he was satisfied we would survive, we strapped all of our equipment into the canoes and off we went - Bill and Sash in one, Kate and Zara in one, and Hannah and Michael in the other.

We had a lovely day - paddling 24kms and making it through the difficult bits in one piece. The birdlife on the river was pretty incredible. It was cooler on the river and currents helped us along in some places. Zara read her book and dragged a handline through the water while Kate did all the work. Sash knelt up on his seat and sang canoeing songs while Bill did all the work. Hannah and Michael shared the work and hence had energy to take fabulous photos (note all pics below were taken by Hannah)! We ate lunch on a lovely little sandy beach and swam in the cool waters. By around 5pm we had reached Cooliman Camp where we would stay for the night. We set up dome tents on little wooden platforms overlooking the river. The site was lovely - set on a hillside and very leafy and peaceful. There was a BBQ and gas cooker, a cupboard with basic cooking gear, an eco-toilet and a sink. We made a campfire and cooked a simple pasta meal for 6 hungry paddlers. We were pretty exhausted and so went to bed early and fell asleep looking at the stars and listening to all sorts of strange rustling noises in the bush around us.

Next morning, Bill and Michael headed out on the canoes with their rods and lines in an attempt to catch a fish. They eventually got a catfish which was wrapped in a bag and put in an esky for later consumption. Once we were packed up, we headed up some of the little streams coming off the rivers - negotiating overhanging trees and sticking up logs. On the way out of the first stream, Hannah spotted a baby freshwater croc sitting on a log and Sash was thrilled to find a massive spider hanging on the underside of a log - he called it Aragog (from Harry Potter) and got as close up as possible whilst the rest of us backed away slowly. We had a much shorter distance to paddle - only 9kms - but spent a lot of time exploring and fiddling around so still didn't reach the Cooliman Camp until 20 mins before Macca came to pick us up in 'The Crocadilly' - a green boat with a hideous toothy grin painted on the front. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset cruise up the Ord and back to Kununurra. Brave and tolerent Macca allowed both kids to sit on his lap and steer the boat - slightly nervewracking for the rest of us but heaps of fun for Zara and Sash.

We would totally recommend this trip to anyone visiting Kununurra. It was a beautiful way to see a stunning river system and plenty of birdlife. Macca was relaxed but very professional and efficient. And it was reasonably priced!

All pics below taken by Hannah.