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Published: July 10th 2016
With nearly eight weeks on the road, our trip is half way through and so much more to see. Having said good bye to El Questro our next stop was Kununurra. However, a short detour north to see Wyndam was a must. How sad and tired it looked. Even the pub has gone into receivership and there is little activity except at the port. Such a shame as there is much history attached to Whyndam and hopefully it will not end up a ghost town. We did have a taste of a Barra burger which was just delicious and so our trip to Whyndam was not in vein.
Kununurra Having left Whyndam and feeling a little dismayed we continued on to Kununurra. What a beautiful town. Lush, tropical and green. This of course is due to the Ord river dam scheme. Before this visit, it seemed remote and I had no idea the engineering feat that changed a large portion of the Kimberley and provided an opportunity to really make this area self sufficient. I managed to do a little Barra fishing at the Ivanhoe crossing but very little success. A catfish was all I could land. The weather
was very pleasant and so we enjoyed a few swims in the Caravan Park pool and spent a lot of time out doors taking in the sights. One of the industries doing very well at Kununurra is the growing of Sandlewood and consequently producing byproducts such as perfumes, creams, candles just to mention a few. We also found time to take a sunset cruise on Lake Kununurra, where we sat back and viewed some amazing scenery and wild life. Yes we did see a crocodile but we also saw many bird species and just marvelled at nature. As the the sun set we were served Barramundi and steak with gourmet sald and of course a good wine to wash it down. The taste was mouth watering and full of flavour,and all this as the sun was setting in a lagoon on Lake Kununarra. Words cannot describe how beautiful it was but I think the photos will.
Lake Argyle Many people had urged us to go to Lake Argyle and sung its praises, but until you see and experience this beautiful Lake and all of its wonders you really can't appreciate it. There is only one caravan park beautifully
appointed high up overlooking this incredible man made Lake. Yes this Lake is the result of man's astute engineering in creating a Lake from the mighty Ord River by building a dam and releasing water onto the valley. It was the brainchild of Kimberley Durack, who realised the potential of this river and how this would provide water for irrigation and much more. The Lake is so big, the only way to describe its size is to say that 17 Sydney Harbours fit into it and we were lucky enough to see one third. Lake Argyle is the largest man made lake in the southern hemisphere and I am very glad we stopped and spent time in this magnificent part of the world. Another feature of the park is the pool to infinity. When you swim in this pool you feel as if you will swim over the edge but of course this is an illusion. Still this pool is certainly something to experience. We once again took a sunset cruise and we were not disappointed. This Lake is just a series of island hills popping out of the water with lush vegetation and wild life abound - Wallabies, freshwater
crocs and more. We also managed to have a swim in this mighty fresh water lake on a balmy afternoon. This cruiseone of the highlights of our trip and hopefully we may visit this jewel of the Kimberley again some time. I did hook a barramundi down at the base of the dam and that was also a thrill for me.
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graham
non-member comment
Hi E and M, Great to hear from you and loved the pix. Brings back some lovely memories for me. Sounds like you're having a wonderful holiday adventure. Pity about Wyndham, I visited it 20 years ago and it was such an interesting and iconic Australian town. Anyway, back to the oars for me. Chat soon. g