Lake Argyle and Kununurra WA

Days 127 to 135

Getting hair done while travelling!!

While at Katherine Sheena had a haircut and colour IN THE PARK!

We then travelled to Lake Argyle with an overnight stop at Timber Creek on the way.

The trip from Timber Creek was great. Boab trees on the side of the road!

Boab tree known as ‘The Upside Down Tree’

Can you see why it is called an upside down tree?

The road goes between two escarpments in one spot with geology discussions taking place in the car. Dredging our memories of primary school geography.

Typical Kimberley scenery along the Great Northern Highway

As Lake Argyle is in WA we had 1.5 more hours in the day! (For those who aren’t good at Maths that meant that we had a 25.5 hour day!) We have started getting up early as we are now in WA time. The old 7:30am is now 6am!

Ord River at Lake Argyle

Lake Argyle Resort is at the Ord River Dam. Lake Argyle was formed when the Ord River was dammed in the early ’70s. It is huge – Sydney Harbour is dwarfed in size.

The pool at the resort is called the ‘infinity pool’. Fantastic – takes your breath away. Lots of photos taken.

In the pool met a guy here for the 20km swim. We got talking and it turns out he originates from Forbes and used to swim with Wayne Ellis (?Paul Gibson – one of the twins!). I continue to be amazed how small our world is.

Lake Argyle was a great place to spend a lazy afternoon with a swim in the fantastic pool. We lazed on the edge and watched swimmers below finishing the 20km swim!

We then moved on to Kununurra where we visited the Sandalwood Factory – lots of the Ord River area has been turned into sandalwood growing. Farmers have their land leased at a very good price AND get paid for watering. We also went to the Hoochery Distillery – they have the oldest legal still in WA. Sheena discovered she is not a rum drinker BUT Rum Cake is lovely.

Ivanhoe Crossing is closed off to traffic due to the water over the road but people still fish there for Barramundi. Peter tried but no luck!

We also learned all about Zebra Stone (unique to the Kimberleys) and saw (but did not purchase) some nice jewellery.

Went bush bashing while in Kununurra and discovered that really bumpy roads are not to our liking and very bad for Peter’s back. The Mazda handled the difficult sections very well. We did see some of what we intended including a local swimming hole and the other side of the Ivanhoe Crossing. An attempt was made to fish – again with no luck. We are looking froward to getting back to beach fishing!

Trip to Wyndham – north of Kununurra

After a visit to the ‘i‘ we got a ‘mud map’ of the town and headed off to view the largest boab tree in captivity? It was huge!!!

We then went to the new jetty. A local had just caught a large mulloway on a hand-line. Peter was very envious.

The next stop was the crocodile farm – 1000 crocs a year get exported to France. It appears to be a good business but there are dangers! The farm also is a ‘haven’ for a few dangerous crocs that have been caught in the wild. We followed the owner around as he did his 11am tourist feed. We got a lesson in croc breeding as well as some up close and personal views of some very large and some very ferocious animals.

Iron Ore gets exported from Wyndham

Part of the view from 5 Rivers Lookout

Next it was off to the 5 Rivers Lookout. We could see where the Ord, Forrest, King, Durrack and Pentacost Rivers enter the Cambridge Gulf. Majestic! A great view of Wyndham, the port area AND the floodplains. A local who was there told us about the iron ore, nickel and live cattle trade areas that we could see from the lookout.

Steps down to The Grotto out of Wyndham

On the way back to Kununurra we stopped off at ‘The Grotto’. There were steps carved into the rock to enable people to go down to the pool to swim. Pretty precarious as no handrails were provided!

Aeroplane flight from Kununurra

We did a flight over Lake Argyle, the Bungle Bungle Ranges and the Argyle Diamond Mine. Spectacular!
The down side of a plane trip is that they weigh you! Peter was happy – no weight increase on the trip. Sheena was not and will have to get back into a regular exercise routine! With the weighing hurdle past everything was good.

Lake Argyle which was created by the damming of the Ord River is huge! It is the largest man made lake in the southern hemisphere – 65km by 45km. (Sheena learned all about the Ord River Scheme in Geography!)

The Bungle Bungle Ranges feature sandstone domes striped with orange and black stripes. They are clearly visible from the air and unlike anything we have ever seen.

And who can forget the Argyle Diamond Mine! Kununurra is famous for the pink diamond. The Argyle Diamond mine is down the road, it produces about 30 million carats annually!! Seen from the air the size of the mine can be appreciated. It is one of the world’s largest suppliers of jewellery quality diamonds and it produces one third of the world’s annual diamonds! Peter would not let Sheena near any of the local jewellery stores!

Kakadu National Park, Darwin and Litchfield National Park

Days 115 to 125
KAKADU

Nature at Yellow Waters Kakadu

Our first day in Kakadu turned out to be very busy. What was meant to be a dawn trip for Sheena and a fishing trip for Peter  changed after we spoke with some people who had done the dawn trip.  Pete joined Sheena on the dawn trip. Lots of birds, fish AND some salty crocs were seen.  The guide was very knowledgeable and helped us to appreciate the Yellow Water Wetland region.  Great!! Then on the trip we spoke to people who had done the fishing trip the previous day – Sheena then booked on the fishing trip.  The trip was on the same waterway as the morning cruise.  More birds and crocs were seen!  As well Peter caught a barra that was a keeper – dinner was organised!  Sheena also caught a barra – too small so it was thrown back.

Peter with Barra Yellow Waters Kakadu

Sheena with Barra Yellow Waters Kakadu

 All in all a great experience!!!!

Aboriginal art Kakadu

Spoils of a days fishing Barra!

In the middle of the day we did the walk at Nourlangie. It showcased  aboriginal rock art as well as the geology of the region.  We visited a large rock shelter that was used as a wet season home for generations of Aboriginal people.  The lookouts on the walk added to the interest of the day.  A must do experience.

And to finish off the day we had the barra cooked just right by the chef at the resort we were staying at!  The day could not have been better.
 
What a great Kakadu experience!
 

DARWIN
Mossies were at Darwin as well!

Darwin after the cyclone – Christchurch Cathedral rebuild

We spent a day wandering around the city section of Darwin.  Peter tried to find buildings he worked on after the cyclone – to no avail.  The harbour precinct is very impressive – with a wave pool, swimming area, lots of eateries and unending buildings with accommodation. The combination of old and new that occurred after the cyclone is very impressive.

We went in 2 directions the next day.  Peter did a fishing tour in the harbour and Sheena did a WWII wander.
Pete had a great time with some fish caught! A spectacular storm occurred late in the afternoon. Apparently a typical Darwin experience!!!

Storm over Darwin

Sheena spent a couple of hours at the Darwin Military museum.  It showcased Darwin’s role and experiences in WWII.

Next we headed south to go to the ‘Window to the Wetlands’.  It has many interactive displays that allow you to understand the wetland systems around Darwin. We then did a Jumping Crocs tour.  Wow!  Very informative and exciting. Crocs are quite scarey creatures.

Peter and python

 Peter got up close and personal with a python!

Another day included a trip to the golf driving range.  Boy were our swings rusty! The rest of the day was spent at the Darwin Museum and Art Gallery. No photos as not allowed.  There were fascinating exhibits on Darwin’s culture and history including an awesome Cyclone Tracey exhibit.  We discovered that the buildings that Peter worked on have been replaced (not because of Peter’s work).  No wonder we couldn’t find them!

Day 122 Peter backed the car into a tree in the morning!  Stuffed the back panel on the passenger’s side.  I am glad it was not me that did that deed!
Caravan went in to search for the leak! 5 minutes later the guy reckoned he had found the problem. Water getting in through an outside light!  We hope that solved it.  At the same place the boss(a panel beater by trade) said he could neaten up the scratches and dints.  He did a great job – and we were only out of pocket $100 for both fixes.  We will get a proper job done back in Port using insurance.
Pete and I did a bus trip into Darwin proper and did a further walk around the city.  Buses were an interesting experience – nothing like Sydney’s buses.  2 fares $2 for 3 hours or $5 for all day.  Quite easy really.

Day 123. Still Darwin

Pete beat me at golf at Palmerston Golf Course – outer suburb of Darwin.
Matches are now Peter 12 Sheena 10.

Darwin sunset

THEN we went out for a sunset dinner cruise on Darwin Harbour with Toni and Tony whom we keep meeting up with during our trip.  

Great venue, great food – a good way to finish our visit to Darwin.

Next stop ……………….

LITCHFIELD NP

Waterfalls Litchfield NP

Wangi Falls was first on the agenda.  Magnificent – no swimming as falls had too much water falling!

Next stop – Tolmer Falls.  Here we saw the falls from a viewing platform at the same level as the top of the falls.  Again no swimming because of the colonies of rare Ghost and Orange Horseshoe bats that inhabit the caves at the base of the falls.

Cathedral Termite Mound Litchfield (estimated to be over 50 years old)

Last visit on this day was the Magnetic Termite Mounds.  The mounds are built N – S to allow the least possible surface area to be exposed to the heat of the sun.

The next day was hopefully a day of swimming! It was!

First stop – Florence Falls.  Great view from the viewing platform then down 135 steps to the base of the falls for a swim.  Divine!  Best of the trip so far.

Next stop – Buleys Waterhole. Great place to spend a while – it gets packed on weekends.  There are a series of pools joined by cascading water over about 200m.  One of the pools was seriously deep – ok for a little bit of rock jumping.  The areas of cascading water between the pools were a great place to laze and remain wet, and hence cool.

The 2 National Parks could not have been more different to each other! Both are worth visiting with Kakadu costing you $ to experience what it has to offer and Litchfield giving you everything for free!!!!!!!!!