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Week 6 The Ord Valley Muster continues with the Waringarri Corroboree and Kimberley Moon Experience

Week 6 The Ord Valley Muster continues with the Waringarri Corroboree and Kimberley Moon Experience

Week 6 The Ord Valley Muster continues with the Waringarri Corroboree and Kimberley Moon Experience
Image courtesy www.benbroady.com

Entering the second week of Kununurra’s epic Ord Valley Muster I had the opportunity to witness an awe inspiring Corroborree and kick my heels up at the Kimberley Moon Experience!

 

This image captures perfectly everything I love about witnessing an Aboriginal corroboree. The passing down of culture to a future generation of leaders.

The Corroboree Under the Stars brought people together from a variety of backgrounds to share in the celebration of Miriwoong Gajerrong culture. As I approached the entrance I was welcomed by huge smiles from three young Miriwoong girls who were dancing in the corroboree. Dressed in bright yellow they welcomed us to the celebration and even gave us a hug – that’s Kimberley hospitality for you! The grounds were spacious and well laid out allowing everybody a great view of the performance to come. I was fortunate to find a particularly good spot right up the front. Ground cooked beef, vegies, and homemade damper were served and the performance began. The performers told stories of love, rivalry, family and law through their song and dance. Some were funny, then there were others that were simply awe inspiring as men, women and children performed what they called their ‘Rock n Roll’ dance. This was a series of intense performances that had dust kicking up beneath their feet and sweat beads rolling of the dancers foreheads. As the end of the performance approached, the dancers invited members of the audience to join in the dancing, one for the men, one for the women, and one for both. The Waringarri Corroboree would be one of my favourite events and I’d highly recommend it to visitors and locals alike.

Sponsors cocktail image courtesy B Visual Media

Sponsors cocktail party image courtesy B Visual media

The following night I enjoyed watching the Mirima dancers again at the sponsors cocktail party which was held at the Kununurra Country Club Resort the night before the BIG EVENT, The Kimberley Moon Experience.

The Kimberley Moon Experience is Kununurra’s Ord Valley Muster’s signature event. Held at the Jim Hughes amphitheatre on the banks of the Ord River each year it has attracted some fantastic Australian artists over the years from Jimmy Barnes to Guy Sebastian, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, to The Living End. The concert appeals to a wide audience demographic with both casual lawn seating and an extravagant black tie dinner which is sponsored by Kimberley Fine Diamonds.       This year’s lineup was one of my personal favourites:

The Living End. Image courtesy B Visual Media

Dan Sultan. Image courtesy B Visual Media

Indigenous Hip Hop Projects. Image courtesy B Visual Media

The Whitlams. Image courtesy B Visual Media

Monsoon Nights Belly Dancers. Image courtesy B Visual Media

Megan Washington. Image courtesy B Visual Media

Mirima Dancers. Image courtesy B Visual Media

Peter Brandy. Image courtesy B Visual Media

I was fortunate enough to have a corporate ticket (Freshwater East Kimberley Apartments is a sponsor of the Ord Valley Muster), so decked out in my Eileen Kirby frock and heels I was ferried to the event by Triple J Tours Ord River Cruises. Triple J have been sponsors of the Ord Valley Muster since its inception and every year their suit attired skippers, Dylan, Grant and Jeff ferry corporate guests to the event. We stepped off the boat onto the pink carpet and were handed a glass of champagne and our first canapé – bliss!

 

The Mirima dancers delighted with another stellar performance and welcome to country, Megan Washington performed as the sun set, and was followed shortly after by the Monsoon nights belly dancers. Independent band The Whitlams got the dance floor started which continued on when three time ARIA award winner Dan Sultan rocked the stage, and headline act The Living End brought the house down with their popular rock tunes. I’m a huge Dan Sultan fan (what girl isn’t), so this was my personal favourite performance of the evening, but all the acts were incredible. The crowd was still raring to go when The Living End finished, so fortunately another band – Wingman, from Broome continued the party with some great covers.

The Kimberley Moon Experience is Kununurra’s biggest event and the town usually sells out of accommodation with hotels at 100% occupancy. If you would like to visit for next year’s Kimberley Moon Experience I suggest you book your Kununurra accommodation early!

 

For more information on Kununurra’s epic Ord Valley Muster visit www.ordvalleymuster.com.au

Or click here for Part 1 of the Ord Valley Muster

Kununurra is a beautiful outback town in the heart of the iconic Kimberley Region of Western Australia. An adventure holiday-makers dream, Kununurra offers a host of incredible things to see and do, and quality accommodation including self-contained apartment accommodation and hotel accommodation. Qantas and Virgin Australia fly to Kununurra daily from Perth, Broome and Darwin. Connecting flights to Kununurra from Sydney, Melbourne, or most other states are possible on some days during our busy season of May to October.

Freshwater East Kimberley Apartments is Kununurra’s newest and only 4.5 star accommodation, and winner of WA Tourism Awards Deluxe Accommodation in 2014 and finalist in the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards 2014.

Offering Studio, One, Two and Three Bedroom apartments with kitchenette or full kitchen facilities, we also offer Deluxe apartments with outdoor stone baths, Nespresso machines, and tropical outdoor showers. Our stunning free-form pool has been designed to compliment the Kimberley landscape with it’s own Kimberley waterfall feature and use of local Kimberley stone.

All accommodation at ‘Freshwater’ includes complimentary wifi, Foxtel, guest laundry facilities, BBQ facilities, secure undercover parking, and all guests receive am exclusive 10% discount with HeliSpirit – The Spirit of Australia’s North West. HeliSpirit have 8 bases positioned at iconic locations throughout the Kimberley and Northern Territory.. Offering a range of Kimberley scenic flights to locations such as the Bungle Bungle and Mitchell Plateau.

 

 

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About Freshwater’s 52 Weeks of Adventure Challenge

Fresher Adventure

Freshwater East Kimberley Apartments is based in the picturesque town of Kununurra in The Kimberley region of Western Australia and is managed by Kimberley local, Ebony Muirson and her fresh enthusiastic team.

Over 12 months Ebony and her team will be venturing out into their pristine backyard to experience and chronicle 52 different Kimberley adventure experiences. That’s a new adventure every single week for an entire year!

We’re inviting you to come along for the ride by following the blog and joining us on Facebook and Instagram. We will also be announcing an exceptional competition during 2015 so sign up today for your chance to WIN.

On top of this we’re also running a #FresherAdventure photo contest which you can enter or vote on here.

We look forward to seeing you on our journey!

 

About the Author

Ebony Muirson Kununurra

Ebony is a Kimberley local and avid adventurer, who moved to Kununurra with her family as wide-eyed 8 year old on a hot and humid April day in 1992. Ebony’s adventures as a child growing up in one of the world’s last remaining frontiers inspired her to pursue a career in tourism where she would be able to share her love of the region she calls home with people from across the globe. Ebony has spent years working on the remote Kimberley Coast before returning to Kununurra to manage Freshwater Apartments. In 2012 Ebony was selected as a North West Ambassador through Australia’s North West’s Characters of the Kimberley campaign.

Ebony loves nothing more than helping create a once in a lifetime holiday for visitors to the Kimberley and looks forward to sharing her own Kimberley Adventures throughout the following 12 months.

Please JOIN THE ADVENTURE by following our blog, as Ebony and her team chronicle 52 weeks of unbelievable Kimberley adventure experiences.