Take a piece of The Kimberley home with you.
Akubra hats, Aboriginal art, Kimberley pearls and keepsakes, chosen by locals who have spent years sharing this country with travellers.
The collection
In store only Akubra hats, Otis eyewear, Cygnet Bay pearls and original paintings. Come and see us in Kununurra.
We only sell what we would keep ourselves.
Things we love, chosen for you.
Commissions open
A painting of the country that holds meaning to you.
Taminga Connell is a Bunuba and Gija woman, descended from one of the largest families in The Kimberley. Her name means strong white gum tree — resilience, and connection to the land.
She came to painting through art therapy, as a way to settle herself, to tell stories and to pass on knowledge. The work is contemporary and deeply personal, drawn from dreams, visions and stories, past and present. It hangs on walls around the country, and it has also been painted onto helicopters, eyewear and murals through collaborations with Corsair Aviation, Pearls of Australia, PHI and CNHI.
Commissions are open. Share the size, the colours and the style you are drawn to — the creative decisions stay with her, which is the reason to commission rather than order. What she really wants is a feel for who you are, because the piece is made for the person receiving it.
Price is set by size and detail. Twenty per cent starts the work, the turnaround is around six weeks, and you see the painting once it is finished. She packs every one herself and sends it anywhere in the world.
More about Taminga and her work
Taminga Connell Bunuba & Gija artist, The KimberleyStart a commission
Tell her the place and the size — she will come back to you personally, usually within a day or two.
- Email Taminga taminga@kimberleyspirit.com
- Call the studio 0480 372 599 Kununurra is on AWST (UTC+8)
- See more of her work kimberleyspirit.com/art Bio, gallery and collaborations.
- Prefer to write it out Use the enquiry form Comes straight to us, not a call centre.
Original art
Paintings by Taminga Connell, available now. Each one is one of a kind. Dimensions are height × width.
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Flow
POA
View in the gallery -
Beneath The Surface
POA
View in the gallery -
Gija Country
POA
View in the gallery
Price on application. Call or email about any piece and Taminga will come back to you with the price and anything else you want to know.
See all available work 0480 372 599
Stocked in store
Akubra
Rabbit-fur felt, made in Kempsey and worn across this country for years. We carry a generous selection along the mahogany bench — town hats and station hats, in the greys, fawns and blacks that suit the dust up here.
Hats are a fitting, not a click. Sizing matters, the crown shape matters more, and both have to be got right in person. We do not sell them online — this one you come in for.
- A generous selection on the bench, chosen for this country
- Fitted in person, in the shop
- Ask what is on the bench before you travel
Stocked in store
Otis
Otis build their sunglasses around mineral glass rather than plastic. The difference shows the first time you wear them somewhere bright — the image stays sharp, and the lenses do not haze over with fine scratches after a season in the dust.
Up here that is not a detail. Midday glare coming off the water is the kind that gives you a headache by three o'clock, and a pair you actually keep is worth more than three pairs you lose faith in.
Otis made a film with Taminga for their Frame Your Freedom series, shot here on Country. It is five minutes and worth the watch.
Watch Frame Your Freedom with Taminga Connell
We hold a range in store, on the shelf beside the hats.
- Try a few frames on before you decide
- Tell us the shape you like and we will say what is in
- Ask before you travel and we will put a pair aside
Stocked in store
Cygnet Bay Pearls
Australian South Sea pearls, grown on the Dampier Peninsula north of Broome at the oldest working pearl farm in the country. Same coastline as this shop, a long way up the same road.
They are not uniform, and they are not meant to be. A pearl takes years, and the shape it finishes with is the shape the shell gave it. Two from the same line will not match, which is the point.
We carry a selection in store: strands, bracelets, studs, pendants and rings.
- Pieces from under fifty dollars to several thousand
- Tell us the occasion and we will send you what we have
A collaboration
Where it all comes from
Most people arrive with two days set aside and leave wishing they had booked a fortnight. If you are only here once, these are the seven we would send our own family to — in the order we would do them.
Twenty years of it is written down in the Kimberley Spirit guidebook.
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1
Mirima National Park
5 MIN FROM TOWN · GO LATE AFTERNOONBanded sandstone on the edge of town, often called the mini Bungle Bungles. The short Didbagirring trail is worth doing in the last hour of light.
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2
Kelly's Knob
10 MIN · SUNSET, BRING A CHAIRThe town lookout. Ord River, the Carr Boyd Ranges and the whole valley going orange, then purple, then gone.
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3
Lake Argyle
70 KM · 1 HOUR · FULL DAYEighteen times the volume of Sydney Harbour. Take the sunset cruise, swim off the back of the boat, and do not leave without seeing the infinity pool.
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4
The Ord River
55 KM OF RIVER · HALF A DAY · ALL YEARThe stretch between the dam wall and town runs through gorge country thick with birds and freshwater crocodiles. Most people take the bus up and come back down on the water as the light goes.
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5
El Questro & Emma Gorge
100 KM · 1.5 HOURS · DRY SEASONZebedee Springs opens early and closes at midday — be there when it opens. Emma Gorge is an hour's walk each way to a waterfall worth every step.
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6
Purnululu — the Bungle Bungles
300 KM · FLY OR 4WD · WORLD HERITAGECathedral Gorge and Echidna Chasm in one day if you fly in. If you drive, the access track is slow going and four-wheel drive only — give it two nights.
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7
Wyndham & Five Rivers Lookout
100 KM · 1.25 HOURS · SUNSETFive rivers meeting the Cambridge Gulf, seen from the top of the Bastion. The oldest town in The Kimberley, and still the strangest light in it.
When to come. The dry season runs May to October — clear skies, cool nights, everything open. The wet, November to April, brings storms, full waterfalls and green country, but roads close and tours pause. We are here all year.
Further afield
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AMitchell Falls — Punamii-Uunpuu
FAR NORTH · 4WD OR HELICOPTER · DRY SEASONFour tiers falling into a plunge pool on the Mitchell Plateau. The drive in is long, corrugated and hard on vehicles; most people walk in one way and take a helicopter back out.
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BHorizontal Falls — Garaanngaddim
TALBOT BAY · SEAPLANE FROM BROOME OR DERBYTides force a vast body of water through two narrow gaps in the McLarty Range, and the sea appears to stand on its side. Seen from the air or from a boat at the mouth.
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CWindjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek
OFF THE GIBB · DAY TRIP FROM DERBYA gorge cut through an ancient reef, with freshwater crocodiles lying on the sand in numbers. Tunnel Creek runs 750 metres through the range — take a torch and expect to wade.
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DBell Gorge
GIBB RIVER ROAD · DRY SEASONThe best known of the Gibb's swimming gorges: a tiered waterfall into a deep pool, about half an hour's walk from the car park over rock.
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EDanggu Geikie Gorge
FITZROY CROSSING · BOAT TOURWalls bleached white by wet season floods, above the Fitzroy River. Best seen from the water on a ranger-guided boat tour.
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FBroome and Cable Beach
WEST KIMBERLEY · 1,000 KM FROM KUNUNURRATwenty-two kilometres of sand facing west, camels at sunset, and a pearling history that shaped the town. The other end of the Kimberley, and the other end of the Gibb.
Before you come
THE TWO SEASONS
The dry runs roughly May to October: clear days, cool nights, everything open. The wet runs November to April, bringing storms, heat and full waterfalls, but unsealed roads close and many parks and tours shut down. Most visitors come between June and August.
GETTING HERE
Kununurra has an airport with direct flights from Perth, Broome and Darwin. By road it is about 800 kilometres from Darwin on sealed highway, or the length of the Kimberley from Broome. Hire cars are limited in peak season — book well ahead.
WHAT YOU NEED A FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE FOR
The Gibb River Road, the Purnululu access track, Mitchell Plateau and most gorge access roads are unsealed and genuinely rough. Hire agreements often exclude them, so check before you book. Carry two spare tyres on the Gibb.
DISTANCES AND FUEL
Distances here are not like anywhere else. Roadhouses can be two hundred kilometres apart and some close early or run dry. Fill up whenever you pass a pump and carry more water than you think you need.
CROCODILES
Both freshwater and estuarine crocodiles live throughout the Kimberley, including well inland. Do not swim anywhere you have not been told is safe, and take local advice over what a sign said last season.
COUNTRY AND PERMITS
Much of the Kimberley is Aboriginal land. Some roads and communities need a permit to enter, and some sites are not open to visitors. Ask before you go rather than after.
Twenty years of tourism operations in The Kimberley, run by locals, on the water and on the road. The guidebook, the safaris and the floatel all live over there.
Visit Kimberley SpiritScotty yarns with local legends and special guests about life in the bush — bush tucker, animal encounters, and the people who know this country. Fifty-odd episodes, and the back catalogue keeps.
Kimberley Spirit
Picture yourself here
The shop is the newest part of what we do. For twenty years the rest of it has been out on the water and on the road — the floatel, the safaris, and the country in these photographs.
See the floatelSee it before you get here
The country as it looks that week, new pieces as they land, and whatever is on the easel. We post here first.
@thekimberleyaustraliaCome and see us
A working studio and store on River Gum Avenue, five minutes from the Kununurra town centre. Akubras along a live-edge mahogany bench made here in Kununurra, sunglasses, leather, and original canvases on the walls — much of it never makes it online. There are armchairs, and we would rather you used them.
Wet season hours are Wednesday to Friday, 9am to 4pm, and Saturday mornings until 1pm. Outside those hours, call and we will usually be able to open up for you.
- ADDRESS
- 10 River Gum Avenue
Kununurra WA 6743, Australia - HOURS
- Wednesday to Friday, 9am – 4pm
Saturday, 9am – 1pm Wet season hours - PHONE
- 0480 372 599
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Beautiful local artwork, quality products, and such a welcoming atmosphere.
Google review -
The perfect place to find authentic Kimberley gifts and locally inspired pieces.
Google review -
Amazing handcrafted products and even better customer service.
Google review
About the shop
The Kimberley Shop was created out of a love of this region and a wish to share it properly.
We have spent twenty years running tourism operations in The Kimberley, first on the water and then on the road, under one name and then another. The shop is the newest part of that, not the start of it — a place where people can find a carefully chosen collection drawn from the landscapes, stories and character of the region.
Local art, good Australian-made product, Kimberley keepsakes, and pieces we genuinely like. Quality first, and a real connection to place. Created by Scotty and Taminga Connell.
Delivery & pick-up
PROCESSING
Orders are packed and dispatched within 2–3 business days.
SHIPPING
We ship worldwide. Costs are calculated at checkout based on your order and destination, and tracking details follow dispatch where available.
LOCAL PICK-UP
Choose local pick-up at checkout and we will let you know when your order is ready in Kununurra.
PLEASE NOTE
Regional Western Australia adds time. Deliveries can run longer than metropolitan areas — thank you for your patience while your parcel makes its way to you.
Get in touch
Commissions, orders, stockist enquiries or a question about the region. It comes to us, and we answer it ourselves.