WA/NT
It was getting on for 3pm Saturday when we left Kununurra for Lake Argyle, just 70km away.
I find that this life-style has me very much living in the moment and I hadn't thought about what LA would be like until we started on the 35 km road that leads to it from the Victoria Highway turnoff. For some reason I was surprised that the Kimberley landscape became even more rugged as we approached - I thought it would be flat. It was simply beautiful.
The caravan park is perched on the side of a hill above the lake and has breathtaking views. There is an infinity pool right on the edge of a cliff and it looks out over the surrounding hills and lake. It's a lovely spot and once again, we could enjoy plenty of space as it was still pre-tourist season. We set up camp, unpacked and stowed all the groceries and relaxed with drinks and enjoyed the view before a bbq tea.
After a hot night in the high 20's we had an early start and after breaky went for a swim in the infinity pool just after 7am. The water was a perfect temperature and the views were simply spectacular. It is reportedly one of the top 5 swimming pools in Australia.
Once we had cooled off we took a drive to check out Lake Argyle town. Well.....the Lake Argyle Resort in which we were staying was pretty much it. Aside from that there is a dam wall, a park at the base of the dam wall, a couple of lookouts, a homestead museum and a boat ramp. The magnificent scenery and the LA cruises are the main attractions.
We booked on the afternoon Sunset Cruise and at 1pm went to the camp store to watch a very old video about the dam wall construction (which was quite interesting). At 2.15 we boarded the bus with 14 others for the 5 minute drive to the boat ramp. The cruise was nothing short of fantastic. The scenery with the light changing on hundreds of rock faces and small islands as the sun went down was stunning. LA is immense and it's not till you get onto it that you can appreciate its size. The commentary was really interesting and while there are supposedly 35,000 freshies in the lake we saw only a few.
Just before sunset the boat stopped in the middle of one of the bays and we had a swim. The water was 32 degrees. It was beautiful. There was wine and beer on offer and we floated out in the middle of this huge expanse of water on our noodles drinking. It felt quite decadent. Back on board there was a refill on drinks with bikkies, cheese and dips served. We watched the sunset as we cruised back and by the time we got to the boat ramp it was dark. We had an absolute ball of an afternoon and like our cruise at ELQ, we thought it was outstanding value at $85 each.
Next morning, following another restless night for Brian (I keep waking him up with my nightmares, and it is hot) we had an early swim then went up to the water tower lookout. Brian was hoping to get phone reception but no luck. The view of the lake (which holds 18 times more water than Sydney Harbour) is stunning from every perspective.
We then went to the Argyle Homestead Museum, a five minute drive from the caravan park. Built in the 1880's it was the home of the Durak family and sat on the Argyle Downs Station which is now at the bottom of the lake. It was moved and rebuilt stone by stone in the 1970's on its current site prior to the lake filling. We enjoyed walking through the simple but quite gracious house and gaining an insight into the history of the Durak family and their very significant role in the Kimberley's area.
The 40 degree heat kept us inside the van with the air-con on for most of the day. We read, watched a DVD on the Gibb River Road and reviewed all our photos so far on the TV, which we hadn't pulled out from under the bed until this point. The day was interspersed with eating, drinking and several swims in the infinity pool. Lazy eh!
We departed Lake Argyle at 8am Tuesday and travelled the 200 km to Timber Creek listening to Life of Pi for a fair part of the way. The one and a half hour time difference crossing the border saw us arrive at Big Horse Campground at around midday NT time. We set up camp in the same spot as last time and headed straight up to the lookout so Brian could get reception as he hadn't had any since Saturday in Kununurra.
And guess what? Late afternoon the locals arrived with their green cans...bugger eh! They were pretty noisy but fortunately they all cleared out before dusk. We went down to the boat ramp and threw a few lures in (with no luck) before having a beautiful Webber lamb roast followed by a game of canasta which, I might add, Brian won. I have taught him too well!
The night was much cooler at Big Horse than we had been experiencing at Lake Argyle and after a good night's sleep I went back down to the boat ramp with James, rod and a cup of coffee. It was a beautiful still morning. The river is so peaceful at dawn and dusk, more so when you are the only one there. I worked the poppa over different parts of the river making sure to stay high on the ramp or bank, keeping a keen eye out for crocs. A couple of guys arrived to launch their boat and made sure they let me know that a three and a half metre croc was seen at the ramp a couple of days before. I decided to bid a hasty retreat - fishless as usual.
We had decided we would head straight to Daly River from Timber Creek after speaking to the Mango Farm Caravan Park (from the lookout the day before) and finding we could get in with James. The river had gone down and Brian was keen to catch up with Blackie. Brian had the van pretty much packed up by the time I got back from the ramp so we were on the road quite early to cover the 290 km to Katherine where we planned to overnight and stock up on supplies.
While re-fuelling in Timber Creek Blackie called and said the fishing was woeful, so....plan B. We decided to hold off on Daly for a few more days and take some time at Katherine Gorge and Douglas Daly on-route. Our camp book showed the caravan park at the Gorge to be dog-friendly but when we arrived the park signs all indicated it wasn't. So James got allocated to the van and didn't step foot into the park. I drove him 5 km down the road after an early dinner for a good run. He wasn't real happy about it to start but settled down no problems. I think he even realised he was in hiding.
Not happy Jan!!
Given the James situation and the fact that the water in the Gorge is still too high for canoeing, this morning we will head off to Douglas Daly (which is ok for dogs in the caravan park) and do Katherine Gorge later in our trip with James in a kennel. James and I are going to stay in the van while Brian drives us out of the park. That'll be fun!
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